Daywalker Posted January 18, 2022 Share Posted January 18, 2022 I have been searching Google for a while, and am trying to get an answer on the rivets and spacing on the Curtiss P-40. Would anyone know the diameter of the rivet head, and what the spacing between the rivets is? Not sure if different areas of the airframe have different diameters/spacing, but I am looking mostly in the forward fuselage area. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Finn Posted January 19, 2022 Share Posted January 19, 2022 Don't about spacing but from a P-40 manual: Jari Martinnfb, Out2gtcha and Daywalker 2 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daywalker Posted January 19, 2022 Author Share Posted January 19, 2022 Thank you Jari, those are VERY helpful! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Juggernut Posted January 19, 2022 Share Posted January 19, 2022 LOL, now all you need to do is find out where the assemblers used the AD4 rivets (1/8"), the AD5 rivets (5/32"), and the AD6 rivets (3/16") on the airframe. Daywalker 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AirCorps Library Posted January 19, 2022 Share Posted January 19, 2022 Curtiss drawing 75-21-001 titled "Fuselage Skeleton Assembly" gives an overview of the entire fuselage, and in the bill of materials on this drawing lists the individual part numbers for each skin section, which would have details about the rivet spacing on each piece. Also on listed drawing 75-21-001, is the types of rivets use in each skin, and where each one was used. This original factory engineering drawing, and almost 16,000 more, are available for the P-40 via AirCorps Library. Citadelgrad, Anthony in NZ, airscale and 6 others 9 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brianhahn Posted January 20, 2022 Share Posted January 20, 2022 The diameters of rivets are driven (no pun intended) by the amount of stresses that they must handle. The area around the cockpit, wing roots, stabilizer roots, sparline, etc. will be the locations where they tend to get larger. Metal thicknesses tend to follow the same type of logic, getting thinner as you move away from the "core" of the aircraft. Regarding the spacing (also known as rivet pitch by us sheet metal folks), pitch is typically a range based on the DIAMETER of the rivet shank (not the size of the rivet head). Typical spacing is normally somewhere between 4D-10D, with D being the diameter of the shank. So a rivet shank that is 1/8" in diameter would have a spacing somewhere between .5"-1.25". Again, the pitch is also driven by stresses, so the rivets will tend to be closer together on structures that handle higher stress loads. HTH, Brian TAG and D.B. Andrus 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LSP_Ron Posted January 20, 2022 Share Posted January 20, 2022 A rivet head that is .25" - .300" dia would be ~.009" in dia in 1/32". Human hair is approximately .002", common printer paper is around .004" think. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RadBaron Posted January 21, 2022 Share Posted January 21, 2022 As said above, rivets used are a mixture of sizes and spacing. If you used a basic 1" pitch, you'd not be wrong for *most* of the spacing. If youre going to the length of measuring specific rivet pitch and diameter, note that you'll need to represent the rivets as rings, as opposed to the divots left by rivet wheels etc. R/H fuselage side, under side window. (Thats the opened canopy at the top of the picture) R/H wing, just forward of the Aileron L/E D.B. Andrus, Trak-Tor and Daywalker 2 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
D.B. Andrus Posted January 22, 2022 Share Posted January 22, 2022 RB What a/c is depicted? Cheers, Damian Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daywalker Posted January 22, 2022 Author Share Posted January 22, 2022 12 hours ago, RadBaron said: As said above, rivets used are a mixture of sizes and spacing. If you used a basic 1" pitch, you'd not be wrong for *most* of the spacing. If youre going to the length of measuring specific rivet pitch and diameter, note that you'll need to represent the rivets as rings, as opposed to the divots left by rivet wheels etc. Thank you so much for that! That is exactly what I was looking for. RadBaron 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete Fleischmann Posted January 22, 2022 Share Posted January 22, 2022 15 hours ago, RadBaron said: As said above, rivets used are a mixture of sizes and spacing. If you used a basic 1" pitch, you'd not be wrong for *most* of the spacing. If youre going to the length of measuring specific rivet pitch and diameter, note that you'll need to represent the rivets as rings, as opposed to the divots left by rivet wheels etc. R/H fuselage side, under side window. (Thats the opened canopy at the top of the picture) R/H wing, just forward of the Aileron L/E Fascinating that these photos were taken from more than a foot away…and there they are. plain as day. Nice job RB jumping in there with helpful information. P Daywalker and RadBaron 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RadBaron Posted January 22, 2022 Share Posted January 22, 2022 18 hours ago, D.B. Andrus said: RB What a/c is depicted? Cheers, Damian P40K N401WH. 2006 Oshkosh Grand Champion winner. Not my picture. Daywalker and D.B. Andrus 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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