QuickBuild Wing Construction:

As Van's pointed out in a letter to QuickBuild builders, the wings are shipped with

only a few of the fuel tank bolts and screws attached. The first thing we did was to

install and torque all of screws and bolts that attach the RV-9A fuel tanks to the wings.

We ordered the Leading Edge Halogen Landing Light Option, and since the builder

is required to cut the hole for this option, we wanted to get this out of the way first. By

using a nibbler and then sanding and ScotchBrighting out to the template line, we were

happy with our final results. Inside of the wing, you install an adjustable bay that allows

you to aim your landing light. The lens needs to be trimmed, and six nut-plates need

to be installed. It is best to heat the lens before trimming or drilling, and a step-drill

The following shows the construction and installation of the Aileron Hinge Attachment

Brackets. Assembly of these brackets requires the usual match-drilling, ScotchBrighting

and deburring of two pre-punched plates that are sandwiched between the Aileron

bearing. We have placed a small piece of tape over the bearings in order to protect

them until the Ailerons are installed. Pre-drilled angles are riveted onto the brackets for

attachment to the wings. The Inboard bracket requires a stop, which the builder

The following shows installed wing gap skirts. Because the lower inboard

skin is already installed by Van's, blind rivets are required for the skirt to rear spar

attachment along the inboard skin edge.

Next, the Aileron Push Rods and Bellcranks are built up and installed. We decided

to wait until the wing skins were in place before installing the Aileron Push Rods

in order to allow more room for riveting the outboard skin. When installing the

wiring for the wing lights, it is important to keep the wires away from Push Rods

and Bellcranks. Clamps and tie-wraps are used to achieve this.

We decided on the wing position, navigation and strobe combination. Since the

strobe light power supply generates high voltage, we decided to mount the power

supply on the outboard side of the wings in order to avoid high voltage wiring

runs next to the fuel tanks. Four nut plates were placed in the main spar to allow

replacement though the removable wing tip.

The Pitot Tube installation requires a flaring tool in order to build up the fitting on

the aluminum tubing end. We decided on Van's pre--built stainless steel Pitot Tube

because it is stronger and will withstand the weather a little better. It also comes

with a very nice red cover.

We are now ready to match drill, debur, dimple and countersink the two lower

outboard wing skins and start to rivet them onto the wings. The construction

manual recommends that the rear spar be dimpled and lightly countersunk to

improve skin join results.

For best results in riveting the lower wing skins to the wing is to start at the rear

middle part of the wing and work out to each side while moving down to the main

spar. I found it most efficient to tape and set four rivets at a time. The entire process

took around 16 hours per wing to install each wing skin, and it was nice to have

this job out of the way.

The following show the wing tip construction and installation. The wing tips must

first be trimmed before they can be fitted onto the wings. I found that a Dremmel

Tool using a cutting attachment works best for this, but because of the fiberglass dust,

it is best to have someone hold a shop vac near the work while cutting. Once the wing

tips are trimmed, they were then positioned and match drilled into the wing. We chose

to have removable wing tips, so I installed #6 plate nuts to accepts #6 flush screws. Two

aluminium ribs per wing tip are installed into the end of the wing tip in order to align

it to the Aileron and stiffen the tip. The combination Nav, Position and Strobe lights

were then cut-in and installed to complete the job.

Because the Ailerons in the RV-9A QuickBuild Kit come completed, it is just a

matter of attaching the mounting brackets and fabricating a few spacers for the

installation to the wing. The builder is required to build the two push rods that

are used to actuate the Ailerons through the Bellcrank, and also adjusting them to

the Aileron neutral positions.

We decided on the Stuart Warner thick film float style fuel sender units and simple

analog cockpit fuel gauges. The arm on the float must be bent according to the

RV-9A fuel tank requirements but was not difficult to do. In addition, we replaced

the stock fuel pickups with Van's new stainless steel screen fuel pickup units. The

fuel sender is then mounted to the outboard fuel hatch with a rubber seal. Each

screw must have a dab of fuel tank sealant before it is installed and the cork seal

on the wing side of the fuel hatch can also be sealed if the builder wants to do this.

We completed our wings by hanging the long Fowler Flaps and checking their

neutral position with respect to the Ailerons. Vivian liked the competed wings

so much that she wanted to be photographed by them.