Smitty's RV-9A from Van's Aircraft

RV-9A: Project Entry

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Finished dimpling, sanding all of the VS parts
I used my various grades of sponge type sanding blocks to get all of the edges rounded as suggested by Van's manual. Now I will rub all of the ribs and spars down with a Scotchbrite pad to get them ready for priming. UPDATE 4/10/2006: Here's where I get confused. I was surrounded by 3 RV builders and an A&P yesterday who told me I was nuts for using the Scotchbrite pad on the ribs and spars. The instructions on the self-etching spray can say to rough up the surface so the primer will adhere. These guys told me by doing that I was removing the alclad coating that naturally protects the aluminum from corrision. They also said that since I primed over where I had scotchbrited, I was OK. The primer will protect the part. They said that I only need to put primer where the ribs, spars and skins meet other. In the future I am still going to prime the whole spar or rib, but I will not be rubbing the whole spar or rim down with a scotchbrite pad before priming.

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