Upcoming tailpost installation

[kevinh]

Thanks for the replies!

[mfazio]

I'm ready to rivet the tailpost in place but have run into the clearance issue with riveting. Was hoping others that have been down this road might be able offer a nifty trick to make this operation easier.

I've been staring at the assembly for a couple of days now and have not come up with a clever way to bend (flare) the fittings to provide enough clearance. Trying to avoid manhandling the material. Most of the assembly is bolted/riveted so changing the order of assembly would be a real PITA. Saw others have used solid rivets which is an option? Bottom skin as well as stop plates have not been riveted so there is still access and some freedom to bend.

Thanks

Mike Fazio
Waiex #63

[Area 51%]

Read this entire thread, particularly kevinh's comments. I wouldn't hesitate to go with the solid rivets again.

[jrs]

What an interesting thread. I almost missed the issue with wrong hinge but am getting paranoid about detail so caught it just before I found this thread. Actually had the wrong one on the bench to cut before one final plan check.

Will check for the need for countersunk rivets in the rudder before I put the skins on it. Thanks for the heads up.

The reason for searching the thread is the rudder stop plate. Have a quick build and the side skins came pre-riveted. When I started looking at riveting in the tail post channel I realized the plate was missing. I assume there is only a plate on the left side but the plans call for longer rivets on both sides ? I don't seem to find the plates with my kit. For anyone with the current B kits, did you have to cut these from stock ? I have reached to Sonex but no reply yet. In either case looks like I will be drilling out rivets that Sonex installed.

Again, really appreciate the information in these threads.

[thomas]

jrs,

I'm building a Waiex B from a standard kit. I'm still working on the wings and have not started the fuselage. It appears there are to be rudder stop plates attached to both rear side skins and they are to be fabricated from 1/8" stock.

Paul

[jrs]

Thanks Paul.

Would have been much easier to match the holes before everything else was drilled out but "I can get er done".
Amazing amount of info on the plans. The weak spot is my ability to see everything, I am getting better.

Jim

[Area 51%]

The rudder stop plates are shown on page F28 as you probably already know. Since it doesn't specifically call that part out as an "airframe kit component" (and I don't remember making them) I was assuming they were included in the "machined angle component" package.

I just found them on the first page of the inventory list, third from the bottom, listed as L-WIX-F28-06. I'm assuming the Bs are the same as the legacy.

[jrs]

Sonex told me that I could make them from the 1/8" stock that was included. I used some card stock to make a template and traced and cut them using the template. Once I drilled out the last two rivets of the side panel slid the template behind the skin to mark hold positions. Actually went much better than I expected. Now if I can figure out how to put the nuts on the 4 bolts that attach to the top mount I will be golden. Need a 6 year old with small hands to help. Just finished my coffee break and headed back down to try again.

[Rynoth]

Now if I can figure out how to put the nuts on the 4 bolts that attach to the top mount I will be golden. Need a 6 year old with small hands to help. Just finished my coffee break and headed back down to try again.

As a general rule of thumb, bolts are inserted either facing down or facing aft, with the logic being that if the nut ever did come off, the bolt would tend to stay in place. For the top mount of the tail post, I went against this for the reason you described and inserted the bolts from below with nuts on top, which was far easier than putting the nuts on the bottom. There are plenty of other places on the airframe where this happens, such as all the bolts on the bottom of the fuselage.

Also, I marked every nut on the aircraft with a dab of "torque seal" (basically nail polish) after being tightened as a visual indicator that #1: I indeed torqued the nut and #2: easily shows upon inspection whether a nut has loosened.

[jrs]

The bolts that were difficult were on the number 3 and 4 in the tail post assembly. Hidden just below 1 & 2 in your picture. I have a quick build and so most of the fuselage is complete including the side skins. All of the support rails are locked in place. The bottom skin was removable but no other access. I was able to bolt together the entire post assembly including the lower mount but could not do the upper mount. The angles prevented it from being inserted if it was attached to the post. I attached the mount to the fuselage, put the post assembly in place and then had to figure out how to get the washers and nuts on the last four bolts. I suspect that “normally” you assemble this before the side skins are attached. My experience is probably close to what you guys did when you had to add the tail post reinforcement. Don’t know how many Waiex quick builds are out there but suspect all will have same challenge. Might have been a better way but I couldn’t see it. I did get it done but what a pain.