Today started just fine. Riveted the left and right seat assemblies to the center section bulkhead. Put the manufactured head on the seat skin side and then flipped the assembly over with the help of Adam and riveted all of the ribs placing the manufactured head on the bulkhead side. Used the manual squeezer here.
Riveted the bulkhead side assemblies and the bulkhead cap, and installed the bushings and roller. Note here that the roller on the right side of the aircraft is in the opposite direction of the roller on the left side. So far no problems.
Then today's fun began. It was fight time!!!! Started to assemble the control column mount assembly. After carefully deburring all of the parts I set the first rivet surrounding the bearing. The bearing started to bind. Set the second rivet and it got worse. The bearing was tough to turn, but still movable. Decided at this time I'd drill out the rivets, clean up the parts and try again. Getting good at drilling out rivets using a #31 bit, so as not to disturb the original hole. Tried a second time with the same result. Drilled the rivets out again. Now it is clear that the bearing recesses have been milled a bit short. Assembled the parts a third time after doing a bit more deburring. The result is that the bearings are still a bit stiff. Looking forward in the plans, it appears that as long as the bearing will move, albeit them being stiff, it is OK. Will check with Van's builder support. I had to file the shop side of the rivet a bit to get it nearly flush with the surface of the part.
OK, will go forward!!
Prepped the bulkhead flange and the Stub Spar Receptacle Support. Then, prepped the F-1203A bulkhead. Countersunk all of the holes. Glad I bought a second microstop. Now wish I had a third. Then, used a Uni-bit to final drill the holes to 7/16" and 3/4". Used a set of dykes to remove the "hatched area" and then used the dremel with a small sanding drum to make the hole nice and round. Happy that tomorrow will be a bit better!! Hope!! But Sunday is SUPERBOWL Sunday. Got the BBQ wings on order. No diet on Sunday!
Finished the day by deburring some of the upcoming parts.
UPDATE: Called Van's and provided them with the following info after drilling out all of the rivets from the control column brackets. The bearing is very free after removing the loads.
Bearing 0.187"
Middle Plate 0.126-0.1265"
Outer Plate #1 0.0635"
Outer Plate Bearing Recess 0.0375" (So Recess Depth - 0.026")
Outer Plate #2 0.0635"
Outer Plate #2 Bearing Recess 0.0375-0.0385" (So Recess Depth - 0.025-0.026")
Total Recess = Recess Depth #1 + Recess Depth #2 + Middle Plate = 0.176 - 0.1765"
The bearing is 0.187" IT IS Getting CRUSHED!
And as mentioned on the VAF forums there may also be some side forces. It was suggested to set the rivets around the bearing just a bit at a time to minimize the side loads.
Van's support indicated that their tooling methods for the COM 3-5 bearings are being improved as they were not accurate enough. My stiff bearings here are not acceptable. Van's will send me new brackets but it might be 1-2 weeks. Will try one more time after priming the parts to gain a mil or two or three, then try again with my parts. Will use the above suggestions.
Time - 7 hours (Includes my Fight with the Bracket)
