Super Stol Side Panels

[orenjr]

I was wondering if any one would have picture's of how they fastened removable panels on the side of the fuselage ? Not sure how to connect to the Jam extensions .
Thanks! Oren

[Tralika]

I don't have any photos but I looked at Steve Henry's SS Highlander at Copperstate and saw how he did it. He has two small tabs welded on the bottom longeron and uses riv-nuts or nut plates to attach the bottom of the panel. He said he had the factory weld on the tabs during production but it's easy to have the tabs welded on as a mod in the field as well. The top of the panel is attached with the screws that hold the boot cowl. The forward side of the panel does not need to be secured because it is covered by the engine cowl. The bottom of the side panel is bent over 90 degrees on the bottom to wrap under the longeron making a clean looking finish. I'm going to make the side panels for my plane as well.

If you look closely at the build photos on Steve H's web site you can see the small tabs.

http://www.wildwestaircraft.com/

Thanks to Steve for sharing this idea.

[orenjr]

Thanks! John
Does anyone know what thickness and type of aluminum used or what thickness of lexon should be used?
I am not sure if I will go with lexon or aluminum.
Thanks! Oren

[Tralika]

I'm guessing the same aluminum stock as Just supplies for the turtle deck would work for those side panels. You may be able to go a little lighter. I'm going to look into using carbon fiber stock but I suspect it will be cost prohibitive. You might try to send an email to Steve Henry and ask what he used. I would think that lexan would be heavier and a little too thick to fit under the turtle deck and engine cowl. I doubt there would be any advantage to having clear panels. I can't think of any flight condition where it would be useful or even possible to see through the panels down there. I remember someone on this forum that made some lexan panels in the floor of his Highlander. He said he couldn't really see anything useful through there in flight.

[taildrgfun]

I normally use .020 alum for those panels.

[orenjr]

Thanks! Steve
Do you put any glue on your riv-nuts to keep them from turning or just squeeze them?
By the way great video. I showed it at an EAA meeting at my shop and got a lot of great responses.
Thanks! Oren

[taildrgfun]

I just squeeze them. I'm pretty careful where I put them in case one of them ever wants to loosen up and turn on me.

[SheepdogRD]

I'm using some rivnuts (though I like to use nutplates when there's space). For tiny tabs like the floorboard mounts, I prefer to use a keyed rivnut (available from AS), which has a small protrusion on one side at the top of the barrel. After drilling the hole for the rivnut, I use minifiles to make a small slot on one side of the hole. That slot matches the protrusion and prevents the rivnut from turning so easily.

Rivnut - Keyed.jpg