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<September 12, 2007>

Longeron Downward Bend and Twist

It was bend and twist night here at the RV7 factory. I finished the longerons by putting the downward bend and twist on the front of each. I am glad to be done with these. It’s not that they were hard, just a little annoying. RV-7 builder Mike Bullock gave me a suggestion, and that was to bend the longerons in short sessions rather than trying to do it all in one day. That’s exactly what I did and I think his suggestion worked well for me and my personality. Thanks Mike.



Clamped and reading for a beating! The small clamp was put on to keep the longeron from moving out of the vise when I pounded on it.

After a couple minutes of stress relieving hammering, the bend was complete. I used my digital level to get as close to the 5.6° called for in the plans, and wouldn't you know it, it was perfect from the first attempt when compared to the fuselage skin.

Once I was satisfied with the downward bend, I used my adjustable wrench to put the prescribed twist into the longeron. It amazing how much you have to twist this around to end up with 17° of twist. I got it as close as I could, but I am not too worried about being exact here as there is plenty of play to adjust things as needed later.

I repeated the process for the right, and wouldn't you know I got it almost perfect the first try. What is going on here tonight?

I then marked the canopy decks for trimming as is required for a tip-up canopy, but I am going to wait to trim these until the fueslage goes together.
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