Michael's RV-7A Project

Elevator Dimpling Disaster

2011-06-25T19:34:00.005-04:00

So I headed down to the garage this afternoon for the first work session in a while. I had been working for about an hour and 45 minutes, and everything was going great. I dimpled the stiffeners for both the left and right elevator skins. I then moved onto dimpling the skins themselves using my trusty C-frame. I was only ten holes or so away from finishing both skins, when disaster struck.

I lined up the dimple dies on the hole took a swing with the hammer, reaered back for a second shot, but when it landed something just didn't feel right. Sure enough I pulled the skin away from the C-frame and found that my dimple dies had created a new hole just a fraction of an inch from the original. The spring loaded ram on top of the C-frame must have come up off the skin between my first and second blow just enought to allow the skin to shift.

I decided that was a good place to stop for the day, and to give myself some time to consider my next move. The perfectionist in me says, "Just order a new skin and get back to work." However, the lazy guy, who seems to win out most weekends, wants to figure out any way possible to save this skin. I've put a lot of effort into it and it would be a shame to have to waste all that, and start over.

I guess I'll take the next few days to do some research, and figure out the best way to get this build back on the fast track.

Elevator Construction Continues

2011-05-03T20:53:00.015-04:00

I had a lunch time appointment to have my problematic refridgerator looked at again today. I decided not to go back to work afterwards. I just couldn't bring myself to climb back into the car and return to the office. It doesn't help that today was B-E-A-utiful. I know the extreme summer heat is just around the corner, so I took advantage of the cooler weather to spend some quality time in the shop.

I finished up the deburring on the right eleveator skin. The right elevator is now ready for some light sanding followed by primer, so I moved on to the left elevator skin and stiffeners. I finished all the drilling and about 85% of the deburring for the left elevator stiffeners. I plan on finishing up the deburring in preparation for a long priming session over the weekend.

All in all a great day in the shop. Just a little over five and a half hours. I think things are really starting to roll.

Deburring the Left Elevator Skin

Drilling the Left Elevator Stiffeners

The Stars at Night, are Big and Bright...

2011-04-24T17:46:00.000-04:00

That's right folks, I've officially relocated to North Texas. The move actually took place last September, and I've been trying to get settled in to my new environment ever since.

I drove the Mazda (RX-8) down to Texas over labor day and immediately started my new position. Did the usual hotel living as I nailed down more permanent housing, and moved into my beautiful two bed, two bath townhouse, with two car garage on October 1, 2010.

In late October I flew back up to Indy and U-Hauled the RV-7A project down to Texas. I didn't have much time to do anything with it at that time, as I had to almost immediately head back to the airport and hop a flight to Seattle for a couple of weeks.

When I got back I fiddled with setting up the shop in the garage a few times, and had it looking pretty spify. I added some additional lighting and got all of my tools, motorcycles, equipment and my car situated so that I could actually get around.

However, a serious lack of motivation has resulated in nothing actually getting accomplished on the airplane itself. Until today! It's a small victory, but I spent about two hours in the shop this afternoon continuing the deburring work on the right elevator skin.

According to the log, that's work that began over a year ago. I knew it had been a long time, but I had no idea it had been over a year. I thought maybe 7 or 8 months max.

Again, I know two hours isn't much, but every little bit counts, right? I'm also hoping this opens the flood gates, and gets me back in the shop on a more regular basis.

Quick Update

2010-08-28T18:07:00.004-04:00

Spent two weeks back home in Indianapolis, but didn't spend any time in the workshop. The temps were high 80s and low 90s the whole time which made the garage pretty toasty. I've been thinking about buying an air conditioner for the garage, but with my uncertain employment and the potential to be moving soon, I didn't want to invest the time and money. I know many other builders are toughing it out in much worse conditions, but I guess I'm a bit of a wuss. My hats off to all you builders in Arizona, Texas, and other warm climates.

You may recall from my last post, that I was supposed to be unemployed by now. It only took the company a couple weeks to realize they still had too much work to do this year, and as a result all lay-off notices were cancelled. That doesn't mean my job search is over. I'm still seeking out a new, challenging opportunity.

Wherever my next adventure takes me, I plan on being there for at least a few years. Hopefully long enough to finish my plane. Once I get moved, I will be ordering my wing kit, and opening the flood gates on building.

Work Pace Slowing

2010-07-03T16:04:00.000-04:00

The deteriorating economy of the last couple years has come home to roost. I received notice last week that my services with my current employer will no longer be required come August 20th. The news was surprising, but not upsetting, as I had been looking for a new opportunity during the past five months or more. My current assignment has been great in so many ways. I've met a great number of outstanding people whom I have come to call my friends. It has also allowed me to start my RV, and save a good deal towards the next few kits. I always knew it was a temporary deal, and now it's just time to move on.

So what's my plan, and the plan for the RV? I've decided to hold off on ordering any more kits until I've landed a new job and determined where that will be. Currently I have feelers in several different states including Indiana, South Carolina, Florida, California and Texas. It will be a lot easier to move a completed empennage kit, than that and a huge assortment of parts for wings and a fuselage. Of course, the entire shop will have to relocate as well.

I'm going to continue work on my empennage which is about 70% complete, just at a slightly slower pace. In September, if I haven't already found a full-time job, the job search itself will become the full-time job.

To all of those dealing with unemployment, hang in there! This too shall pass.

Rudder Trailing Edge Work

2010-05-12T00:00:00.001-04:00

So, I could procrastinate no longer, and started work on the rudder trailing edge. This operation was just the mess I thought it would be. Those of you who have built your tanks, or have used the firewall sealant, know what I'm talking about. Thanks to my Mom and my brother for their help, I couldn't have done it without them.

I ended up just drilling the trailing edge of the rudder directly to my work bench. I had bought a long steel angle that I was intent on using, but I couldn't get it even and level with the rest of the work bench.

I bought four, ten pound bags of shot at the local outdoors store. That stuff is surprisingly expensive. I used the shot to weight the rudder down, and hopefully hold everything nice and square while the trailing edge "glue" sets up.

Mixing the two part firewall sealant was easy, but tiring. At my work, we use a similar product and have the nice electric mixer for this chore. My hands were quite sore after the mixing. I think I did a pretty thorough job of it. Mom and brother held the AEX wedge while I slathered sealant on both sides. Then they helped hold the trailing edge apart as I slid the wedge into place.

My brother helped Cleco the trailing edge down to the bench, and I started to "cleanup" some of the oozing sealant. I quickly discovered that it would be far easier to allow the sealant to cure and then trim the oozing with a razor. So now, I'm just waited for the sealant to cure, and then I will begin the double flush riveting.

Elevator Construction Begins

2010-04-25T00:00:00.002-04:00

With there being so little work to do on the rudder, and waiting for various parts and tools, I decided to go ahead and start work on the elevators. The elevators (right and left) are the final components of the empennage kit. The last couple sessions in the work shop have been spent on trimming the stiffeners, of which there are many. I also finished the edges of the stiffeners and the right elevator skin.

Then I set about match drilling the stiffeners to the right elevator skin. The manual from Van's states that the construction of the elevators is similar to the rudder. This is very true, although I'm glad that the trailing edge of the elevators are a folded edge, rather than a riveted edge.

Putting Off Rudder Trailing Edge

2010-04-18T00:00:00.003-04:00

So I'm almost to the point on the rudder where I'm going to be forced to start the messy ordeal of riveting the trailing edge. The trailing edge requires me to smear all the pieces that meet at the trailing edge with tank sealant. This is not a task I am looking forward to.

So, I reached a point today where I needed, and did not have a 7/64" reamer or drill bit. All that remains of the skin to skeleton riveting is four locations where I have decided to use a "pop rivet" (MK-319-BS) in lieu of the standard solid rivet. These locations just can't be reached with a squeezer or bucking bar for a variety of reasons and need to be pilot drilled to the larger 7/64".

I jumped online to the McMaster-Carr website and promptly ordered two 7/64" reamers. Due to the great service and convenient location (only 213 miles north of Indianapolis, in Chicago), those will be here tomorrow. Unfortunately, that means I'll probably need to start on the trailing edge tomorrow.

Picture of the nearly completed rudder...

Back to Work

2010-04-08T23:55:00.006-04:00

Greetings fans! Yes, I took the liberty of assuming that I have fans despite my prolonged absence from cyberspace. I'm sorry I haven't posted in a while. Allow me to explain.

My last trip home was pretty hectic. My Jeep broke down amongst a myriad of other home chores to complete, and so I only got about 4 hours of work on the RV done during that trip. The silver lining in that cloud, those 3-4 hours were spent working with Troy Grover over at Grov Air. He really helped me out a lot on my rudder, and it looks great.

My work session at Grov Air was back in February, and I'm just now getting back into the factory here at home. I spent another four hours today continuing the work we started a couple months ago.

The rudder is well on its way to being completed now. I would estimate it to be about 70-80% complete. I clecoed the left and right skins (R-901-R and R-901-L) to the rudder skeleton and riveted the counterbalance rib (R-912) and nose rib (R-903) to the skeleton. Of course the biggest challenge of the rudder construction is still ahead. I'm referring to the riveting of trailing edge. It requires tank sealant and double flush riveting. I hope I am up to the challenge.

I think I'll finish riveting the skins to the rudder main spar and bottom rib and start on the elevators while I wait for the tank sealant to cure on the rudder trailing edge.

Until next time...

Michael

Rudder Construction Continues

2010-02-11T00:00:00.000-05:00

The last several hours in the work shop have been dedicated to rudder construction. Everything is going well so far, but then drilling, edge finishing de-burring and dimpling haven't been problems for me. That's why I'm scheduling some time to go over to Grov-Air to get some help on riveting the rudder. My goal is to make my rudder the absolutely best component to date.

Riveting the stiffeners onto the left and right rudder skins was a breeze. I really like back-riveting. It's easy and makes great looking rivets. I then set about assembling the remainder of the rudder.

Down at the base of the rudder are some interesting features. The instructions from Van's are somewhat lacking in this area. For example they omit the drilling of the spar reinforcement plates, as well as the rudder horn (R-710). Other builder's have made note of this, I'm surprised that the instructions are still neglecting these features. I also found my self wondering why the bottom rib (R-904), skin (R-901-R, R-901-L) and bottom attachment strips (R-918) aren't drilled all together. The skin and rib can be drilled while clamped with Clecos, but with clamps all three could be placed carefully and drilled together. As it is I ended up drilling the rib and skin with a reamer and then all three a second time with a drill bit. I think this may have slightly elongated some of the holes in the rib and or skin, but all look satisfactory to proceed on to riveting.

So I think the rudder is going really well. The last bit of preparation for riveting is to counter sink the extruded trailing edge (R-916). The hardest part of countersinking is setting up the countersink cage for the correct depth. Once that's done I should be able to knockout all 40 to 50 counter sinks in about an hour or two.

Rudder Construction Begins

2010-02-04T00:00:00.010-05:00

I spent the first few minutes tonight drilling out the rivets connecting the damaged HS-707 nose rib to the HS skin. I then quickly realized that the replacement HS-707 rib I had ordered from Van's was in fact an HS-404 nose rib. Grrrr! Jumped online and put in an order for the correct part and decided to start on the rudder.

Cutting and trimming the rudder stiffeners is not difficult. However, it is definitely one of those times where you need to measure twice (or three times) and cut only once. I got all 16 stiffeners cut, and half of them trimmed and edges prepped.

A Little Help from My Friends

2010-01-28T00:00:00.000-05:00

My day started off with a bit of frustration, but by the end of the day was very happy with our progress. This project, of late, has been an emotional roller coaster of sorts.

I had planned on taking Friday off from airplane construction, but a visit from potential RV-10 builder Jeremy motivated me to convert the garage back into factory mode for one more day before flying back to Alaska. I had been having a tough time with the HS nose ribs (HS-404). I thought a second pair of hands might help matters along. I got everything all set up in anticipation of Jeremy's arrival. A brief lesson on riveting and away we went. The last five or six rivets attaching the nose rib to the HS skin were done, and looked great.

Several hours later my cousin, Craig, stopped by and helped me rivet the front spar to the HS skin. This constituted major, visible progress on the HS which really made me feel good about the work sessions over the past weeks.

Thank you very much Jeremy and Craig! I'll definitely be calling on you guys again.

Renewed Faith

2010-01-21T00:11:00.000-05:00

I have to be completely honest here. After the fiasco that was trying to rivet the horizontal stabilizer over the last two days, I was seriously beginning to doubt my ability to complete this project. However, today I am a changed man. I just finished riveting together the vertical stabilizer (VS) rear spar, and it went much better.

While trying to rivet the horizontal stabilizer rear spar and ribs, I had to drill out at least five or six rivets. The HS707 nose rib to skin rivets were particularly trying, and are as of right now still not complete. While drilling out one bad rivet on the nose rib, I completely slotted the hole in the rib. It's so bad that the rib will need to be replaced. My first replacement part, yeah!

I've been continuing work on the vertical stabilizer as a distraction from the HS woes, and also since I have come to the conclusion that I should not attempt to hand buck rivets by myself. I was able to pneumatically squeeze and\or back rivet all the rivets in the VS rear spar.

My mother's boss may be stopping by the factory tomorrow. I understand he's interested in building an RV-10. That may be a good opportunity to get some riveting done on the HS, and get him some exposure to the building process. Two birds, one stone, etc.

A Frustrating Day

2010-01-14T00:00:00.000-05:00

Today was a frustrating day at the factory. I got an early start and worked almost ten hours, but it feels like I didn't accomplish much. I started off the day by completing the edge finishing and fluting of the vertical stabilizer ribs and spars. I had started prepping them for assembly while horizontal stabilizer construction was on hold for priming supplies.

Then I set out to begin riveting the HS together. That's where the trouble began. I struggled all day with my riveting. I scratched up my newly primed parts in a few places. One where the rivet gun slipped off the rivet and put a nice gash in the bar stock. That needed to be smoothed out with a Scotchbrite wheel.

I proceeded to continue riveting the HS skeleton together. At one point I found a decent rhythm. Most of the rivets attaching the 603PP and 609PP went well, however at the end of the day I put the forward and rear spars on the workbench for a quick picture (see below). As it turns out, I incorrectly identified the the rivet holes attaching the HS405 ribs to the rear spar. So tomorrow those will need to be drilled out. The HS405 Ribs are hiding the offending rivets in the picture below, but they're there.

The final straw was trying to rivet the HS707 nose rib to the HS skin. The first rivet went well. I was surprised at how much easier it was to set the smaller 3/32" rivets compared to the 1/8" rivets I had been working with. The next two rivets put an end to my night in the workshop. On the second rivet, my bucking bar apparently slid off the rivet and put a dent in the rib and skin. A nice impression of the side of the bucking bar on my pristine skin! The third and final rivet, appeared to set okay, but upon closer inspection, it must not have been tight against the skin. After bucking it was sitting just a little proud. That was it, I was done. I'll deal with the aftermath tomorrow. The silver lining is I'll get lots of practice drilling out rivets tomorrow. Ugh!

First Rivet a Bust

2010-01-07T00:00:00.000-05:00

So, I set my first rivet of the project today, and sadly it will need to be removed and redone. I've been waiting for the last several days to get the lacquer thinner I needed to clean up after shooting my primer. I finally found a Sherwin Williams this morning that had the required thinner, and proceeded to assemble my spray booth for the garage. I would much rather spray outside, but it's too cold, and was in fact snowing this morning. After assembling the spray booth and priming the VA-145, I was ready for the first rivets.

I have read of many builders who have used AN470AD4-6 rivets, as opposed to the AN470AD4-5 rivets called out in the plans, to rivet the HS-411 assembly. I checked the pre-set length of the -5 rivet using my rivet gauge and sure enough the -6 does appear to be the correct length. So I moved up to the longer rivets.

I set up my pneumatic squeezer for the 1/8" standard rivet. As soon as pressed the lever the rivet proceeded to fold over, a sure sign of a rivet that's too long. I'm not sure if I had the squeezer perfectly aligned for the rivet or not. That may or may not be the cause of the poor set. After I drill out the faulty -6 rivet, I think I'll another -6 rivet, but use a rivet gun and bucking bar as opposed to the pneumatic squeezer.

A Day of Learning

2009-12-31T00:00:00.000-05:00

According to the FAA (FAR Part 21.191) experimental amateur built certificates are issued for "education and recreation". Well, the education part of that intent hit me hard today. I tried to educate myself as best as possible before beginning this project, but I have discovered the learning will not stop any time soon.

I spent the better part of today attempting to dimple the skeleton and skins of the horizontal stabilizer. The skeleton was fairly routine. I used my pneumatic squeezer and dimple dies exclusively. The skins is where I was taught a lesson or two. The holes around the edges were quickly dimpled again with the pneumatic squeezer. The holes for the forward spar were done fairly easily with the trusty C-frame dimpler. The place I took a few lumps was trying to get the last few dimples for the middle nose rib.

The C-frame dimpler could reach all but the last one or two holes for the nose rib. I made it work on one of the forward most holes, but with a nice little "smiley" on the outside of the skin. I was none to happy.

After struggling with these last few holes for nearly an hour I discovered, or better yet, re-discovered, my "tight fit dimpling fixture" from Cleaveland Aircraft Tools. This simple tool made quick work of these forward most dimples.

After today, I really appreciate and understand when builders talk about how much easier or quicker their second plane is to build. So many lessons to learn so few parts.

HS Nearing Completion

2009-12-24T00:00:00.000-05:00

Today was a long day in the shop; about ten hours. However, as sometimes happens, in building I didn't have much to show for it. Don't misunderstand, I got a lot of work done. It's just that the "before" and "after" photos don't look much different.

I finished drilling the HS601PP skin to the under-structure of the left hand half of the HS, and moved on to the right hand side. At the end of the day, both halves of the HS are drilled, deburred, with edges finished and ready for dimpling.

The cleaning lacquer for the Sherwin Williams primer is scheduled to arrive at my local paint store tomorrow. That means a trip to the local hardware store as well to pick up some spraying equipment. Hard on the pocketbook, but I always enjoy spending money on new tools.

Really looking forward to dimpling and getting into riveting. With any luck, the horizontal stabilizer will be complete by the end of the weekend.

Setting up the right half of the HS for drilling.

HS Construction Continued

2009-12-17T00:00:00.000-05:00

The last couple of sessions in the factory have seen some real progress. Parts are starting to take shape, and I seem to be finding my rhythm. I drilled most of the holes for the rear spar, and cleaned up all the edges. Deburring and edge finishing is tedious work, and not all that enjoyable. However, it must be done and it's not so bad if you have some good music to keep you going (thanks Pandora!).

I'm at the point with the rear spar that I am ready to prime the VA-146 bearing. A trip to Sherwin Williams produced a one gallon can of P60G2 primer and catalyst, but they didn't have the recommended thinner\cleaner. I had them order a couple gallons of the cleaner and until it arrives, I'm going to skip ahead a bit and continue with as much of the construction as possible. With any luck, by the time the cleaner arrives, I'll have a stack of parts ready to prime. I could have used a different thinner, but I'd be pretty upset if my brand new HPLV spray gun was ruined after the first use. Below is a picture of one half of the rear spar with the doublers clecoed in place.

The construction of the front spar is well underway. The bends in the HS-710 and HS-714 were pretty straight forward. I cut a six degree template out of cardboard and stuck the parts in the vise, and bent them by hand. Bending the front spar tabs (HS-702) was a little more difficult, but they turned out well.

The last half of today's work session was devoted to edge finishing and deburring of the HS ribs. This picture shows the temporarily assembled front spar in the middle of the bench and in the lower right corner you can see all of the HS ribs prepped and ready to begin the skeleton construction.

Horizontal Stabilizer Rear Spar

2009-12-09T00:00:00.000-05:00

Construction has begun. Tonight I started with the horizontal stabilizer (HS) rear spar, which just happens to be step one of the construction manual.

They say that everything takes longer than you think it will, and I can see that is going to be very true. I spent six hours in the shop tonight and only managed to get through the inventory on the empennage kit and the shaping\fitting of the rear spar reinforcing bars (HS-609PP) into the rear spar channels (HS-603PP).

The instructions say to use a vixen file on the reinforcing bars if they interfere with the inside radius of the spar channel. You need to be real careful with those vixen files. They'll remove a lot of material in short order. I probably removed more from the edges of the reinforcing bars than was necessary to clear the sides of the spar channel, but they look good. Lastly, I rounded the ends of the reinforcing bars. Looking forward to getting back into the shop.

I took some photos while I was working, but apparently I don't know how to use a camera. They are all out of focus and therefore not worthy of posting.

Empennage Kit Arrives

2009-12-01T00:00:00.001-05:00

Today was the big day! My empennage kit arrived and I began the inventory process. As it turns out, everything was exactly were it should be and in the correct quantities. I expected nothing less from Van's. There are a few items that even exceeded the quantities listed on the pick sheet.

I've become very aware that I just do not have enough storage space. Of course, I'll make do like most builders, but I sure could use more space. I may swing by the hardware store today and pick up a few storage bins for some of the larger parts. I'm also considering some desiccant to protect against corrosion during storage.

Empennage Kit Ordered!!!

2009-11-23T00:00:00.000-05:00

Sent in my order form for the tail kit today. Hoping the hardware will arrive in Indy just a few days before I do. I expect it will take me a couple days to inventory everything and find suitable storage space in the factory. Construction should be in full swing within a couple weeks.

Final Shop Preparations

2009-11-13T00:00:00.026-05:00

I'm officially declaring the airplane factory open for construction! I'm expecting to order the empennage kit next week for a delivery shortly before the Thanksgiving holiday. I'm sure I will continue to make improvements on my work space and tool collection, but I feel ready to start construction.

Although my early plans did not call for upgrading the wiring in the garage, I found a compressor I really liked and at a good price. The only downside, it only runs on 220V service. So that necessitated some new service run in the garage. I hired a friend of a friend (an out of work electrician) to run the line while I was making other shop improvements. I realize this may be a problem when time to move to the hangar, but I'll burn that bridge when I get to it.

While waiting for the 220V service I ran an air hose up and across the ceiling to this retractable reel. I think it turned out very nice. Included in my Cleaveland tool kit was the light hose kit, so between that and the regular air hose hanging from the ceiling that should make working with air tools very nice and comfortable.

Last, but not least I built the recommended C-Frame dimpler tool work surface. I deviated from the plans slightly. I think it called for 0.75"x3.25" support beams, but your standard 1x4 is 0.75"x3.5". So rather than trying to cut a quarter inch of the entire length of my 1x4s, I just went with the 3.5" dimension. In hindsight 1x3s (0.75"x2.5") would have been better. I ended up having to make small stands to sit the C-Frame on to bring it up to the right height.

I couldn't resist the temptation to drill a couple extra holes in my practice project. I dimpled one hole with the C-Frame and the other with my pneumatic squeezer. I then set a flush rivet (AN427AD3-3) in the hole dimpled with the squeezer. I used my back rivet set to drive this rivet. I'm very happy with the quality of the dimples, and I look forward to making a lot more.

First Van's Order

2009-11-03T00:00:00.001-05:00

Just some gratuitous photos of my very first Van's Aircraft order. Nothing real exciting. Just a few books and some spare rivets, but I couldn't resist documenting the first shipment from Van's. Next time it'll be an Empennage kit for an RV-7A!

OCD and a Tool Box

2009-10-24T00:00:00.002-04:00

I, like many men, have always wanted a very nice set of tools. Growing up I saw and admired many a large tool chest full of wrenches, sockets, pliers, screwdrivers and such. For most of my adult life I've settled for piecing together mixed and matched kits in cheap Rubbermaid tool boxes. So when I decided to build the RV, I took it as an opportunity and excuse to go out and spend a bunch of money on a nice tool chest and the tools to go with it.

At my work we have a very nice tool box. An extreme example of, "A place for everything and everything in its place.", as shown below. I have always been impressed with this tool box, and I knew that I wanted to incorporate some of its features into my own.

Not to be out done, I set to work on my new tool chest and 358 piece Craftsman tool set. After 27 hours of tedious work, I'm very happy with the results. You may call me crazy, but when I need a tool, I bet I find it no time flat. The 27 hours of work now, I hope, will save me hundreds of hours during the build and maintenance of my RV. Below is my "riveting" drawer. The black material is 1/2" thick foam from Sears that I cut out in the shape of the tools. This drawer was pretty easy. The hardest drawers were the ones with all the sockets!

I'm still not complete with this little project. I need to cut some access to some of the pliers and smaller tools where it's hard to get a finger down in between the foam. Also, I want to create some sort of backing under the foam to help hold things down and in place. But right now, I'm focused on getting that first kit ordered.

Here's my attempt at making a collage in Picasa showing some of the work that went into my new tool chest.

Tools Galore

2009-10-14T00:00:00.001-04:00

I just received my tool order from Cleaveland Aircraft Tool. I was expecting these boxes to be bigger and heavier for some reason. I went with their Complete Airframe Tool Package with the Pneumatic Squeezer Upgrade. I also invested in the Sioux Die Grinder kit (with a straight grinder instead of angled) and Angle Drill Kit.

The next picture didn't turn out so well, but you can get the gist. A lot of new tools to play with.

First Snow

2009-09-23T21:41:00.011-04:00

Well it finally happened. I had hoped the snow would hold off till I headed home this weekend. Despite it being a balmy 35 F (2 C) today, it snowed quite hard this morning. I didn't go home and get my camera until around lunch time, so I missed the snow really coming down hard. You can see the aftermath below. About 3-4 inches overall, but it's melting quickly, creating a lot of water and slush. Ugh! Winter is finally upon us here in Alaska.

The Airplane Factory

2009-08-31T00:00:00.002-04:00

Two hard weeks of work behind me and one very nice looking airplane factory (IMHO) to show for it. I'm very happy with the way the shop has turned out. I can't wait to get the rest of my tools to fill that toolbox and officially start the build.

In the picture above you see the shop in full airplane building mode. The work bench ended up a stout six feet by three feet. Hopefully enough room for most bench top jobs. I lowered the bottom shelf all the way to the floor to provide for maximum storage. I had wanted to put a thick epoxy coating over the top of the bench to provide some extra durability, but it would have almost doubled the cost of the bench.

With the supplies left over from the main work bench I was able to build a smaller 2'x4' table for the corner. This is where I have placed my drill press, bench grinder and vise. You can just see the corner of it off to the right in the photo above.

The other feature I'm particularly proud of is the collapsible drafting style desk on the wall. This large writing surface is perfect for laying out drawings while working. The wall mounted brackets adjust to fold the desk flat against and at 70, 80 and 90 degree angles to the wall. In the picture the desk is sitting at 70 degrees which for me seems perfect. It also has a piece of plexiglass on it under which I can put handy reference materials.

The last photo shows the shop in "garage mode". One of the main requirements of the shop was that it must be able to house a single car throughout the build process. With the desk folded against the wall, the entire shop fits into the extra 4'x12' area off to the right of the garage door. Now I just have to figure out where to put the air compressor and a belt\disc sander.

RV Builder's Class

2009-08-24T00:00:00.002-04:00

This past weekend I attended a two day class introducing the basics of aluminum airplane construction. The class was held in Indianapolis at Grov-Air Inc. Grov-Air is a builders assistance company on the West side of Indianapolis founded by Troy Grover and specializing in the RV series of aircraft. I imagine the class was very similar to the Sportair Workshops that I've heard so much about. Troy scheduled this class perfectly to fit in with one of my trips back to Indy.

Over the two day class we built two small projects, using many of the different techniques that will be required to build my RV. Deburring, match drilling, back riveting, rivet squeezing and dimpling just to name a few. The first project was just a couple pieces of sheet aluminum riveted together and then to a piece of aluminum angle. The second project was similar to a part of the RV-9 aileron. I was also introduced to many of the different tools that are used. That's a real plus since I haven't ordered any of my specialty aircraft tools yet, and now I have a better understanding of what they all do and which ones I really need and want.

I think both my projects turned out pretty well. One thing I learned is that everything takes longer than you expect. I looked at this little aileron looking deal and thought, "That shouldn't take long to finish". I was surprised to be leaving Grov-Air about two hours late on Sunday night. Troy didn't seem to mind me sticking around a little while longer. Troy is a great guy, and having him so close to where I will be building my RV is a real plus. I'm sure I'll be soliciting his help throughout the build.

So with my first rivets behind me, I'm feeling confident in my skills and looking forward to getting this project under way. Work's been picking up lately so maybe with a little OT I can get my empennage kit ordered sometime this month.

Preparations Begin

2009-08-17T00:00:00.005-04:00

This week I've begun preparations for "The Shop". As you can see this is no small task. I imagine most builders, at least first time builders, start about the same place. The Shop is simply a two car garage, which must be able to accomodate one car and a couple motorcycles throughout the build.

I can already tell that I will have to demonstrate a little bit of restraint during this phase, lest I spend the majority of my budget on setting up to build the plane, and have nothing left for the plane itself. I've been looking over Craig's list for second hand power tools to curb some costs.

I'm hoping to just declutter as best as possible and maybe install some additional lighting. No plans as of yet to upgrade the electrical, nor any other major modifications.

You can see we still have a lot of boxes from the move. We've been in the new house for over a year now I think. Or maybe it's a year this November. How time flies!

I plan on building a work bench on casters, similar to the EAA 1000 standard work bench. I'll probably kick the bench dimensions up a notch. You can never have too much work space, right? When I'm not pounding rivets, the whole shop needs to tuck away into the corner on the right. That's the corner currently filled with old moving boxes.

Welcome!

2009-07-13T23:35:00.004-04:00

I had to think long and hard about starting this website, or blog as it's called. As a fellow builder put it, "The time you spend building a site could just as easily be spent building the plane." Thanks Brad! So with the KISS (Keep It Simple Stupid) attitude, I've settled on a home here at Blogspot, where I can keep you all abreast of what's taking place in the "factory".

To be completely honest, I never saw myself as a potential home builder. I knew that there were kits out there that allowed people to build their own planes, but I thought how cool can that be. The few examples I had seen were either overly simplistic and boring or so far "out there" that it didn't peak my interest. Enter my co-worker Tony.

Tony has built a couple of plans built aircraft, and is obviously a pilot. Tony looked over my shoulder one day and saw that I was cruising Trade-a-Plane and Controller looking for a used Cessna that would fit my budget. I've been dreaming about being an airplane owner for many years. I guess ever since my Uncle gave me flying lessons as a high school graduation gift. A few minutes later Tony sends me a simple, rather benign looking, one line email, "Check out this website." The website was Van's Aircraft Inc. Almost immediately I was taken with the sleek design of the RV line of aircraft. My interest deepened when I learned of the outstanding performance of these beautiful aircraft. The final nail in the coffin was the price. I could get started on my very own airplane for about $2000 (empennage kit). That sure beat the near quarter million price tag of the new G1000 equipped C172s. As an aside, I think the G1000, and G900X, are just about the coolest Electronic Flight Instrument Systems (EFIS) in General Aviation (GA). Big $$$!

Over the next week I read more and more about the Van's Aircraft and discovered the large community that exists around them. As of this writing, there are over 6200 Van's aircraft finished and flying all over the world. There are numerous builders out there with their own websites (another reason I had to question the need for this site) as well as forums with extensive, international memberships. Just before leaving for the National Homebrewer's Convention (another hobby of mine), I ordered the preview plans for the RV-7/7A.

So, now begins the process of setting up shop, and gathering the necessary tools and equipment to begin construction. It will probably take me 2-3 months just to save the money for all the tools and the first kit. I'm hoping to be shaping aluminum and pounding rivets in Late September.

Stay tuned...