Scott's RV-14 Build

Seatbacks and Other Stuff

I'm behind on my Builders Log and need to get caught up. I've spent the past 3 build sessions jumping around doing various things. I finally bought an air powered palm drill. I've been using a cordless electric drill which for the most part works OK. But there are times an air drill would've worked better. I took the plunge and bought a Nova palm drill which many RV builders are using. It'll get here in a few days. Can't have too many tools. I got the four access panel wing covers dimpled and primed. Then countersunk the skin rivet holes on the pitot mast after buying a mini extension chuck allowing the drill to clear the mast and get the countersink cage square on the mast plate. After more research I remade the mast support L-bracket. Th last one was made from a scrap piece of aluminum angle. Although it probably would've worked fine, the angle wasn't the correct material due to the sharp 90 degree bend it made. The lack of a radius would've created stress risers and maybe cracking down the road. The pitot mast is light but the pitot tube the mounts to it has mass. I was concerned about buzzing and vibration at certain speeds due to the moment arm with that vibration being transmitted to the support bracket. So I created another L-bracket by bending a piece of scrap .040 with an appropriate bend radius per The Standard Aircraft Handbook. I think this final version is much better over the long term. Today I got to work on the cockpit seat backs and spent hours creating the sub-assemblies that go into the finished seats.

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