Finishing Kit Arrives! HOBBS 1025.0 hrs

I received notification from Van's that my finish kit was scheduled to ship the week of Dec. 12th. I never heard anything before I left to visit the folks on Dec. 23rd for the holidays. This was definitely out of character for Van's...all of my kits have shipped right on schedule. I called Van's and found out it had shipped a little late and should be here by Jan. 3rd. I came home from my trip to WA on Dec. 29th and was looking forward to having four full days before heading back to work to crank away on the project. But with the expected arrival of Jan. 3rd, I wouldn't have the finishing kit to tear into...bummer. I was really winding down on the fuse (except for the wing mating) so I was going to be hard pressed to stay busy for four full days.

But, low and behold, Christmas came once more...I got a call the morning of Dec. 30th, about 8am, from the shipping company. They had my crate and wanted to know if I would be home to receive it...I emphatically said, "absolutely...be here all day". My crate arrived about 45 mins later...fricken cool!!!

It wasn't the same delivery driver I had for the previous crates...so I had to train the new guy. He was a little worried by how large the crate was...and it was big...the biggest one yet. But I broke out my furniture dollies, we lowered it down with the lift gate and wheeled it to the garage. I felt like I was an old pro at this by now. I remember how stressed I was about the first ones...how we were going to move them, etc.

I always love the comments I get from the uninitiated, this time was no different. He see's "airplane parts" on the crate and asks if it is a RC aircraft? I say, "no...full size." Then he says, "like an ultra-light?" Nope again, a real live aluminum aircraft that flies at 200mph! He seems astonished when I say that. He takes a peek at the fuselage and wings in the garage and says, "wow, that's way more project than I would ever tackle". I just grinned and didn't say a word as my chest swelled...it is a pretty cool thing to be an aircraft builder, not many people can say that, be proud. So many average folks just cant wrap their head around this hobby of ours.

I have to admit, it was exciting and bittersweet to get this crate. I realized it was the last crate in the project. I've come a long way and I can feel it winding down already, even though I still have lots to do to get it flying. I am already bracing for, "what now?" once I finish this puppy. It has been my life for 2 1/2 yrs now and will exceed 4 yrs by the time I am done. That will be a big void to fill...

I cringed a little when I seen these 2x2's wrapped in cardboard clamping my canopy in place. I just knew there were going to be scratches on it! :) Nope, Van's knows what they are doing...looked pristine when I uncrated it.

As I mentioned previously, I special ordered the lightly "tinted" canopy directly from Van's. You just have to specifically ask for it as they don't advertise it in the catalog...and sign an affidavit since technically it is illegal in the production world. Ask for tint 2514 if you want to go this route.

Kinda crazy how they pack this all in there. This was what lay underneath the canopy. I deleted the cowl since I am going with the Sam James cowl. Consequently the crate was pretty empty...kind of a buzz kill really.

And here are the packages of misc small parts and hardware. Even though there wasn't much to this kit, it still took me about 4 hrs to inventory (everything accounted for once again) and store it.

Lastly, here is the lightweight tailwheel I ordered to replace the stock version. In addition to the weight savings, its a fully contained greaseless bearing, so no grease zirk to spray grease all over the place like the stock version.