Last Fuel Tank HOBBS 499.0 hrs

I have started construction on my 4th and FINAL fuel tank! Sorry, once again, no pics...it's just stuff you've already seen by now. Progress thus far => all fuel tank ribs fitted/match drilled to skin, fuel cap hole cut, fuel drain hole cut, skin dimpled, ribs fluted and dimpled, capacitance plates fitted, stiffeners placed and match drilled. Next steps => rivet/ProSeal stiffeners, fuel drain fitting, fuel cap inlet, etc.

Closing up the ER Tank HOBBS 492.0 hrs

I had monday off work for President's day, so a three day weekend was in order. What does that mean to an RV builder...all together now...more time to work on the plane! I know...pathetic huh? :) I need to get a life.

Anyway, the weekend started out with me doing some plumbing work between my fuel pump and the ER tank and the main tank. Wanted to make sure everything was good to go before closing up the tank. Well, lets just say that was slow going...bending rigid fluid lines is an art in and of itself. I started to get it down however...after several screwups. ;)

I riveted the access plate, the baffle and the tank attach brackets to the 3rd tank (left ER tank)...so its all closed up now! Hee haw! ...check for leaks in a few days and I have already started on the 4th and last tank. Here are some pics...

Fuel pump mounted to the wing spar. I fabricated that mounting bracket from some scrap I had in the shop. Came out good, but it is probably a little overkill (ie, too heavy) for its intended job. Oh well, so I will have a heavy airplane and a robust bracket...I am already resigned to this fact.

First test fit of the bell crank and the aileron push tubes...they actuate smooth as silk. I wanted to make sure my wiring for the fuel pump wasnt interfering with the motion of the control systems. I think I'm good.

Holes drilled into the spar to pass the ER tank vent line and coaxial cable for the capacitance fuel sender system. Rattle can primer to coat the holes...kind of ugly, but should be effective, you will never see it in the bowels of the aircraft.

Here  you can see the hole I drilled for the wire routing (the bell crank is directly behind this fuel pump).

Snowmobile Trip Pics HOBBS 479.5 hrs

Here is my favorite shot from the trip. It was a pretty amazing sight, this was a snow/ice encrusted tree on top of a place called Elk Mountain. How it was still standing is beyond me, thats one resilent tree! With a little photo editing, it looks like a shot from the surface of another planet.

Here are a couple pics from last weekend. Had a blast, weather was immaculate and the snow was deep. Sometimes I have to pinch myself, its hard to believe I get to live here!

I finally got back out in the shop last night for a couple hours, it felt good to build some airplane parts after about a week haitus because of school and snowmobling. My friend Sean in Colorado Springs took delivery of his RV7 fuse a couple days ago. Congrats Sean! Cant wait to get mine.

Rich, Molly and Hope

EJ posing for the camera

RV7A Aerobatic Video HOBBS 477.5 hrs

Brought to you by the VAF forums, here is a nice video showing some RV7A Aerobatics. If you have ever wondered what the aerobatic capabilities of an RV7A are, this video will give you a pretty good idea. This guy was wringing it out pretty good...were those snap rolls he was doing?

I certainly plan to do aerobatics in my plane, but I'm not sold on doing snap rolls. I've heard it creates a tremendous amount of force on the empennage. Renting a Pitts might be the solution for me if I have a hankering to do some snap rolls. Of course, what do I know...still so much to learn. :) But thats all part of the fun.

Achieving Balance HOBBS 477.5 hrs



Mt. Baldy and Grand Lake


I've been buried with "Applied Statistics" homework the last week so I havent done much airplane work....just a short 1.5 hr session last night. Schoolwork takes precedent over airplane work so the project has to wait.

My friend EJ (from the recent Cabela's trip post) invited me up to his cabin near Grand Lake, CO for a weekend of snowmobiling. Believe it or not, I was torn between accepting the invitation or politely declining. I have been really anxious to get that ER tank done as I am soooo close to sealing it up. On top of the fact the weather is supposed to warm to near 60 degs F this weekend, which will be so refreshing after our record setting cold lately. I am certainly ready for spring...and baseball season.

But, my philosophy during the build is this: as hard as it sometimes is to do...I try to maintain balance in my life. "All airplane--all the time" is too much for me and I'll get burned out, I just know myself. Consequently, I strive to keep the rest of my life intact (...kinda, sorta). That includes maintaining my gym workouts and excercise routine--definitely cant neglect my health so I can maintain quality of living and keep flying long into my later years hopefully. :) Social life...schoolwork...career...family, etc, you get the idea, they all have their place and are important.

So, when someone generously offers you a weekend of snowmobiling in the beautiful Rocky Mountains, you wholeheartedly say "yes!" even though you have to leave your "aluminum mistress" to do it. She'll be wating for me when I get back. ;) Have a good weekend and KPR!

Productive HOBBS 476.0 hrs

Although I didnt accomplish my goal of finishing up the ER tank this weekend, I took a pretty big bite out of it. I just need to rivet/ProSeal the baffle in place and do some fuel line plumbing. It was a very "productive" and exciting weekend in the shop.

I think we, as builders, should start a new collection of sayings...like the comedian Jeff Foxworthy did several years back, when he came out with the slogan..."you might be a redneck if...". Our version might be, "you might be building an airplane if..." you measure your weekends with words like "productive!" haha!

If it was a productive weekend, then I am a happy camper. This was one of those weekends. Its also always exciting to see large pieces of the airplane finished. When that happens I usually have a beer and just sit back and admire my work when I'm done. ;) Enjoy the journey as I always say. The leading edge/ER tank is almost there...very fulfilling to see it in this stage, more so than the standard tank for obvious reasons. Here are some pics from the progress I made...

Parts ready for priming...the tank parts dont get primer (you dont want a chunk of paint breaking off and plugging fuel lines), these are both sets of leading edge parts that will get painted. On a side note, I am pretty much out of my two part Akzo Nobel primer...so it lasted through the wings. Time to buy some more.

This was a pretty big milestone in this sub-assembly...all ribs riveted/ProSealed into place...I think I cracked open a cold beer after this. Really went pretty smooth...I have my ProSeal techniques down to a science now. I will say, once you finally can do some nose ribs without having to ProSeal them (the painted ones) it sure is a treat! :)

Here is a shot of the standard tank and ER tank installed on the wing for test fitting and match drilling the Z-brackets for the ER tank. Now, tell me that doesnt look cool! Of course, the two fuel caps are the coolest. I had one of the caps upside down though.

The underside showing my access holes...another cool shot...its starting to come together. The plumbing and fuel pump will reside in here. I started fabricating a mounting bracket for the fuel pump...more on this later.

This is a shot of the seam between the two tanks. Came out pretty darn good, almost perfect but not quite. However, its just a slight mismatch with the leading edges, not a big deal, overall I was happy with it. Its such a small deviation you cant even see it in this picture. Checkoway's Z-bracket match-drilling method worked well.

Sam is My Copilot HOBBS 471.0 hrs

Photo by Michelle Wadsworth

Finally getting around to posting about my trip last weekend out to Sidney, NE. For about a year now my good friend EJ and I have been talking about doing a trip out to Cabela's. Because my flying has been significantly reduced while I'm building...it's been difficult to scrape up the extra money to rent a plane and do it. Well, EJ finally put me on the spot and graciously offered to pay a substantial amount of the rental cost. He wanted to include his wife Michelle and her 10 yr old son Sam.

Photo by Michelle Wadsworth

Handsome devil of a pilot... ;)

Sam had never been up in a small GA aircraft, so that really had me excited. I always denote first timers with a star next to their name in my logbook. I'm happy to say I already have several stars in my logbook during my young flying career. There are two things I love about being a pilot: one...taking someone for their first ride in a small aircraft, and two, taking kids for flights. So this flight was gonna be a real pleasure for me.

So I rented the DA40 G1000 from my FBO. The estimated flight time according to the AOPA flight planner was 55 mins and about 121 NM each way. I left Boulder (BDU) solo with a full fuel load and headed over to Longmont (LMO) about 5 flight mins away to pick up the clan. After snapping several pics to mark the occassion, we were on our way. Mind you, winds were 'calm' when we left LMO.

EJ manned the copilot seat as we headed east for Nebraska. The flight was pretty smooth and very enjoyable, EJ had the stick for quite a while as he took over the piloting duties. There is a large windmill farm on the way that makes for interesting viewing from the air. As we got closer to Sidney (SNY) and the windmill farm, some slight turbulence kicked up. That would make sense huh?

And of course when I listened to the SNY AWOS the winds were quite lively at 330, 24kts G32. As I made my radio call on the CTAF and lined up for runway 31, I briefed my passengers that the crosswind component was really nothing to be concerned with so we would be landing rather than diverting. If that was a direct crosswind, things would have been much different. Regardless, I warned them it would probably be a little rough on final and that I would be 'earning my pay' to keep her steady, but there was nothing to be alarmed about (you always want to hear that from your pilot...no?).

They were all good to go and seemed very relaxed as I explained this, everyone seemed to have the utmost confidence in their pilot! :)  I think they were just lying to me and faking their considerable composure?! The landing was not my prettiest as we got tossed around a little, but we touched down softly on the mains and taxiied to the FBO for tie down. I gotta say we certainly needed it as the wind was howling pretty good once we exited the aircraft.

The Cabela's shuttle driver graciously took us to the Perkins restaraunt near Cabela's. Time for some breakfast as I had built up quite an appetite on the way out...flying does that! ;) After a tasty breakfast, we walked over to Cabela's and did some shopping. We all ended up leaving with a bagful of goodies.

The winds were pretty much unchanged as we came back to the airport in the shuttle. Oh well, the landing is the hard part and we already had that out of the way, the takeoff should be a non-event. I offered for either Michelle or Sam to fly right seat on the way back. Michelle, being the wonderful mother that she is, sacrificed her seat and let Sam jump up front. I think he was pretty stoked to climb in as witnessed by his ear-to-ear grin. He put on his headset and I strapped him in next to me. Heck, even at 42, I still get excited just like a kid when I climb into an airplane and strap in...so I'm with ya Sam! Its a heckuva feeling to be sure.

As expected, takeoff was fine, short ground roll with the stiff headwind...just the expected burbles from mother nature on the climb out. I was watching Sam out of the corner of my eye to watch his body actions. Tense passengers are not desirable. He seemed to be doing fine, a couple little knee jerk reactions when we hit some jolting turbulence but thats to be expected...even from me sometimes, it can be disconcerting even to veterans of the air. ;)

After we leveled off at cruising altitude I asked Sam how he was doing?...he said "good". So then I asked him if he wanted to fly? After a short pause, he reluctantly said "yes". I let him take the stick and then showed him how it worked...banking the plane left and right and climbing. I didnt push it forward as I didnt want to scare him by pushing the nose down. That usually makes passengers a little uneasy for obvious reasons. 

Then I let go and let him have the plane. He flew for about 30 seconds and abruptly says to me, and I quote, "Ok, I dont want to fly anymore, its kind of freaking me out." I chuckled a little and took the stick back. I told him, nothing to worry about, he did great and he could now tell his friends he flew an airplane.

As we headed back toward Longs Peak and LMO, I had settled in at about 8500 ft MSL and was enjoying the scenery. About ten minutes clicked by, all of a sudden Sam says to me, "I want to fly again!". I thought to myself, I can certainly relate to that emotion, "have at it brother, your airplane!"

He took the stick again and flew for about ten minutes this time. He, like most first time student aviators, inadvertently kept a very slight nose-high attitude. I let him slowly climb to 10,000 ft before intervening...I then told him we had to get the nose down a little to level off and explained how to do it. He nodded and said "ok"...but kept climbing! haha! I finally just discretely put my hand on my stick and was literally pushing the stick, pretty hard mind you, while he was pulling on his...and he had no idea. We did this "tug of war" for a couple minutes...it was all pretty funny to me...since I was the only one that really knew what was going on.

Hopefully this was the start of another flying career! I was sure to inform Sam he could solo an airplane at 16 yrs old and get his license at 17...EJ and Michelle told him he better get a good job! ;) Sam seemed to really enjoy the experience, as did everyone involved.

Being a pilot is pretty cool! I always scratch my head that so few of us "get it". Its amazing to me that only about 0.3% of the adult population in the US is a licensed pilot...we are definitely rare! Most people dont have any idea what they are missing and that really is too bad.



Photo by Michelle Wadsworth

 On final at LMO to pick up everyone...

Photo by Michelle Wadsworth

Photo by Michelle Wadsworth



Sam, Michelle and EJ before leaving LMO


Photo by Michelle Wadsworth



Photo by Michelle Wadsworth

Photo by Michelle Wadsworth

Photo by Michelle Wadsworth



Photo by Michelle Wadsworth



Photo by EJ Wadsworth

 

Photo by Michelle Wadsworth

Base to final coming back into LMO

Photo by Michelle Wadsworth

Sam and I pose for a picture after our flight. I then shook his hand and thanked him for being my copilot! Good times through aviation...

More ER Tank Work HOBBS 471.0 hrs

Making good progress on the first ER tank. Interior ribs ProSealed/riveted into place. All 'extra' rivet holes plugged and ProSealed. Fuel drain fitting ProSealed/riveted in place. End ribs prepped for install. Vent line in place. All parts that need it have been etched/alodined/primed. Tomorrow I will finish this puppy up...I'm on  a quest to knock this baby out this weekend!

On another note I just want to add some comments....

Its quite amazing how fast things go once you've done a task a couple times before. Not only that, but the workmanship improves significantly, my riveting was much better this go 'round. Also, when you eliminate the frustration from the task, which comes from not being very good at something...its really gets almost enjoyable. This tank has been a piece of cake so far.

Fuselage Delivery Date HOBBS 463.5 hrs

Just a quick entry to let you know I recieved my confirmation letter from Van's for the fuse. I have to sign it to acknowledge the accuracy of the order, pay the balance and then wait for delivery. I ordered it Jan. 18th and the delivery date/week quoted by Van's of Mar. 14th is pretty much right on target for their stated 8 week lead time. Of course, actual delivery times can and usually do vary slightly. I am now resigned to the fact that the wings will not be done before it arrives, but thats ok...it'll be waiting for me when I finish them up.

ER Tank Stiffeners HOBBS 463.5 hrs

After four days, we finally made it above freezing yesterday...warm enough to snow. :) Went out to the shop and it was still a very chilly 42 degs, apparently my shop didnt get the memo that it was warming up! I really thought about not doing any work and blowing it off. Its easy to say, "I'll just wait until it warms up." But, in the back of my mind I thought, conditions arent always going to be ideal for a work session. If this thing is going to get finished I have to "press on". So with that mantra to guide me...and with the help of a small space heater I was able to get the temp up to 56 degs, plenty warm enough for a work session. In no time I was having a good time (yes, even with ProSeal!) and humming to the 80's music pumping out of the shop stereo. When it comes right down to it, most of the time working on my plane really is relaxing to me, its the "great escape" from reality.

It was time to start the tank ProSeal process again...yes, for the third time. I back riveted the tank stiffeners and riveted the fuel cap filler into place before I used up my 44 gram batch of ProSeal. Next session: fuel drain fitting, plug the extra rib holes with rivets and then start on the ribs.

Visitors From Around the World HOBBS 461.5 hrs

I wanted to take a minute and thank my readers out there in cyberspace for visiting. I started this blogsite figuring it would attract a couple dozen family and friends. I had no idea it was going to reach the status it has. I have been averaging about 1600-1700 page views a month and this month it hit an all time high of 1860. I realize this is chump change compared to a 'real' website, but I'm flattered nonetheless, thanks for reading along. Even though I work in the high tech field, technology these days still amazes me. To meet people from all over the world through a computer is still a pretty cool proposition. Here is a snapshot from this months visitors to give you an idea of what I'm talking about.

And on a seperate note, we are getting record breaking cold temperatures out here in the Mile High City this week! Makes it kind of hard to work with ProSeal out in the shop. I have an inuslated garage which helps, but the temp is still 41 degs out there. Maybe I will pump some heat in and make a go of it tomorrow? I know some of you deal with temps like this all winter...not sure how you do it?! :)