QB Fuselage
Tools
- #36 drill bit to drill out 1/8 pop rivets at Amazon
- Punch for #36 holes set at Northern Tool
- Wedges to get floor panels past ledges at Amazon
- Rivet set with hole (to hold male dimple die) at Cleaveland
Links
Additional Comments
- References to "Page 28-16: Both sets of F-1057 L/R Mid-Seat Rail Supports" are outdated as newer fuselages no longer have this part. That page number is now blank on newer instructions.
- "Page 27-2: If going with a Lycoming engine, the three holes in the recess need to be widened to 5/8 inch with a Unibit". If you have an engine with electronic injection, you don't need the rightmost hole as there is no mixture. Dimple (male dimple die goes in rivet gun, see tools above; on backside, use self made bucking bar with machine countersunk 3/32 hole) and close with 3/32 rivet.
- Page 29-9, step 5: Both longerons were too long (the left one will interfere with the vertical post of the baggage door, the right one will interfere with tailcone bulkhead). Mark the correct length from the last rivet, jam a piece of robust steel sheet metal between the longeron and the skin and cut the longeron with a dremel "thin cut" metal disk.
- It is not absolutely necessary to take the front floor panels out. However, foreign objects have been found trapped underneath (rivet, sandpaper), also sticky areas that will accumulate dust. To take the front floors out, you need to shoehorn the outside edge to get past the side structure and you need to hold the inner back corner down firmly to maximize the distance to the side structure. Be careful not to kink the aft flange (better to slightly bend the center section of it backwards so it allows bending).
- So far confirmed on one QB delivered in Feb 2022 (Built in Sept 2021), QB fuses may have a primer that comes off when rubbing surfaces with ethyl alcohol wipes.
- If the primer comes off with just a dry cloth, you have a QB that has been manufactured in a period where priming was done wrong at the factory. Contact Vans about your options.