Tool Kit Ordered!! HOBBS: 12.5 hrs

Just ordered my tool kit from Isham, Inc. http://www.planetools.com/ There are several good aviation tool suppliers out there (Avery, Cleveland, Spruce), the reason I chose Isham came down to two things that the other kits didnt offer. The DRDT-2 dimpler and the pneumatic rivet squeezer, neither of which are absolutely necessary, but make a world of difference when building. So, needless to say, I am now counting the minutes until it arrives and I can start setting some rivets!!

Construction begins...slowly! HOBBS: 12.5 hrs

It's been exciting to finally get started on the construction of the project. Unfortunately, I haven't ordered my aviation tool kit yet for financial reasons so I have been doing odds and ends with the tools I have. So far, it hasn't stopped me from progressing.

Enjoying a celebratory cigar to signal the beginning of the construction!!

Its funny, as a first time builder, you do your best to set up your shop. Low and behold once construction actually starts, its funny how things change! I have been tweaking the shop slightly, buying a few more hand tools (electric engraver, vice), etc. I expect that once the dust settles, the momentum of the project will accellerate quickly. So far, it has been a little bit of running in motion.

This is not entirely an 'assembly' project. Here is an example of some simple fabrication, these two pieces of angle aluminum used to splice together parts of the horizontal stab will be trimmed to the red lines shown. I actually enjoy this type of work.

Here is what they looked like after the deed.

Bought these parts bins from Harbor Freight to hold my rivets. These will work out great to be able to easily carry rivets to my work area.

Assembling the rear horizontal spars...

Starting to 'resemble' the horizontal stab??

Ordered my 'chemicals' from Spruce. AKZO two part primer, Alodine and Alumiprep. Also ordered extra cleco's and cleco pliers while I was at it since I knew I would need more.

Empennage Arrives!!

Six days after I placed my order at Van's, on April 16th, my empennage arrived via FedEx. Very exciting day! I signed for two boxes appropriately labeled, "high dollar aircraft parts". I spent the next few hours inventorying all of the parts. Every last part was accounted for, nicely done.

The two packages...

I really get a kick out of this labeling...

The only small SNAFU...this part was protruding out of the box...but luckily no damage done!

The smaller box, lots of rivets/hardware....

The blue film is a plastic coating used to protect the 2024 Alclad Aluminum from scratches, this will be removed later in the project.

Bag 'o hardware...

My electric elevator trim servo motor...kinda small for $300, dont ya think?

I ordered a tool box kit so I can practice my riveting before starting on aircraft parts.

Inventorying the hardware and rivets....

My first drawing loaded into my display frame, the horizontal stab

I am one happy camper!!! The journey has begun!

Factory Visit and Demo Ride!

On April 10th I visited Vans Aircraft factory. Joe Blank (great guy!) was our tour guide and later also served as our demo pilot. The tour was nice, the factory was well organized, clean and professional looking. I expected to see more QB kits, but Van's now has a facility in the Phillipines that does most of their kits so that may have been why I didnt see many.

View from the parking lot...

Fiberglass engine cowlings...

RV10 fiberglass cockpits....

Quickbuild wings ready to ship....

Aaaw, the good stuff...engines ready to be shipped...

The tour ended when we walked out into the display hangar....wow, what a sight!! They had just about every model of RV in the is hangar.

The RV12 demo plane, wings removed, just about to 'ship' it to Sun 'n Fun. They didnt want to chance it trying to fly it down with the weather this time of year.

About 10am, here comes an RV4 taxiing in. Its 'Van' himself, when you are the owner you show up whenever you want. ;) Heckuva commute into work huh?! Joe told us that was RV4, serial number 4. Very cool!

Unfortunately the RV7 was down for maintenance, so I was offered a ride in the 200hp RV8A demo plane. I was a little disappointed not to fly the -7, but happy to fly a 200hp version with a Constant Speed prop since this is similar performance to what my plane will be like. Very impressive indeed! Takeoff roll was nothing short of amazing for someone who has flown Skyhawks and Diamonds! Even with two of us aboard, I could literally feel the g-forces push me back into the seat from the accelleration down the runway. Joe pointed out a spot about 850 ft down the runway and said we should be off the ground by then, sure enough, he didnt lie. The plane flies great, very responsive yet doesnt go anywhere you dont want it to go. 'Fingertip' flyng is the way to go in an RV, the stick forces are very light, but firm. I was grinning from ear to ear as I weaved through the Oregon clouds (14oo broken, 3000 overcast). If I wasnt convinced beforehand, the flight left no doubt this is the plane for me!!

Joe was nice enough to offer my father a ride as well. My dad has started RV empennage kits twice before, but unfortunately wasnt able to finish them. He has always dreamed of building an RV. This was his first ride in one! I was glad to see him get to experience this.