http://rv10.stephensville.com/ Recent content on StephensVille RV10 Hugo -- gohugo.io en-us Sun, 14 Dec 2014 00:00:00 +0000 http://rv10.stephensville.com/post/2014/12/14/main-fairings-and-wheel-pants-done/ Sun, 14 Dec 2014 00:00:00 +0000 http://rv10.stephensville.com/post/2014/12/14/main-fairings-and-wheel-pants-done/ Completed the main wheel pants, leg fairings and intersection fairings. It was one of my least favorite steps, which is why I waited so long. But now everything is complete and N428RV can get some color. http://rv10.stephensville.com/post/2014/11/17/engine-mount-service-bulletin/ Mon, 17 Nov 2014 00:00:00 +0000 http://rv10.stephensville.com/post/2014/11/17/engine-mount-service-bulletin/ Performed the Vans Service Bulletin SB 14-8-29 for the engine mount elastomer plate. First thing was to bea able to keep the nose lifted during the process. Used a cable puller attached to the tail tie-down and an eye bolt in the hangar floor. Pic shows ratchet straps for testing, but I use the cable puller. With the cable puller holding the tail down, a sawhorse and blocks provide a little safety for when I was underneath it all. http://rv10.stephensville.com/post/2014/11/17/first-00-hamburger/ Mon, 17 Nov 2014 00:00:00 +0000 http://rv10.stephensville.com/post/2014/11/17/first-00-hamburger/ Ed has been buggin’ me for a while to fly up to the homeland and give him a ride in the -10. Some good weather and last minute timing and I was off to Platteville (KPVB) to fullfill my promise. Picked up Ed and Brady at KPVB and flew to Lone Rock (KLNR) for a $100 hamburger at the Pickadilly Lilly. After lunch we did some sight seeing along the Mississippi. http://rv10.stephensville.com/post/2014/11/17/main-wheel-pants-and-fairings/ Mon, 17 Nov 2014 00:00:00 +0000 http://rv10.stephensville.com/post/2014/11/17/main-wheel-pants-and-fairings/ I have been putting off completing the main wheel pants and fairings because I hate fiberglass work, but N428RV needs some color so I have to get them done. Got her up on the jacks and leveled by blocking up the tail. Pretty painless and only took me a few minutes. Main wheel pants are fit and the epoxy mix for the attach brackets is curing. Uuuugh. Fiberglass dust from trimming. http://rv10.stephensville.com/post/2014/11/17/phase-one-complete/ Mon, 17 Nov 2014 00:00:00 +0000 http://rv10.stephensville.com/post/2014/11/17/phase-one-complete/ It has been quite a while since I’ve posted here. Been having too much fun flying I guess. Thought I should get caught up and I’ll start with Phase One completion. Phase One was completed the end of July. Other than burning more than my fair share of fuel for about five weeks, things went as planned. Although it did get rather boring at times seeing the same scenery in my 25nm radius fly-off area. http://rv10.stephensville.com/post/2014/11/17/trip-to-nashville/ Mon, 17 Nov 2014 00:00:00 +0000 http://rv10.stephensville.com/post/2014/11/17/trip-to-nashville/ One of my goals was to be completed with Phase One before the end of July so I could fly the -10 down to Nashville and pick up Katelyn for her annual trip back to Illinois for Tyler’s birthday. I was able to achieve that goal with a week to spare. On July 26th I headed out for the longest cross-country flight I’ve ever planned at just under three hours each way. http://rv10.stephensville.com/post/2014/06/17/first-flight/ Tue, 17 Jun 2014 00:00:00 +0000 http://rv10.stephensville.com/post/2014/06/17/first-flight/ After 9+ years, kit #40303 broke the contraints imposed by gravity on June 14, 2014. Video available HERE. Thanks to everyone who played a part. http://rv10.stephensville.com/post/2014/06/08/airworthy/ Sun, 08 Jun 2014 00:00:00 +0000 http://rv10.stephensville.com/post/2014/06/08/airworthy/ N428RV received her airworthiness certificate. Time to start Phase One in a few days. http://rv10.stephensville.com/post/2014/04/19/first-engine-start/ Sat, 19 Apr 2014 00:00:00 +0000 http://rv10.stephensville.com/post/2014/04/19/first-engine-start/ Performed first engine start this morning. Everything checked out great. The beast started up on the second crank after sitting for the better part of a year. Video below. Be sure to watch full-screen in HD. http://rv10.stephensville.com/post/2014/04/04/front-interior-and-panel/ Fri, 04 Apr 2014 00:00:00 +0000 http://rv10.stephensville.com/post/2014/04/04/front-interior-and-panel/ Finished up the panel inluding the lower center console. Front carpet, tunnel carpet, control stick leather boots, front air vents and side panels are fitted. Also have the front seat belts installed. http://rv10.stephensville.com/post/2014/03/28/empty-weight/ Fri, 28 Mar 2014 00:00:00 +0000 http://rv10.stephensville.com/post/2014/03/28/empty-weight/ Weighed the plane tonight. Borrowed scales from the airport maintenance shop. Scales did not have ramps, so jacked up each wheel and slid the scales under. Came in at 1630 lbs. I was hoping for under 1600, but seeing as I have full interior panels, carpet, headliner, overhead console, I guess that isn’t bad. Gross weight is limited to 2700 lbs., so that gives me 1070 lbs. useful load. I’ll lose some more with paint when that happens later. http://rv10.stephensville.com/post/2014/02/22/elevator-trim-brackets/ Sat, 22 Feb 2014 00:00:00 +0000 http://rv10.stephensville.com/post/2014/02/22/elevator-trim-brackets/ Bought the elevator trim brackets from iflyrv10.com to replace the kit ones. I wanted to be able to remove them without having to drill out the pop rivets like you would with the stock setup. Also, these are nice machined aluminum. Screws and lock nuts holding trim cable bracket on cover plate for easy removal. http://rv10.stephensville.com/post/2014/02/15/rear-carpet-and-seats/ Sat, 15 Feb 2014 00:00:00 +0000 http://rv10.stephensville.com/post/2014/02/15/rear-carpet-and-seats/ Installed the headliner, rear carpet, and rear seats and belts. One of these is Tyler’s. Probably the one behind his Mom as my seat will be back further stealing all his leg room. http://rv10.stephensville.com/post/2014/02/14/elt-antenna/ Fri, 14 Feb 2014 00:00:00 +0000 http://rv10.stephensville.com/post/2014/02/14/elt-antenna/ Mounted the ELT Antenna under the empennage fairing. http://rv10.stephensville.com/post/2014/02/14/wing-walk/ Fri, 14 Feb 2014 00:00:00 +0000 http://rv10.stephensville.com/post/2014/02/14/wing-walk/ Temp wing walk applied. Will have to be removed for paint later. Material is from Flyboy Accessories. http://rv10.stephensville.com/post/2014/01/26/firewall-forward-work/ Sun, 26 Jan 2014 00:00:00 +0000 http://rv10.stephensville.com/post/2014/01/26/firewall-forward-work/ Worked on finishing up some firewall forward items. Torqued and safety wired the prop bolts. Not talented enough to use one continuous wire so just did two at a time. Swapped out the rods that tie the lower baffle halves together with safety wire and some stainless rods. I didn’t like the way the rods turned out and this is much cleaner. Can also see in the upper right that I set the alternator belt tension and safetied the bolts. http://rv10.stephensville.com/post/2014/01/18/cleaned-up-windows/ Sat, 18 Jan 2014 00:00:00 +0000 http://rv10.stephensville.com/post/2014/01/18/cleaned-up-windows/ Took the protective film off the windows. Nice to be able to see through them for the first time. http://rv10.stephensville.com/post/2014/01/13/hangar-flood/ Mon, 13 Jan 2014 00:00:00 +0000 http://rv10.stephensville.com/post/2014/01/13/hangar-flood/ Check out that nice shiny hangar floor. Wait… Umm… that’s 1-2 inches of water. Bummer. Came to the hangar this past weekend to finally spend two solid days working on the plane after the holidays. Instead I spent two solid days cleaning up. The unusual Jan. thaw caused a crack and leak in the foundation. Quickly ran to get some hydraulic cement. Patched it up good enough to stop the flow. http://rv10.stephensville.com/post/2013/12/30/rear-heat-scat/ Mon, 30 Dec 2013 00:00:00 +0000 http://rv10.stephensville.com/post/2013/12/30/rear-heat-scat/ Didn’t like how tight the rear heat scat tube was when routing around the fuel selector valve, so I reduced it to one inch in that area. http://rv10.stephensville.com/post/2013/12/30/temp-n-numbers/ Mon, 30 Dec 2013 00:00:00 +0000 http://rv10.stephensville.com/post/2013/12/30/temp-n-numbers/ Affixed the temporary vinyl N-numbers. They will eventually be painted with the rest of the plane. http://rv10.stephensville.com/post/2013/12/17/nav-lights-and-strobes/ Tue, 17 Dec 2013 00:00:00 +0000 http://rv10.stephensville.com/post/2013/12/17/nav-lights-and-strobes/ Finishing the wingtip wiring. Here’s a video and some pics of the nav lights and strobes. I had RV7 builder, Jeff Bordelon, build these for me in 2006. His website is no longer up so can’t point you to him, but they are very nice. Mirrored plexi helps the super brite LEDs. http://rv10.stephensville.com/post/2013/12/01/heater/ Sun, 01 Dec 2013 00:00:00 +0000 http://rv10.stephensville.com/post/2013/12/01/heater/ Was getting cold in the hangar, so got some family help over the weekend getting a 145K BTU heater installed. Also swapped out three bulbs for sodium lights to provide better light and added a couple ceiling fans to keep the air circulating and help with keeping the heat down. http://rv10.stephensville.com/post/2013/11/22/rudder-attached/ Fri, 22 Nov 2013 00:00:00 +0000 http://rv10.stephensville.com/post/2013/11/22/rudder-attached/ Attached the rudder and hooked up the LED tail light. The tail light is a ZL-PSTL from Ztron Labs with the strobe function turned off. I also have one of these in each of the wingtips with the nav light function turned off acting as strobes only. http://rv10.stephensville.com/post/2013/11/18/misc-engine-items/ Mon, 18 Nov 2013 00:00:00 +0000 http://rv10.stephensville.com/post/2013/11/18/misc-engine-items/ Wrapped up a couple small items with the engine. Hooked up the ground strap which grounds the engine case to the firewall ground. Also installed the quick drain oil plug. http://rv10.stephensville.com/post/2013/11/18/tail/ Mon, 18 Nov 2013 00:00:00 +0000 http://rv10.stephensville.com/post/2013/11/18/tail/ Re-attached the horizontal, vertical, and elevators. http://rv10.stephensville.com/post/2013/11/04/wing-root-wiring/ Mon, 04 Nov 2013 00:00:00 +0000 http://rv10.stephensville.com/post/2013/11/04/wing-root-wiring/ With the wings attached, started getting all the wiring finished in the wings. Brad helped by finishing most of the connections at the wing root. Wired up the Gretz G1000 heated pitot. I wanted to dump the LEDs that came with the pitot for annunciation and instead wanted the annunciation on the VP200. Matt Dralle thankfully did this before I needed it and I followed his lead. You can see his write-up at the following links. http://rv10.stephensville.com/post/2013/10/06/wings-attached/ Sun, 06 Oct 2013 00:00:00 +0000 http://rv10.stephensville.com/post/2013/10/06/wings-attached/ The wings are out of their cradle and attached for good. http://rv10.stephensville.com/post/2013/09/30/fuselage-to-hangar/ Mon, 30 Sep 2013 00:00:00 +0000 http://rv10.stephensville.com/post/2013/09/30/fuselage-to-hangar/ The fuselage made the trip to the hangar this morning. Waiting for its ride… Getting on… On the way. I was a bit stressed watching it go down the road. At its new home safe and sound. http://rv10.stephensville.com/post/2013/09/29/front-headset-jacks-and-front-seats/ Sun, 29 Sep 2013 00:00:00 +0000 http://rv10.stephensville.com/post/2013/09/29/front-headset-jacks-and-front-seats/ Wired up and installed the front headset jacks. Front seats in places. http://rv10.stephensville.com/post/2013/09/29/side-panels/ Sun, 29 Sep 2013 00:00:00 +0000 http://rv10.stephensville.com/post/2013/09/29/side-panels/ Added an access panel to the rear lower panels to get at the rear headset jacks after the upper panels are in place. Front side panels fitted, painted and installed. Cup holder up… … and down. http://rv10.stephensville.com/post/2013/09/24/front-seats-covered/ Tue, 24 Sep 2013 00:00:00 +0000 http://rv10.stephensville.com/post/2013/09/24/front-seats-covered/ Got the front seats covered and ready for install after some more interior work. http://rv10.stephensville.com/post/2013/09/06/front-seat-frames/ Fri, 06 Sep 2013 00:00:00 +0000 http://rv10.stephensville.com/post/2013/09/06/front-seat-frames/ Put the front seat frames in to verify that everything was ok before putting the foam and covers on. Used platenuts on the seat adjustment t-handle instead of lock nuts. As these need to be removed to take the seats out, I didn’t want to mess with the seat covers and get a wrench in there when removing the seats. http://rv10.stephensville.com/post/2013/09/05/doors-and-seats/ Thu, 05 Sep 2013 00:00:00 +0000 http://rv10.stephensville.com/post/2013/09/05/doors-and-seats/ Few random items completed over the long weekend. I painted most of the interior panels for later assembly. Painted the door interior and put them pack on. Finished up the wiring in the overhead console for the cabin and map lights. Installed the front and rear heat scat tubes in the tunnel and installed the front seat floors and rails. http://rv10.stephensville.com/post/2013/08/29/trip-to-hangar/ Thu, 29 Aug 2013 00:00:00 +0000 http://rv10.stephensville.com/post/2013/08/29/trip-to-hangar/ Brad helped move some items to the hangar to get them out of the garage and basement. Fuel tanks are missing in action as a couple small leaks were found and are being fixed. Dad helped build a couple 4 x 4 shop tables a few weeks ago. http://rv10.stephensville.com/post/2013/07/21/cowl-ready-for-paint/ Sun, 21 Jul 2013 00:00:00 +0000 http://rv10.stephensville.com/post/2013/07/21/cowl-ready-for-paint/ Finished up the oil door. Wrapped plastic around the oil door and then filler to form the opening edge in the upper cowl. Also switched to the hartwell latches. I think they provide a better engagement than the cessna ones I was using. Both the upper and lower cowl have been UV Smooth Primed and sanded and are now ready for paint. http://rv10.stephensville.com/post/2013/07/17/hangar/ Wed, 17 Jul 2013 00:00:00 +0000 http://rv10.stephensville.com/post/2013/07/17/hangar/ Picked up the keys to the hangar today. 50x50 with electric door and own electric and gas meters. Located at Galt Airport - 10C. http://rv10.stephensville.com/post/2013/07/14/wing-attach/ Sun, 14 Jul 2013 00:00:00 +0000 http://rv10.stephensville.com/post/2013/07/14/wing-attach/ Needed to get some wing attach stuff done to finish up the wings before paint, so with a little brotherly help we got the wings put on and attached then taken off to be put back in the garage. Now the wings are ready for the paint process. http://rv10.stephensville.com/post/2013/06/29/cabin-top-and-windscreen-fairing/ Sat, 29 Jun 2013 00:00:00 +0000 http://rv10.stephensville.com/post/2013/06/29/cabin-top-and-windscreen-fairing/ Cabin top and windscreen fairing are ready for paint after a couple of coats of UV Smoothprime and some sanding. http://rv10.stephensville.com/post/2013/06/27/paint-scheme/ Thu, 27 Jun 2013 00:00:00 +0000 http://rv10.stephensville.com/post/2013/06/27/paint-scheme/ Finalized the paint scheme which will hopefully get applied the first week of August. Everything south of the mid stripe is solid white; the wings and all gear fairings and pants. The horizontal stabilizer will be solid blue. The exact color names aren’t picked out yet. I will be using Stewart Systems paint and shooting it myself with some extra hands helping out. The idea came from Van’s RV-14. I liked the design and converted it to the RV-10 with a shade of gray for the numbers and mid stripe instead of black. http://rv10.stephensville.com/post/2013/06/25/windscreen-fairing-and-window-transitions/ Tue, 25 Jun 2013 00:00:00 +0000 http://rv10.stephensville.com/post/2013/06/25/windscreen-fairing-and-window-transitions/ Working on completing some tasks before hopefully painting the first week of August. Initial eglass and filler for the windscreen fairing. I colored the epoxy black with rubber stamp refill ink so it shows black from the inside. Still needs a coat of UV Smoothprime. Also working on filling the window and windscreen transitions with the doors and cabin top. Then the cabin top can get a couple coats of UV Smoothprime to fill the pinholes. http://rv10.stephensville.com/post/2013/05/29/rear-interior-panels/ Wed, 29 May 2013 00:00:00 +0000 http://rv10.stephensville.com/post/2013/05/29/rear-interior-panels/ Fitted the rear interior panels. I placed the mic and headphone jacks for the rear passengers in the forward area of the armrest as you can see in the first photo. The panels need to be painted to match the interior smoke gray and I also need to add an access panel right below the jacks on each side. http://rv10.stephensville.com/post/2013/05/14/outside/ Tue, 14 May 2013 00:00:00 +0000 http://rv10.stephensville.com/post/2013/05/14/outside/ Weather was nice and Dad was down, so we pulled her outside to do some sanding around the windows. http://rv10.stephensville.com/post/2013/04/28/more-firewall-forward/ Sun, 28 Apr 2013 00:00:00 +0000 http://rv10.stephensville.com/post/2013/04/28/more-firewall-forward/ Lots of progress on the firewall forward over the last few weeks as I found time here and there. The exhaust is mounted. Throttle, prop and mixture cables routed. Heater scat tubes and control cables attached. All fuel and oil lines complete. GPS and XM weather antenna tray fabbed and mounted. All sensor and electrical wired. http://rv10.stephensville.com/post/2013/03/30/side-windows/ Sat, 30 Mar 2013 00:00:00 +0000 http://rv10.stephensville.com/post/2013/03/30/side-windows/ Took a break from working on the firewall forward and put in the left and right side windows. Used the same clip method as on the rear windows. http://rv10.stephensville.com/post/2013/03/17/firewall-forward-progress/ Sun, 17 Mar 2013 00:00:00 +0000 http://rv10.stephensville.com/post/2013/03/17/firewall-forward-progress/ Made some progress on the firewall forward items this weekend. Filtered air box along with fuel line from engine driven fuel pump to fuel injection servo. Also routed and attached the throttle, prop and mixture cables. Attached the oil cooler and associated hoses and also the breather tube. Hose clamps not on the breather tube yet. Fuel line from the firewall to the engine driven fuel pump. Also routed and attached the cabin heat push-pull cables to the heater vents. http://rv10.stephensville.com/post/2013/02/23/baffle-seals/ Sat, 23 Feb 2013 00:00:00 +0000 http://rv10.stephensville.com/post/2013/02/23/baffle-seals/ Finished up the baffle seals today. The baffle seals are the black rubber material around the top of the baffles which seal the gap under the top cowl. http://rv10.stephensville.com/post/2013/02/17/baffle-trimming/ Sun, 17 Feb 2013 00:00:00 +0000 http://rv10.stephensville.com/post/2013/02/17/baffle-trimming/ Time to trim the engine baffles. I did some reasearch on how others accomplished this and decided to combine a couple different solutions. To get the initial trim so the top cowl could be placed on I raised the top cowl above the lower cowl the same distance all around using tongue depressors clamped to the lower cowl. I used 3.25 inches as my gap, but it just needs to be enough to get your hand in. http://rv10.stephensville.com/post/2013/02/02/cowl-rework/ Sat, 02 Feb 2013 00:00:00 +0000 http://rv10.stephensville.com/post/2013/02/02/cowl-rework/ I wasn’t happy with the first attempt at the cowl fit. It did not line up with the spinner the way I wanted. So, I took off all the hinges. Yes, I drilled out all the hinges and filled in the holes. I then redid the aft edges as explained here. Then refit. It added a few weeks time, but I am much happier with the fit now. I left about 1/16 inch gap around the aft of the cowl to allow for paint. http://rv10.stephensville.com/post/2012/12/13/cowl-hinges/ Thu, 13 Dec 2012 00:00:00 +0000 http://rv10.stephensville.com/post/2012/12/13/cowl-hinges/ The aft cowl hinges match drilled and countersunk. Aft cowl hinges attached. Here I’m shooting a laser line to define the split between the top and bottom cowl. I taped along the line then ran a sharpie along the tape. After removing the tape I has a cut line on the bottom cowl. http://rv10.stephensville.com/post/2012/12/13/fitting-bottom-cowl/ Thu, 13 Dec 2012 00:00:00 +0000 http://rv10.stephensville.com/post/2012/12/13/fitting-bottom-cowl/ Worked on getting the bottom cowl fitted. Trimmed the aft edges. A view from the front. http://rv10.stephensville.com/post/2012/12/10/fitting-top-cowl/ Mon, 10 Dec 2012 00:00:00 +0000 http://rv10.stephensville.com/post/2012/12/10/fitting-top-cowl/ Waiting for a few items to finish the windscreen fairing, so started the cowling. Worked on trimming and fitting the top cowl. http://rv10.stephensville.com/post/2012/12/08/attaching-windows/ Sat, 08 Dec 2012 00:00:00 +0000 http://rv10.stephensville.com/post/2012/12/08/attaching-windows/ Got the rear windows and windscreen bonded to the cabin top. Used Lord 7545A/E adhesive. Used three 50ml cartridges on the two rear windows and two 50ml cartridges on the windscreen. The Lord adhesive sure makes it an easy job. Self mixing tips and a dual plunger adapter for a standard caulk gun. Cleans up nice around the interior edges with PPG DT870 reducer. http://rv10.stephensville.com/post/2012/12/08/prop-on/ Sat, 08 Dec 2012 00:00:00 +0000 http://rv10.stephensville.com/post/2012/12/08/prop-on/ With Brad’s help the prop was attached today. It will have to come off at least once more to put the alternator belt on, but I wanted to get it on to fit the cowl. The AntiSplatAero Prop Wrench that Dad got me sure makes it easy to get the bolts on. Check out the videos on their website. http://rv10.stephensville.com/post/2012/12/01/engine-accessories/ Sat, 01 Dec 2012 00:00:00 +0000 http://rv10.stephensville.com/post/2012/12/01/engine-accessories/ Got a few of the items that attach to the engine mounted. Fuel injection servo, alternator and starter. Also attached the oil temp probe and the rpm sensor on the direct drive mag. http://rv10.stephensville.com/post/2012/12/01/engine-baffles/ Sat, 01 Dec 2012 00:00:00 +0000 http://rv10.stephensville.com/post/2012/12/01/engine-baffles/ Started the engine baffles. Got them to the point where I should fit the cowling before proceeding. The rear baffles were a pain to get in and fitted. Eventually got there with some help from other builders. For the #6 cylinder back side make sure the oil cooler box piece is not on the part when fitting. It allows the baffle to flex more when inserting. On the #5 cylinder back side I had to unhook the oil return tube. http://rv10.stephensville.com/post/2012/11/23/mounting-the-engine/ Fri, 23 Nov 2012 00:00:00 +0000 http://rv10.stephensville.com/post/2012/11/23/mounting-the-engine/ Dad and Brad were over this morning to lend a hand with getting the engine mounted. The engine has been sitting preserved in its shipping crate for a few months. Time to get it mounted. Rented an engine hoist from a local equipment rental place. After some maneuvering, all four mounting bolts were in place. http://rv10.stephensville.com/post/2012/11/17/glare-shield/ Sat, 17 Nov 2012 00:00:00 +0000 http://rv10.stephensville.com/post/2012/11/17/glare-shield/ While waiting for some filler to dry around the doors I worked on the glare shield. It has been painted for a few weeks. Installed the center brace and the defrost fans. Wires run up the center brace to the overhead lights. Added some screen over the defrost fans to keep things out of the blades. http://rv10.stephensville.com/post/2012/11/09/fixing-door-opening/ Fri, 09 Nov 2012 00:00:00 +0000 http://rv10.stephensville.com/post/2012/11/09/fixing-door-opening/ I didn’t like the bullnose shape of the door opening edges on the cabin top, so I set out to remedy that. Globbed on a helping of West Systems microlight filler. Looks rough here, but had to mix it thick to prevent it from sagging. It sands easy. I think the edges look a lot cleaner. The plastic on all the openings was my attempt at preventing the sanding dust, or as much as I could anyway, from geting in the fuselage interior. http://rv10.stephensville.com/post/2012/11/05/wet-compass/ Mon, 05 Nov 2012 00:00:00 +0000 http://rv10.stephensville.com/post/2012/11/05/wet-compass/ Made a mount on the glare shield for a Pegasus SIRS lighted wet compass. Tapped it for 6/32 brass screws. There has been plenty of discussion regarding the requirement for a wet compass in an experimental. The base allows it to be easily removed at a later time if it is just a dust collector. It is a backup to the 430W, which is a backup to the MFD, which is a backup to the PFD, which both have 30 minute backup internal batteries, blah, blah blah… http://rv10.stephensville.com/post/2012/10/27/door-latch/ Sat, 27 Oct 2012 00:00:00 +0000 http://rv10.stephensville.com/post/2012/10/27/door-latch/ Completed the install of the planearound.com 180 degree door latch. I really like how it works. I still need to install a cam lock as a door lock on each door, which will prevent the bottom rack from moving when the door is closed. You can see a test piece of the door seal along the bottom. http://rv10.stephensville.com/post/2012/10/27/door-struts/ Sat, 27 Oct 2012 00:00:00 +0000 http://rv10.stephensville.com/post/2012/10/27/door-struts/ Installed the door struts. I had to move the attach bracket on the door further out than the plans called for in order to allow the door to close before the strut was fully compressed. It had to go beyond the edge of the window well, so I had to trim it a bit on that edge. http://rv10.stephensville.com/post/2012/09/16/cabin-top-mounted/ Sun, 16 Sep 2012 00:00:00 +0000 http://rv10.stephensville.com/post/2012/09/16/cabin-top-mounted/ Brad was over to help get the cabin top mounted for good today. I’m glad to have it on the plane and out of my way. It took up a lot of space. There was a lot of finish work on the inside before getting to this point. It felt like it was taking forever just to finish out the inside. It’s not perfect in some areas, but it will do. http://rv10.stephensville.com/post/2012/09/10/headliner-fabric-and-window-trim/ Mon, 10 Sep 2012 00:00:00 +0000 http://rv10.stephensville.com/post/2012/09/10/headliner-fabric-and-window-trim/ Headliner is covered with fabric and the window trim is in place. Still need to pick up some velcro for attaching to the cabin top. http://rv10.stephensville.com/post/2012/09/09/prep-and-paint-cabin-top-interior/ Sun, 09 Sep 2012 00:00:00 +0000 http://rv10.stephensville.com/post/2012/09/09/prep-and-paint-cabin-top-interior/ Before painting I wanted to get the Aeropsport headliners trimmed to fit. I taped off where the visible areas would be to prevent scratching my nicely sanded surface as the back of the headliner inserts is very rough. After a lot of finish work the interior of the cabin top is finally painted. Time to put it back on the fuselage to stay. http://rv10.stephensville.com/post/2012/08/30/paint-and-label-panel-inserts/ Thu, 30 Aug 2012 00:00:00 +0000 http://rv10.stephensville.com/post/2012/08/30/paint-and-label-panel-inserts/ Got the panel inserts painted and labeled. I had a local graphics shop create vinyl template stickers out of Adobe Illustrator files I gave them for the labels. It worked out ok, but not perfect. The process was: Primer Two coats of flat black White sprayed over vinyl label templates Two coats clear http://rv10.stephensville.com/post/2012/07/25/attach-overhead-console/ Wed, 25 Jul 2012 00:00:00 +0000 http://rv10.stephensville.com/post/2012/07/25/attach-overhead-console/ Ran wires for the cabin and overhead map lights along with the oxygen feeds before attaching the overhead console. A little epoxy and cabosil and the overhead console was attached. http://rv10.stephensville.com/post/2012/07/18/magnetometer-mount/ Wed, 18 Jul 2012 00:00:00 +0000 http://rv10.stephensville.com/post/2012/07/18/magnetometer-mount/ Finished the mount for the magnetometers. Borrowed the general idea from Ivan. Added some “feet” to the magnetometers so I could tap them for a 6-32 brass screw. This allows easy attachment from underneath the mount with no magnetic metals nearby. Magnetometers mounted in the tailcone. http://rv10.stephensville.com/post/2012/06/30/overhead-console-items/ Sat, 30 Jun 2012 00:00:00 +0000 http://rv10.stephensville.com/post/2012/06/30/overhead-console-items/ Spent some time the last few weekends getting items mounted in the overhead console before epoxying it to the cabin top. First, I’m not using air through the overhead, so I wanted to put lights where the air vents would go. I needed to increase the size of the bases to accomodate the lights, so I used a 3 inch piece of PVC wrapped in duct tape as a mold for the epoxy and flox. http://rv10.stephensville.com/post/2012/05/28/engine-mount/ Mon, 28 May 2012 00:00:00 +0000 http://rv10.stephensville.com/post/2012/05/28/engine-mount/ Dad was down this weekend to help. Attached the engine mount. http://rv10.stephensville.com/post/2012/05/28/on-her-legs/ Mon, 28 May 2012 00:00:00 +0000 http://rv10.stephensville.com/post/2012/05/28/on-her-legs/ While Dad was down we also got her on her legs. Good to get to this milestone. We loosely followed the procedure here and it went pretty smooth. The two of us were able to get the fuselage up on the workbench with a little grunting. Once the legs were on we blocked up one main wheel and the nose wheel and I lifted up the tail and we slid out the bench from underneath. http://rv10.stephensville.com/post/2012/05/05/more-door-fitting/ Sat, 05 May 2012 00:00:00 +0000 http://rv10.stephensville.com/post/2012/05/05/more-door-fitting/ With the doors on the hinges I set out to get the fit right along the bottom and lower sides of the fuselage. Added a couple more indexers at the bottom to keep the door pulled in tight for installing the pins. Also got the left door window trimmed. http://rv10.stephensville.com/post/2012/04/19/rear-seats-preview/ Thu, 19 Apr 2012 00:00:00 +0000 http://rv10.stephensville.com/post/2012/04/19/rear-seats-preview/ Set the rear seat components in place to show another builder what the center bench seat options from Flightline Interiors looks like. The vertical center piece and horizontal piece with cup holders are removable. http://rv10.stephensville.com/post/2012/04/15/door-fitting/ Sun, 15 Apr 2012 00:00:00 +0000 http://rv10.stephensville.com/post/2012/04/15/door-fitting/ I wanted to get the doors partially fitted on the cabin top before removing the top for finishing the inside. I was trying to figure out a good way to initially trim the doors. I did not trust the built-in scribe line on the doors. After talking with fellow builder David Halmos the other night I tried one of his great suggestions. Taping around the door opening provides a reference line to scribe the door. http://rv10.stephensville.com/post/2012/04/03/joining-door-halves/ Tue, 03 Apr 2012 00:00:00 +0000 http://rv10.stephensville.com/post/2012/04/03/joining-door-halves/ Epoxying the door halves together for the right side. Wanted to see how one turns out before I do the left. http://rv10.stephensville.com/post/2012/04/01/fuselage-top-skin/ Sun, 01 Apr 2012 00:00:00 +0000 http://rv10.stephensville.com/post/2012/04/01/fuselage-top-skin/ Brad was over for a couple hours to rivet on the fuselage top skin. I wired the panel with the sub structure in place as seen here. I was on my back underneath bucking the rivets. Very uncomfortable but was much better than wiring the panel on the bench then having to make disconnects where wires left the panel for the rear. Two holes in the center are for the defrost fans. http://rv10.stephensville.com/post/2012/03/16/sub-panel-wiring-cleanup/ Fri, 16 Mar 2012 00:00:00 +0000 http://rv10.stephensville.com/post/2012/03/16/sub-panel-wiring-cleanup/ More work on cleaning up the wiring before riveting on the top skin. The “before” shot And the “after” shot Still a couple small items to take care of like edge grommets in a couple areas. http://rv10.stephensville.com/post/2012/03/14/firewall-progress/ Wed, 14 Mar 2012 00:00:00 +0000 http://rv10.stephensville.com/post/2012/03/14/firewall-progress/ Checked off a few more items that needed to be added to the firewall as I move closer to getting the engine mounted. Oil, fuel, and manifold pressure transducers were mounted. ANL current limiter for the alternator b-lead was mounted. Oil cooler mount was attached. The wire pass-throughs were also finished up. Need to wait a bit for the cabin heat cables as I need to finish the lower center console before they can be routed. http://rv10.stephensville.com/post/2012/01/29/push-to-start-wiring/ Sun, 29 Jan 2012 00:00:00 +0000 http://rv10.stephensville.com/post/2012/01/29/push-to-start-wiring/ Wired up the push to start button. The VP-200 controls the external start switch and only enables it in Start Mode. The lighted ring is connected to a power pin on the VP-200 which is also only configured to come on in Start Mode. Pretty sweet. You can find out more about the switch and wiring it on the VP forums. http://rv10.stephensville.com/post/2012/01/28/flap-wiring/ Sat, 28 Jan 2012 00:00:00 +0000 http://rv10.stephensville.com/post/2012/01/28/flap-wiring/ Wired up the flap position sensor, flap motor and flap switch today. Did an initial calibration on the VP-200 and EFIS/EM to make sure everything was working. Will have to go back and do a “real” configuration once the flaps are on. http://rv10.stephensville.com/post/2012/01/25/detour-for-instrument-rating/ Wed, 25 Jan 2012 00:00:00 +0000 http://rv10.stephensville.com/post/2012/01/25/detour-for-instrument-rating/ For the last 6 months I’ve been training for my Instrument Rating off and on. I had been signed off by my CFII to take the practical for a couple weeks. Weather and scheduling issues prevented me from doing the flying portion. Yesterday finally worked out and I passed my checkride. It has taken away build time here and there, but it was worth it. Not only did I want to get the instrument ticket, but I also wanted to regain some proficiency in general before the RV-10 was completed. http://rv10.stephensville.com/post/2012/01/07/match-drilled-door-halves/ Sat, 07 Jan 2012 00:00:00 +0000 http://rv10.stephensville.com/post/2012/01/07/match-drilled-door-halves/ Match drilled the door halves. They are match drilled while on the fuselage/cabin top to maintain shape. Next step is to epoxy the halves together. http://rv10.stephensville.com/post/2012/01/05/cabin-top-match-drilled/ Thu, 05 Jan 2012 00:00:00 +0000 http://rv10.stephensville.com/post/2012/01/05/cabin-top-match-drilled/ Cabin top is match drilled to the fuselage. I am going to deviate from the plans a bit and mount the doors next. The holes in the door well are just match drilled to #30 and not final sized to #12 and #19 yet. That way I can just keep them cleco’d and adjust if needed while doing the doors. Doing the doors first will also let me remove the cabin top one last time to add the Aerosport overhead console and finish the inside before attaching it for good. http://rv10.stephensville.com/post/2011/12/29/nav-splitters/ Thu, 29 Dec 2011 00:00:00 +0000 http://rv10.stephensville.com/post/2011/12/29/nav-splitters/ Single cat whisker NAV antenna in tail goes into Garmin splitter. From there, one goes out to Comant CI-507 diplexer to split NAV and Glideslope signal for 430W inputs. Other goes out to SL-30 NAV input. http://rv10.stephensville.com/post/2011/12/10/trimming-cabin-top/ Sat, 10 Dec 2011 00:00:00 +0000 http://rv10.stephensville.com/post/2011/12/10/trimming-cabin-top/ Brad was over the last couple weekends to help with getting the cabin top trimmed and fitted. We got everything done except for trimming the door wells. Have I ever mentioned that I hate working with fiberglass? I’d rather do a few hundred proseal jobs on the fuel tanks. http://rv10.stephensville.com/post/2011/12/01/power-applied/ Thu, 01 Dec 2011 00:00:00 +0000 http://rv10.stephensville.com/post/2011/12/01/power-applied/ Testing most of the interconnects between the avionics. So far the two 4500s are talking to each other, the 430W, SL-30 and VP-200. Had to RMA the GTX-330 transponder back to Garmin for a suspected internal short. Nice to get to this step. Still quite a few bits to hook up yet, but making progress. I wanted to get all the wiring done before the top skin gets put on. http://rv10.stephensville.com/post/2011/10/28/prop-arrives/ Fri, 28 Oct 2011 00:00:00 +0000 http://rv10.stephensville.com/post/2011/10/28/prop-arrives/ The prop arrived via FedEx Freight this afternoon. No engine to hang it on yet. That should show up sometime around February. http://rv10.stephensville.com/post/2011/08/26/right-side-tail-wiring/ Fri, 26 Aug 2011 00:00:00 +0000 http://rv10.stephensville.com/post/2011/08/26/right-side-tail-wiring/ Finished wiring up all the “stuff” that heads up front from the right side of the tail. All the ELT connections (power, ground, GPS serial, RJ11 to head), autopilot pitch servo and autotrim, pitch trim servo. Haven’t decided yet if the EFIS magnotometer wires will come back through this side. There may also be some Oxygen system tubing runs up this side in the future. http://rv10.stephensville.com/post/2011/08/24/fuel-and-brake-line-rework/ Wed, 24 Aug 2011 00:00:00 +0000 http://rv10.stephensville.com/post/2011/08/24/fuel-and-brake-line-rework/ I swapped out the hard brake lines for flex lines. Had quite a hard time with Bonaco getting the lines back after they were sent back for shortening. I used the recommended length they suggested for the brake lines which was too long, so I sent them back. Well, after a month and a half, multiple phone calls, etc. I finally got them back. This isn’t the first time I’ve had delivery problems with Bonaco, but it will be the last. http://rv10.stephensville.com/post/2011/08/20/ack-elt-mounted/ Sat, 20 Aug 2011 00:00:00 +0000 http://rv10.stephensville.com/post/2011/08/20/ack-elt-mounted/ Got the ELT mounted today. Just two pieces of flat stock aluminum across the bottom stiffeners with 4 nutplates to attach the tray. Waiting on a wire order for the power, ground and GPS serial feed run to the front. http://rv10.stephensville.com/post/2011/08/15/pitch-servo-and-autotrim/ Mon, 15 Aug 2011 00:00:00 +0000 http://rv10.stephensville.com/post/2011/08/15/pitch-servo-and-autotrim/ It’s been a slow summer in the plane fab area. Lots of family adventures. Got back at it this weekend though. I was trying to figure out where to mount the TruTrak autotrim module. Wanted it by the pitch servo, but couldn’t find a good way to mount it. What I settled on works, but I may add more support on the top and tie it into the bottom. http://rv10.stephensville.com/post/2011/07/09/tailcone-service-bulletin/ Sat, 09 Jul 2011 00:00:00 +0000 http://rv10.stephensville.com/post/2011/07/09/tailcone-service-bulletin/ I’ve had the tailcone finished for many years now and I’ve been waiting for a good time to complete the 08-6-1 service bulletin from Vans. The service bulletin is for possible cracks in the F-1010 bulkhead and calls for adding doublers. I needed to add an antenna doubler to the belly of the rear tail for the VOR/LOC/GS antenna, so figured now was a good time to do the service bulletin. http://rv10.stephensville.com/post/2011/06/25/fuel-line-mod/ Sat, 25 Jun 2011 00:00:00 +0000 http://rv10.stephensville.com/post/2011/06/25/fuel-line-mod/ Modified the fuel line under the seats from the tunnel. I didn’t like the hard line running from the tunnel to the side of the fuselage directly to the wing. I changed it to a -6 flex line from Bonaco. It runs from the tunnel to a 45 degree bulkhead. From there it will be easier connecting to the wing root tank fitting when the time comes. http://rv10.stephensville.com/post/2011/06/15/wiring-stick-grips/ Wed, 15 Jun 2011 00:00:00 +0000 http://rv10.stephensville.com/post/2011/06/15/wiring-stick-grips/ I decided to use the Ray Allen G307 stick grips. I can’t stand the military style grip of the Infinity most are using and I didn’t need all the available switches on it. Some say the downside of the Ray Allen grips is that you have to do the soldering inside yourself. No big deal. If I can do it than any Joe Schmo can. Just followed the manual for wiring them up. http://rv10.stephensville.com/post/2011/06/12/lower-center-console-trays/ Sun, 12 Jun 2011 00:00:00 +0000 http://rv10.stephensville.com/post/2011/06/12/lower-center-console-trays/ Got the trays for the SL-30 and GTX-330 mounted in the lower center console. Pretty tight in there. I think I will brace the lower rear of the trays off the tunnel cover which runs underneath. http://rv10.stephensville.com/post/2011/06/12/more-panel-cutouts/ Sun, 12 Jun 2011 00:00:00 +0000 http://rv10.stephensville.com/post/2011/06/12/more-panel-cutouts/ Finished some more cutouts that needed to be done on the panel. Air vents, start button and VP-200 switch panel. The start button has a green light around the center button that will turn on when the VP-200 is in Start Mode and the starter is enabled. Got the idea from HERE. http://rv10.stephensville.com/post/2011/05/23/control-sticks/ Mon, 23 May 2011 00:00:00 +0000 http://rv10.stephensville.com/post/2011/05/23/control-sticks/ Control sticks completed with linkages to elevator and ailerons. http://rv10.stephensville.com/post/2011/05/23/intercom-and-garmin-430-trays/ Mon, 23 May 2011 00:00:00 +0000 http://rv10.stephensville.com/post/2011/05/23/intercom-and-garmin-430-trays/ Brad came over and helped me with getting the avionics trays all mounted for the intercom and Garmin 430. Took a bit of figuring out where everything could be attached, but it worked out pretty well. http://rv10.stephensville.com/post/2011/05/23/more-andair-fuel-valve/ Mon, 23 May 2011 00:00:00 +0000 http://rv10.stephensville.com/post/2011/05/23/more-andair-fuel-valve/ Finished up mounting the Andair fuel valve. Added the extension which is needed to bring it up from the now standard lower mounting location up to the tunnel. http://rv10.stephensville.com/post/2011/05/23/mounting-avionics-stuff/ Mon, 23 May 2011 00:00:00 +0000 http://rv10.stephensville.com/post/2011/05/23/mounting-avionics-stuff/ Spent a lot of time trying to figure out where I want everything mounted behind the panel. One of my main goals was to keep everything I could in the first subpanel. Just easier to get to from underneath when everything is buttoned up. First I created a mounting plate for the Airinc-429 adapter. Close to the center stack as that is where most connections come from. Next up was the ethernet hub. http://rv10.stephensville.com/post/2011/05/23/rear-seat-backs/ Mon, 23 May 2011 00:00:00 +0000 http://rv10.stephensville.com/post/2011/05/23/rear-seat-backs/ Completed the rear seat backs. These will be light gray leather after upholstery and padding. http://rv10.stephensville.com/post/2011/05/23/rudder-and-brake-pedals/ Mon, 23 May 2011 00:00:00 +0000 http://rv10.stephensville.com/post/2011/05/23/rudder-and-brake-pedals/ Finished up the rudder and brake pedals. Replaced all the brake lines with some nice stainless steel braided teflon lines from Bonaco. Just need to tie up the lines, but these have to be pulled out to paint the interior so that will wait. http://rv10.stephensville.com/post/2011/04/24/fuel-lines/ Sun, 24 Apr 2011 00:00:00 +0000 http://rv10.stephensville.com/post/2011/04/24/fuel-lines/ Finished up the fuel lines connecting everything today. First the fuel line running from the tunnel out to each wing root. Then each tank up to the selector valve and out to the filter. Check line from the valve to pump. (center valve to right side of pump in this pic) And lastly the line from the pump exit to the firewall. I’m not putting the transducer in the tunnel per plans. http://rv10.stephensville.com/post/2011/04/23/fuel-valve-filter-and-pump/ Sat, 23 Apr 2011 00:00:00 +0000 http://rv10.stephensville.com/post/2011/04/23/fuel-valve-filter-and-pump/ Worked on the fuel system today. Added a mounting plate on top of the existing plate to accommodate mounting the Andair valve. Also mounted the fuel filter and pump. Still need to run some fuel lines. http://rv10.stephensville.com/post/2011/04/11/brake-lines/ Mon, 11 Apr 2011 00:00:00 +0000 http://rv10.stephensville.com/post/2011/04/11/brake-lines/ Worked on the brake lines this weekend. Added the Matco parking brake into the mix. Still need to torque everything down once my EZTurn fuel lube order gets here. http://rv10.stephensville.com/post/2011/03/26/finish-kit-arrives/ Sat, 26 Mar 2011 00:00:00 +0000 http://rv10.stephensville.com/post/2011/03/26/finish-kit-arrives/ The finish kit arrives the other day. Not quite ready for it yet, but I ordered ahead to beat the price increase. Most of it will be stored away in the basement for a while. http://rv10.stephensville.com/post/2011/03/26/rear-floors-and-seats/ Sat, 26 Mar 2011 00:00:00 +0000 http://rv10.stephensville.com/post/2011/03/26/rear-floors-and-seats/ Finished up the rear floors. These were a bit tough to get in place so I final drilled, dimpled, primed the underside and added nutplates while they were out. I then primed the topside after they were in. Also finished riveting the rear seat pans. http://rv10.stephensville.com/post/2011/03/12/baggage-door-section-34-complete/ Sat, 12 Mar 2011 00:00:00 +0000 http://rv10.stephensville.com/post/2011/03/12/baggage-door-section-34-complete/ Completed Section 34 today by attaching the baggage door and the left baggage panel. Still some small adjustments to the door needed, but those can wait. Added Dynaliner before closing out the left panel. Strike plate for baggage door lock. Left baggage panel close-out. http://rv10.stephensville.com/post/2011/03/06/baggage-door/ Sun, 06 Mar 2011 00:00:00 +0000 http://rv10.stephensville.com/post/2011/03/06/baggage-door/ Finished the baggage door this afternoon. Added Dynaliner to the inside before closing out. The lock is just a camlock purchased from the aviation department at Home Depot. Closed Out. http://rv10.stephensville.com/post/2011/02/27/section-33-complete/ Sun, 27 Feb 2011 00:00:00 +0000 http://rv10.stephensville.com/post/2011/02/27/section-33-complete/ Baggage floors, right side closeout and rear bulkhead. Delrin wear blocks for the rear seatbelt cable pass-through. http://rv10.stephensville.com/post/2011/02/20/conduit-and-soundproofing/ Sun, 20 Feb 2011 00:00:00 +0000 http://rv10.stephensville.com/post/2011/02/20/conduit-and-soundproofing/ Finished up a couple tasks this weekend which needed to be done before I could rivet on the baggage floor and rear seat floors. Added Dynaliner soundproofing to the rear seat and baggage floors. The conduit was ordered from CableOrganizer. I wanted a larger diameter than what Vans sells. I went with the one inch. For the point where the conduit exits the rear of the baggage area I used the same CTM-HM cable tie mounts from Terminal Town as used for the AOA tubes at the wingtip. http://rv10.stephensville.com/post/2011/02/12/comm-antenna-doublers/ Sat, 12 Feb 2011 00:00:00 +0000 http://rv10.stephensville.com/post/2011/02/12/comm-antenna-doublers/ Fabricated the comm antenna doublers. Brad came over to help with the riveting. I decided to place them under the baggage floors instead of under the rear seats as most are doing. I already planned on adding access panels for the step bolt, so why not place the comm antennas near there and be able to utilize the same access panels? For the access panel I just ordered a couple each of VA-195C and VA-195D from Vans which are the parts for the stall warning access panel. http://rv10.stephensville.com/post/2011/01/16/section-29-done/ Sun, 16 Jan 2011 00:00:00 +0000 http://rv10.stephensville.com/post/2011/01/16/section-29-done/ After attaching the forward fuse ribs, the dreaded Section 29 is finally finished. Also finished the step section this weekend. http://rv10.stephensville.com/post/2011/01/09/landing-gear-mounts/ Sun, 09 Jan 2011 00:00:00 +0000 http://rv10.stephensville.com/post/2011/01/09/landing-gear-mounts/ I wasn’t looking forward to putting the landing gear mounts in, but it wasn’t that bad. I utilized Tyler’s (my 8 year old son) small hands to start the nuts inside the two spar halves. His first contribution to the build. http://rv10.stephensville.com/post/2011/01/09/rear-air-vents/ Sun, 09 Jan 2011 00:00:00 +0000 http://rv10.stephensville.com/post/2011/01/09/rear-air-vents/ Finished the rear passenger air vents. http://rv10.stephensville.com/post/2010/12/13/forward-floor/ Mon, 13 Dec 2010 00:00:00 +0000 http://rv10.stephensville.com/post/2010/12/13/forward-floor/ Brad came over to help wrap up the forward side skins so I was finally able to move on. I used Dynamat and Dynaliner under the floors for soundproofing. The Dynamat is expensive and heavy, but works really well, so I am only going to use it in this location as this is where the exhaust exits under the plane. The Dynaliner is very light and not so pricey, so that will be used in other locations along the floors and side panels. http://rv10.stephensville.com/post/2010/11/28/tailcone-attach/ Sun, 28 Nov 2010 00:00:00 +0000 http://rv10.stephensville.com/post/2010/11/28/tailcone-attach/ Got the tailcone attached over the Thanksgiving weekend. Dad was down and we were able to get it all attached over the course of a day and a half. Brad came over and helped with some rivets and building the fuselage cradle. We constructed a real simple cradle to allow for the entire fuselage to easily be moved around the aircraft fab plant a.k.a garage. Having an extra two sets of hands for the weekend really helped. http://rv10.stephensville.com/post/2010/11/11/panel-inserts/ Thu, 11 Nov 2010 00:00:00 +0000 http://rv10.stephensville.com/post/2010/11/11/panel-inserts/ Been working on the panel inserts since getting them back from Precision Waterjet. All the cuts were good save for a few small areas of spot filing. The right EFIS/Engine Monitor fits fine without rib modification, but the left EFIS will need the rib behind it modified to provide clearance. http://rv10.stephensville.com/post/2010/11/01/test-panel-insert-cutouts/ Mon, 01 Nov 2010 00:00:00 +0000 http://rv10.stephensville.com/post/2010/11/01/test-panel-insert-cutouts/ Precision WaterJet is cutting my panel inserts for me. These guys are great to work with if you are around Cary, IL. I had them do the initial cuts on MDF so I could test the fit of all the avionics before they cut the aluminum version of the inserts. I placed all the avionics to make sure all the cuts were correct. Everything looks good. http://rv10.stephensville.com/post/2010/10/29/power-distribution-backbone/ Fri, 29 Oct 2010 00:00:00 +0000 http://rv10.stephensville.com/post/2010/10/29/power-distribution-backbone/ After a couple of revs from the VP-200 folks I think I have the initial revision of the main power distribution backbone worked out. I am starting out with just two slick mags with the anticipation of maybe going with a G3 ignition in the future. I haven’t fully convinced myself yet that the backup alternator is needed, but it is in there for now. The backup switches may seem like a bit of overkill, but if the VP-200 fails for any reason I will have a complete system up and running to my alternate or destination. http://rv10.stephensville.com/post/2010/10/24/carbon-fiber-panel/ Sun, 24 Oct 2010 00:00:00 +0000 http://rv10.stephensville.com/post/2010/10/24/carbon-fiber-panel/ Received the carbon fiber panel from Aerosport the other day. Waiting on a free pair of hands to finish up the side skins, so decided to start on the upper forward fuse and the panel. I had to plop the panel and lower center console in place just to see how it looked. I think it is going to look very nice. http://rv10.stephensville.com/post/2010/09/06/fwd-fuse-skins/ Mon, 06 Sep 2010 00:00:00 +0000 http://rv10.stephensville.com/post/2010/09/06/fwd-fuse-skins/ Worked on the fwd fuse skins today. After bending the forward radius similar to the aft skins, next was getting all the ribs and channels in place. Then the left fwd skin match drilled. Unfortunately the right fwd skin will have to wait until I get a replacement from Vans. I cracked the aft end of the radius while doing the bend. Oh well, not the first replacement part, but hopefully the last. http://rv10.stephensville.com/post/2010/09/05/mid-fuse-side-skins/ Sun, 05 Sep 2010 00:00:00 +0000 http://rv10.stephensville.com/post/2010/09/05/mid-fuse-side-skins/ Long weekend, so thought I’d get caught up. Panel is coming soon (more on that later) and I have a bit to go before I get to the point I can test fit it. Worked on the mid fuselage side skins today. First needed to bend the aft bottom edges. I had someone with more experience than me with wood build the spec’d bending block. Thanks Dad. Getting ready to bend… http://rv10.stephensville.com/post/2010/08/30/mating-forward-and-aft-fuselage/ Mon, 30 Aug 2010 00:00:00 +0000 http://rv10.stephensville.com/post/2010/08/30/mating-forward-and-aft-fuselage/ Brad came over to help me get the forward and aft sections of the fuselage together. They are now one. Used some 5/16 bolts (instead of the close tolerance that will be used to attach the wings) and the supplied spacers to get things lined up. Here’s a shot of the double-flush rivets needed where the landing gear mount will reside. I opted for the stainless version of the heater valves from Plane Innovations instead of the kit ones. http://rv10.stephensville.com/post/2010/08/19/fwd-and-aft-fuse/ Thu, 19 Aug 2010 00:00:00 +0000 http://rv10.stephensville.com/post/2010/08/19/fwd-and-aft-fuse/ The forward and aft fuse sections are together for the first time. Even though it is only temporary. Need to match drill then take it apart piece by piece for priming. Shame. Oh, and I need a bigger garage. http://rv10.stephensville.com/post/2010/08/18/match-drilling-forward-fuselage/ Wed, 18 Aug 2010 00:00:00 +0000 http://rv10.stephensville.com/post/2010/08/18/match-drilling-forward-fuselage/ Brad was over last weekend to help finish a few rivets on the aft bottom skin and also the firewall. Just waiting for the stainless steel heater vents to arrive. Moved on to the assembly of the forward fuselage. Match drilled the floor, ribs, tunnel, front floor, etc. http://rv10.stephensville.com/post/2010/07/19/more-firewall/ Mon, 19 Jul 2010 00:00:00 +0000 http://rv10.stephensville.com/post/2010/07/19/more-firewall/ Firewall supports primed and riveted and forward ribs match-drilled. http://rv10.stephensville.com/post/2010/07/15/firewall-match-drilled/ Thu, 15 Jul 2010 00:00:00 +0000 http://rv10.stephensville.com/post/2010/07/15/firewall-match-drilled/ Finished match drilling the firewall. http://rv10.stephensville.com/post/2010/07/11/more-bottom-aft-skins/ Sun, 11 Jul 2010 00:00:00 +0000 http://rv10.stephensville.com/post/2010/07/11/more-bottom-aft-skins/ Bottom aft skin is deburred, dimpled, primed and clecoed back on for back-riveting. http://rv10.stephensville.com/post/2010/07/03/aft-bottom-skins/ Sat, 03 Jul 2010 00:00:00 +0000 http://rv10.stephensville.com/post/2010/07/03/aft-bottom-skins/ Aft bottom skins and floor stiffeners clecoed on for match-drilling. http://rv10.stephensville.com/post/2010/07/03/baggage-ribs/ Sat, 03 Jul 2010 00:00:00 +0000 http://rv10.stephensville.com/post/2010/07/03/baggage-ribs/ Baggage ribs match-drilled, primed and riveted. http://rv10.stephensville.com/post/2010/07/02/rear-seat-ribs-attached/ Fri, 02 Jul 2010 00:00:00 +0000 http://rv10.stephensville.com/post/2010/07/02/rear-seat-ribs-attached/ Rear seat ribs match drilled, primed and attached to the aft bulkhead. http://rv10.stephensville.com/post/2010/07/02/rear-spar-bulkhead/ Fri, 02 Jul 2010 00:00:00 +0000 http://rv10.stephensville.com/post/2010/07/02/rear-spar-bulkhead/ Finished the rear spar bulkhead. http://rv10.stephensville.com/post/2010/07/02/seat-ribs/ Fri, 02 Jul 2010 00:00:00 +0000 http://rv10.stephensville.com/post/2010/07/02/seat-ribs/ Bolted and riveted the seat ribs to the aft center bulkhead. http://rv10.stephensville.com/post/2010/06/28/completed-center-aft-bulkhead/ Mon, 28 Jun 2010 00:00:00 +0000 http://rv10.stephensville.com/post/2010/06/28/completed-center-aft-bulkhead/ Finished priming, bolting and riveting the center aft bulkhead. http://rv10.stephensville.com/post/2010/06/28/fuselage-assembly-begins/ Mon, 28 Jun 2010 00:00:00 +0000 http://rv10.stephensville.com/post/2010/06/28/fuselage-assembly-begins/ Started working on the fuselage this weekend. Last few days have been unpacking, and locating storage locations for the various fuselage parts. Match drilled, deburred, primed and assembled the forward center bulkhead. Match drilled the aft center bulkhead. http://rv10.stephensville.com/post/2010/06/21/fuselage-kit-arrives/ Mon, 21 Jun 2010 00:00:00 +0000 http://rv10.stephensville.com/post/2010/06/21/fuselage-kit-arrives/ The fuselage kit arrived today. The carrier said they were bringing it out on a truck with a lift gate and said it would be placed on the ground for me. I was kinda suspicious about that, but let it go. When it arrived, it was easy to tell that it wasn’t getting off the truck. The guy was a good sport and actually helped me uncrate it on the truck. http://rv10.stephensville.com/post/2010/06/08/mounted-hid-ballasts/ Tue, 08 Jun 2010 00:00:00 +0000 http://rv10.stephensville.com/post/2010/06/08/mounted-hid-ballasts/ Mounted the ballasts for the Duckworks HID landing lights. They are 35W HIDs, so the new ballasts are smaller than the older 50W versions. I just mounted the ballasts where there was space next to the lamp. I attached the bricks to the mount with 3M adhesive pads shown. http://rv10.stephensville.com/post/2010/06/06/routing-aoa-tubes/ Sun, 06 Jun 2010 00:00:00 +0000 http://rv10.stephensville.com/post/2010/06/06/routing-aoa-tubes/ Routed the Advanced Flight Systems AOA tubing today. Tie wrap mounts from the tip rib exit to the leading edge tip rib entry. Tie wrap mounts routing the tubes back into the leading edge tip rib. Top port connection. Bottom port connection. http://rv10.stephensville.com/post/2010/06/05/wings-complete/ Sat, 05 Jun 2010 00:00:00 +0000 http://rv10.stephensville.com/post/2010/06/05/wings-complete/ Well… almost. Finished up the bottom skin on the left wing. This means the wings are completed from the standpoint of structure. Four years since I received the wing kit. Nice to be finished with these after moving delays. The slow build fuselage kit is due to arrive late June, so good timing. Just a few things to wrap up that I may wait for. I need to lengthen one wingtip and shorten the other by about 3/16 of an inch. http://rv10.stephensville.com/post/2010/06/01/roll-trim-assembled/ Tue, 01 Jun 2010 00:00:00 +0000 http://rv10.stephensville.com/post/2010/06/01/roll-trim-assembled/ Dad was down for the weekend, so he helped with a couple things. We assembled the aileron roll trim servo. It is a spring bias trim that attaches to the inboard access plate. We also trimmed and fitted the Duckworks landing light lens on the right wing. Forgot to get pics of that. Will get a couple pics when I do the left side which needs to wait until I get the bottom skin finished. http://rv10.stephensville.com/post/2010/05/15/more-right-wingtip/ Sat, 15 May 2010 00:00:00 +0000 http://rv10.stephensville.com/post/2010/05/15/more-right-wingtip/ Bonded a few risers to the right wingtip to help keep the Archer wingtip nav antenna level. Also added aluminum tape where the antenna will ground to the wing tip to aid in getting a good ground. Next up after the epoxy cures is to rivet the nutplates where the antenna mounts. http://rv10.stephensville.com/post/2010/05/10/wingtip-nav-lights/ Mon, 10 May 2010 00:00:00 +0000 http://rv10.stephensville.com/post/2010/05/10/wingtip-nav-lights/ While I was tinkering with the wingtips and waiting for a hand on the left bottom skin, I decided to fit the LED nav lights and trim the lens covers. The LED navs are a real nice package put together by Jeff Bordelon. I got the inspiration from Deems Davis on these. I had to do a bit of trimming to get a good fit, but they turned out really nice. http://rv10.stephensville.com/post/2010/04/29/right-wingtip/ Thu, 29 Apr 2010 00:00:00 +0000 http://rv10.stephensville.com/post/2010/04/29/right-wingtip/ While I am waiting for an extra pair of hands to close up the left bottom skin I worked on fitting the right wingtip. After all the horror stories I was not very optimistic. It turns out they were pretty good. This one as you can see is just a tad short. About 3/16 too short. After hearing how many people had wingtips that were too long, I was a bit surprised by this. http://rv10.stephensville.com/post/2010/04/20/pitot-fit/ Tue, 20 Apr 2010 00:00:00 +0000 http://rv10.stephensville.com/post/2010/04/20/pitot-fit/ Got the pitot tube fitted with it’s AN fittings and ran the wiring. I mounted the controller board as shown to give easy access from the access panel. I can also reach through the lightning hole in the rib to get to the AN fittings. http://rv10.stephensville.com/post/2009/09/25/gretz-mount/ Fri, 25 Sep 2009 00:00:00 +0000 http://rv10.stephensville.com/post/2009/09/25/gretz-mount/ I decided to place the Gretz heated pitot one bay outboard of the last access panel bay. This would allow me to easily reach the pitot tube AN fittings and also mount the controller board in the bay with the access hole. First found the location for the mounting plate. Not shown is the bracket I made to attach the plate to the rib to the right. http://rv10.stephensville.com/post/2009/09/19/its-been-how-long/ Sat, 19 Sep 2009 00:00:00 +0000 http://rv10.stephensville.com/post/2009/09/19/its-been-how-long/ It is hard to believe that it has been almost three years since I’ve done any work on the plane. The move from AZ to IL killed it for much longer than I expected. But onward and upward! Dad was down for the weekend, so he lent a hand closing up the right bottom skin. http://rv10.stephensville.com/post/2007/02/22/new-plane-factory-nearing-completion/ Thu, 22 Feb 2007 00:00:00 +0000 http://rv10.stephensville.com/post/2007/02/22/new-plane-factory-nearing-completion/ The new plane factory is getting closer to reality. The closing date has been set for March 26th. I’m hoping to have everything set back up and the kit out of storage by early to mid May. I can’t wait to get started back up again. http://rv10.stephensville.com/post/2006/11/15/no-plane-news/ Wed, 15 Nov 2006 00:00:00 +0000 http://rv10.stephensville.com/post/2006/11/15/no-plane-news/ Sorry there hasn’t been any plane building news lately. We are getting settled into our rental. Our hew house started to be built today. They are pouring the foundation. Maybe the house will be done in Feb. and my baby plane can be moved out of storage and into its new maturation site sometime shortly after that. http://rv10.stephensville.com/post/2006/10/26/in-illinois/ Thu, 26 Oct 2006 00:00:00 +0000 http://rv10.stephensville.com/post/2006/10/26/in-illinois/ We’ve made it to Illinois and are moved into our rental until the new house is built. Haven’t been down to storage to see if the kit is doing ok yet. I’m sure that if I see it sitting there, I’ll just be disappointed that I am now close to it, but still can’t resume yet. I’ll have to see if I can do some little tasks while we are in the rental just to keep myself sane. http://rv10.stephensville.com/post/2006/09/29/arizona-house-sold/ Fri, 29 Sep 2006 00:00:00 +0000 http://rv10.stephensville.com/post/2006/09/29/arizona-house-sold/ We’ve sold the house here in Arizona and will most likely be moving back to Illinois the weekend of Oct. 21st. It will be good to finally be there, but the kit will have to stay in storage until we actually get moved into the new house sometime early 2007. I might be able to accomplish some small tasks in our rental property until then, but not sure. Going a little stir crazy knowing nothing is getting done right now. http://rv10.stephensville.com/post/2006/08/26/finished-bfr/ Sat, 26 Aug 2006 00:00:00 +0000 http://rv10.stephensville.com/post/2006/08/26/finished-bfr/ Completed and was signed off for my BFR a couple days ago. It took longer than normal since I hadn’t flown in so long. As mentioned before, not building right now, so might as well get some flying in. I plan on getting my IFR ticket if time allows before we get moved. It just feels good to be flying again. Take the bad with the good. Good to be flying, bad to not be building for a while. http://rv10.stephensville.com/post/2006/08/09/passing-the-time/ Wed, 09 Aug 2006 00:00:00 +0000 http://rv10.stephensville.com/post/2006/08/09/passing-the-time/ Recently I’ve been having withdrawal symptoms with the kit being in lllinois and me still in Arizona. I decided to do some flying during my building downtime. I looked at my logbook and realized it had been five years since I’ve flown. I had no idea it had been that long. I’ve kept my medical up to date during that time, but I’m sure my “skills”; have deteriorated. Yesterday I finally got back in the left seat. http://rv10.stephensville.com/post/2006/06/24/moving-parts/ Sat, 24 Jun 2006 00:00:00 +0000 http://rv10.stephensville.com/post/2006/06/24/moving-parts/ Taking advantage of the long weekend coming up over the 4th of July, I decided to move the kit back to Illinois while I had the chance. Rented a UHaul, got storage reserved back there and got a plane ticket for the trip back here to Phoenix. I was trying to decide if I should do it this early in the move process (house not sold yet), but the day job is preventing me from getting any building time lately, so I figured I’d get it out of the way. http://rv10.stephensville.com/post/2006/05/30/closing-right-wing/ Tue, 30 May 2006 00:00:00 +0000 http://rv10.stephensville.com/post/2006/05/30/closing-right-wing/ Finally got some time to work on finishing up the wings this weekend. Right inboard bottom skin is on. Also got started on the right outboard bottom skin. You can see how I’m tying up the bottom edge of the skin to make it easier to reach up inside to rivet these on one-handed. http://rv10.stephensville.com/post/2006/05/30/plane-parts-moved-to-illinois/ Tue, 30 May 2006 00:00:00 +0000 http://rv10.stephensville.com/post/2006/05/30/plane-parts-moved-to-illinois/ The plane has been moved to storage in Illinois. Long trip, but glad it is done. Obviously won’t be making any progress until we are moved back there. Only good thing is that I can now park my truck in the garage again. One more thing. If you need a truck rental, use Budget instead of U-Haul. U-Haul sucks. http://rv10.stephensville.com/post/2006/04/13/hanger-hunting/ Thu, 13 Apr 2006 00:00:00 +0000 http://rv10.stephensville.com/post/2006/04/13/hanger-hunting/ Therese and I were in Chicago last weekend. We had to visit the Ryland Design Center and pick everything out for the new house in Crystal Lake, IL. While we were there, I took the opportunity to visit Poplar Grove Airport and get a hanger tour from Steve Thomas, the Manager. Poplar Grove is an extremely builder-friendly airport. I like the environment. The only thing I am wary about is the rental t-hangers are not insulated. http://rv10.stephensville.com/post/2006/04/10/ap-roll-servo-harness/ Mon, 10 Apr 2006 00:00:00 +0000 http://rv10.stephensville.com/post/2006/04/10/ap-roll-servo-harness/ Installed the TruTrak Autopilot roll servo harness supplied by SteinAir. Attached the service loop to the outboard rib with a tie wrap anchor. Ran the harness along the bottom through the ribs to the wing root. Will add a DB9 connector at the wing root later. http://rv10.stephensville.com/post/2006/03/05/right-bottom-skin-match-drilling/ Sun, 05 Mar 2006 00:00:00 +0000 http://rv10.stephensville.com/post/2006/03/05/right-bottom-skin-match-drilling/ Match drilled the bottom skins on the right wing today. Whew! Lots of holes. Now for the marathon debur and dimple session. http://rv10.stephensville.com/post/2006/02/19/left-tank-and-aileron-actuation/ Sun, 19 Feb 2006 00:00:00 +0000 http://rv10.stephensville.com/post/2006/02/19/left-tank-and-aileron-actuation/ Left fuel tank was attached to the left wing. Also able to finish the left aileron actuation. Little faster on this wing because there’s no autopilot servo to adjust like the right wing. Little glare in this shot, but you can see how the flap is used to define the neutral position of the aileron. Right aileron bellcrank. Somehow I got lucky on this side as the bellcrank to aileron pushrod was the perfect length for neutral. http://rv10.stephensville.com/post/2006/02/19/right-wing-aileron-actuation/ Sun, 19 Feb 2006 00:00:00 +0000 http://rv10.stephensville.com/post/2006/02/19/right-wing-aileron-actuation/ Finished the aileron actuation on the right wing. Pretty straight forward. Find neutral position and adjust rod end bearings. This is a shot of the torque tube to aileron pushrod assembly at the wing root. Wider shot of the entire assembly. Neutral position for the aileron is defined by temporarily attaching the flap, bottoming it out, and clamping the aileron to it in the same position. http://rv10.stephensville.com/post/2006/02/19/right-wing-wiring/ Sun, 19 Feb 2006 00:00:00 +0000 http://rv10.stephensville.com/post/2006/02/19/right-wing-wiring/ Installed grommets and ran the strobe wire in the right wing. Also ran the conduit which will carry the wiring and coax for antennas and lights. http://rv10.stephensville.com/post/2006/02/06/right-tank-on-and-ap-servo/ Mon, 06 Feb 2006 00:00:00 +0000 http://rv10.stephensville.com/post/2006/02/06/right-tank-on-and-ap-servo/ Finally all the little leaks are sealed up on the right fuel tank, so it was attached. The left tank has a couple minor ones also that I’m waiting to get taken care of before mounting it. Started mounting the autopilot roll servo in the right wing. Brackets and servo are mounted. http://rv10.stephensville.com/post/2006/01/27/aileron-attach/ Fri, 27 Jan 2006 00:00:00 +0000 http://rv10.stephensville.com/post/2006/01/27/aileron-attach/ Attached the ailerons to the wings. Not much to this. A bit of a bear getting some of the washers in, but not too bad. This is the outboard attach bracket. Everything went fine here. Clearance is good all around. Here’s a shot of the pushrod running up from the bellcrank to the aileron on the inboard side. This is the inboard attach bracket. I had a little bit of a clearance issue here with the bracket hitting a rivet when swinging through. http://rv10.stephensville.com/post/2006/01/26/outboard-leading-edges-and-aileron-actuation/ Thu, 26 Jan 2006 00:00:00 +0000 http://rv10.stephensville.com/post/2006/01/26/outboard-leading-edges-and-aileron-actuation/ Thanks to Deems for dropping by for a quick rivet session. The outboard leading edges are now completely attached. Started the aileron actuation components. First up was the main aileron pushrods. Same task as for the elevator pushrod. Next up was the aileron pushrods. These extend from the bellcrank to the ailerons. These are the aileron torque tubes. These are at the root of the wing. The main pushrod attaches to these. http://rv10.stephensville.com/post/2006/01/24/wing-cradle/ Tue, 24 Jan 2006 00:00:00 +0000 http://rv10.stephensville.com/post/2006/01/24/wing-cradle/ Made the wing cradle today. Based it on a combination of other plans found around the net. Now both wings are in the cradle with the “working” side facing out and can be rolled around on the castering wheels. Tyler’s hanging out to give a little size perspective. http://rv10.stephensville.com/post/2006/01/22/gap-fairings/ Sun, 22 Jan 2006 00:00:00 +0000 http://rv10.stephensville.com/post/2006/01/22/gap-fairings/ While waiting for a few things to happen with the leading edges (proseal to dry on a couple small tank leaks), I started on the aileron and flap gap fairings. Both sides were match drilled, deburred, dimpled and primed before clecoing back on for riveting. Riveting these on wasn’t as bad as I thought it would be. I was able to squeeze all but 10 or so rivets which had to be bucked. http://rv10.stephensville.com/post/2006/01/15/leading-edges-half-on/ Sun, 15 Jan 2006 00:00:00 +0000 http://rv10.stephensville.com/post/2006/01/15/leading-edges-half-on/ More mounting of the leading edges. Both leading edges are now half mounted. Aft edges of the leading edge ribs are attached and the bottom aft edge is also riveted. All that’s left for these is to wait for a hand to rivet the top side aft edge. Too much of a reach to do it single handed. http://rv10.stephensville.com/post/2006/01/08/angle-of-attack-ports-installed/ Sun, 08 Jan 2006 00:00:00 +0000 http://rv10.stephensville.com/post/2006/01/08/angle-of-attack-ports-installed/ Installed the AOA ports this weekend. Not much to this. Just wanted to get them on before I attached the leading edge so I would have better access from the aft. http://rv10.stephensville.com/post/2006/01/08/mounting-leading-edges/ Sun, 08 Jan 2006 00:00:00 +0000 http://rv10.stephensville.com/post/2006/01/08/mounting-leading-edges/ Ok, finally time to start putting these things together. Here I’m just test fitting the leading edge on the left wing. Starting to actually look like a wing now. http://rv10.stephensville.com/post/2006/01/07/hid-landing-light-mounts/ Sat, 07 Jan 2006 00:00:00 +0000 http://rv10.stephensville.com/post/2006/01/07/hid-landing-light-mounts/ Spent a little time getting the HID landing light mount prepared. First step was to cut holes in the leading edges. This was a little scary at first. Took me a while to build up the nerve to plunge the Dremel cut-off wheel through my nice leading endges. Turned out fine though. Got it roughed out with the Dremel and then used a fine file to finish it off. http://rv10.stephensville.com/post/2006/01/05/top-skins-on/ Thu, 05 Jan 2006 00:00:00 +0000 http://rv10.stephensville.com/post/2006/01/05/top-skins-on/ Thanks to Andrew for coming over and lending a hand. We were able to finish up riveting on the top skins. http://rv10.stephensville.com/post/2006/01/01/ready-to-rivet-top-skins/ Sun, 01 Jan 2006 00:00:00 +0000 http://rv10.stephensville.com/post/2006/01/01/ready-to-rivet-top-skins/ Finally. After 5.5 hours deburring and dimpling and about an hour of priming, the top skins are ready to be riveted on. Time to work on the wings has been sparse the last few months, but making progress again. Mounted a temporary ledge between my two tables to hold the c-frame for dimpling. Makes it a lot easier. The male die is aligned with the bench tops. Made it easier to dimple the long top skins with one pair of hands. http://rv10.stephensville.com/post/2005/12/16/received-aoa-sport/ Fri, 16 Dec 2005 00:00:00 +0000 http://rv10.stephensville.com/post/2005/12/16/received-aoa-sport/ Received my recently ordered Advanced Flight Systems Angle Of Attack Sport in the mail today. Wow, this is a pretty complete kit. Comes with a complete manual and DVD. Very nice. I wanted to get it ordered so I could get it mounted in the leading edge before I attached the leading edges to the spars. Want to do the same with the Duckworks Landing Light kit also. http://rv10.stephensville.com/post/2005/12/09/deburring-and-dimpling/ Fri, 09 Dec 2005 00:00:00 +0000 http://rv10.stephensville.com/post/2005/12/09/deburring-and-dimpling/ Once again, no pictures. But, finally a few hours progress. I managed to deburr and dimple the main ribs and the j-stiffeners for the top skins. Next session will be deburring and dimpling the top skins, which may take a while. Lots-o-holes! http://rv10.stephensville.com/post/2005/11/12/more-top-skins/ Sat, 12 Nov 2005 00:00:00 +0000 http://rv10.stephensville.com/post/2005/11/12/more-top-skins/ It’s been kind of slow around here regarding building time. The day job is sucking all my time, as well as just plain sucking. This weekend I managed to get about 5 hours in on the top skins. Match-drilled left and right top skins. Also countersunk the inboard nutplate holes and all the wing walk doubler holes. Up next is a boat-load of deburring and dimpling before riveting the top skins on. http://rv10.stephensville.com/post/2005/10/16/top-skins/ Sun, 16 Oct 2005 00:00:00 +0000 http://rv10.stephensville.com/post/2005/10/16/top-skins/ Tops skins are on and ready to be match drilled. Unfortunately, when placing the J-stiffeners on, it seems I messed up the drilling of those holes in an earlier step. Not sure what I did as that was a while ago. Oh well, new stiffeners on order. I’ll just match drill them in place when they get here. Similar to how the tailcone stiffeners were done. Should work out fine. http://rv10.stephensville.com/post/2005/10/13/rear-spars-on/ Thu, 13 Oct 2005 00:00:00 +0000 http://rv10.stephensville.com/post/2005/10/13/rear-spars-on/ Finished up the rear spars. Lots of rivets in the doublers. Took about one hour per wing. Luckily I was able to squeeze all the rivets except those for the aileron brackets. Now comes the top skins. http://rv10.stephensville.com/post/2005/10/07/main-ribs-on-spars/ Fri, 07 Oct 2005 00:00:00 +0000 http://rv10.stephensville.com/post/2005/10/07/main-ribs-on-spars/ Really moving along this week with the extra set of hands around. The main ribs are now on the spars. Planned out the wire runs months ago and all the necessary holes have been placed in the ribs. The pieces you see sticking up and to the left are the flap brackets. http://rv10.stephensville.com/post/2005/10/05/fuel-floats-and-vent-lines/ Wed, 05 Oct 2005 00:00:00 +0000 http://rv10.stephensville.com/post/2005/10/05/fuel-floats-and-vent-lines/ After getting the left tank to the same stage as the right, the vent lines and fuel float senders were installed. Brad’s out here for the week for a building vacation. Things are going much quicker with a second set of hands around. The tanks were closed up after that and are now complete. Here’s a shot of the completed tanks. Just waiting for the proseal to cure before doing a leak test. http://rv10.stephensville.com/post/2005/09/04/sealing-tanks/ Sun, 04 Sep 2005 00:00:00 +0000 http://rv10.stephensville.com/post/2005/09/04/sealing-tanks/ Ok, couldn’t put it off any longer. Started sealing up the tanks. First up is scuffing the contact areas to promote better ProSeal adheasion. Putting electrical tape where the main ribs will go before doing the stiffeners. This will prevent having to clean any overspill of proseal later when doing the ribs. Next the stiffeners and the drain flange are riveted in place using ProSeal on all the contact areas. http://rv10.stephensville.com/post/2005/08/28/fuel-tanks-started/ Sun, 28 Aug 2005 00:00:00 +0000 http://rv10.stephensville.com/post/2005/08/28/fuel-tanks-started/ Started the fuel tanks this weekend. Lots of stiffeners and attach brackets to trim and deburr. Took a while. All the stiffeners are clecoed and match drilled. Got each of the tanks assembled and match drilled. The ribs are really a pain in the @&%#* to get inserted in these skins. I finally got some good advice from the mailing list to get them clecoed in BEFORE inserting the skins in the cradles. http://rv10.stephensville.com/post/2005/08/25/landing-light-kit/ Thu, 25 Aug 2005 00:00:00 +0000 http://rv10.stephensville.com/post/2005/08/25/landing-light-kit/ Received the DuckWorks leading edge landing light kit today. There’s a good write-up on installing them on Tim’s site. After talking with him, I’ll proabably wait to install these after the wings are further along. I didn’t order the HID bulbs and ballasts yet. Those can wait until they are needed. http://rv10.stephensville.com/post/2005/08/21/right-outboard-leading-edge-finished/ Sun, 21 Aug 2005 00:00:00 +0000 http://rv10.stephensville.com/post/2005/08/21/right-outboard-leading-edge-finished/ Finished the right outboard leading edge. Same as the left minus the stall warning. Fuel tanks are next? Yuk! http://rv10.stephensville.com/post/2005/08/17/left-outboard-leading-edge-finished/ Wed, 17 Aug 2005 00:00:00 +0000 http://rv10.stephensville.com/post/2005/08/17/left-outboard-leading-edge-finished/ Finished the left outboard leading edge. Riveting the skin went fast on this. Easy access to them all made it go a lot quicker than a few parts prior. Now to repeat the process on the right side. http://rv10.stephensville.com/post/2005/08/16/stall-warning/ Tue, 16 Aug 2005 00:00:00 +0000 http://rv10.stephensville.com/post/2005/08/16/stall-warning/ After getting the left outboard edge parts all deburred, dimpled, and primed, I worked on the stall warning. I’m going to put in the Vans stall warning to start. Later on I will probably try the AFS Angle of Attack. First up was the access hole which has to be cut out of the bottom of the left leading edge. Little nerve racking the first time cutting a big chunck of aluminum out of your wings! http://rv10.stephensville.com/post/2005/08/16/wingtip-strobes/ Tue, 16 Aug 2005 00:00:00 +0000 http://rv10.stephensville.com/post/2005/08/16/wingtip-strobes/ Received the wingtip strobes and strobe wire from Strobes-N-More. They have great prices. Check ‘em out. http://rv10.stephensville.com/post/2005/08/14/outboard-leading-edges-started/ Sun, 14 Aug 2005 00:00:00 +0000 http://rv10.stephensville.com/post/2005/08/14/outboard-leading-edges-started/ Started the outboard leading edges this weekend. After fluting and deburring the ribs and creating the j-stiffeners, I made the cradles used to hold them while building. The ribs were a tight fit inside the skins. This seems to be the case with all leading edges in the kit. A little tip is to slightly bend the front-most tabs on the rib flanges (the ones with no holes) a little past 90 degrees. http://rv10.stephensville.com/post/2005/08/12/flaps-done/ Fri, 12 Aug 2005 00:00:00 +0000 http://rv10.stephensville.com/post/2005/08/12/flaps-done/ Finished the flaps tongiht. Well, all but 12 MK-319-BS blind rivets that is. It seems I was shorted a few in the kit. Oh well, continued on and have some on order. The thing I am most relieved about is the fact that I have no more trailing edges to do! I was worried about getting these straight because they are so long (~8 feet), but they turned out fine. Once again, the no-proseal method was used. http://rv10.stephensville.com/post/2005/07/25/flap-progress/ Mon, 25 Jul 2005 00:00:00 +0000 http://rv10.stephensville.com/post/2005/07/25/flap-progress/ Made more progress on the flaps. Dimpled, deburred and primed the flap skeletons. Final assembled the skeletons. and moved on to the leading edge and skins. Clecoed on the leading edge and bottom skins after making the cradles from some scrap wood laying around. Time to get the leading edges and skins riveted on. http://rv10.stephensville.com/post/2005/07/25/more-wing-internals-arrive/ Mon, 25 Jul 2005 00:00:00 +0000 http://rv10.stephensville.com/post/2005/07/25/more-wing-internals-arrive/ Received another order of stuff from SteinAir that will go inside the wings. Wire runs for the landing lights, nav lights and heated pitot in various guages. Also runs of RG-400 coax for the Archer wingtip nav antennas and Archer marker beacon antenna, which will go in the wingtips. The wiring harness for the TruTrak roll servo is very nicely done. Probably could have done it myself, but the price was right for the work involved and I’m positive I wouldn’t have done as nice a job being a rookie at this wiring stuff. http://rv10.stephensville.com/post/2005/07/07/ordered-wing-stuff/ Thu, 07 Jul 2005 00:00:00 +0000 http://rv10.stephensville.com/post/2005/07/07/ordered-wing-stuff/ Got an order in for some of the stuff I need to put in the wings before closing. This is the tank test kit from Vans. Just a couple of fittings that let you seal up openings and put a small amount of pressure in the tanks to test for leaks. Also received the conduit for the wire runs, Proseal for sealing the fuel tanks, and the fuel level senders. http://rv10.stephensville.com/post/2005/07/03/deburring-flaps/ Sun, 03 Jul 2005 00:00:00 +0000 http://rv10.stephensville.com/post/2005/07/03/deburring-flaps/ Spent about 8 hours so far deburring all the flap skin, spar, and rib holes. Takes forever. But, I cut my time nearly in half by picking up this deburring bit. It’s a Cogsdill Burraway bit. Kind of hard to see in this picture, but it has a spring loaded blade that deburrs the front side going in and the back side coming out. Instead of having to deburr both sides with two steps, both get done in one pass. http://rv10.stephensville.com/post/2005/06/20/flaps-started/ Mon, 20 Jun 2005 00:00:00 +0000 http://rv10.stephensville.com/post/2005/06/20/flaps-started/ Started the flaps this weekend. Put the skeleton together for match drilling after completing the attach brackets. Glad I built two tables so I could slide them together. The flaps are about 8 feet long. Got the top, bottom, and nose skins on for match drilling. Lots of clecos in use. I think I used up my entire supply (not sure how many I have total anymore). All but maybe five or so. http://rv10.stephensville.com/post/2005/06/18/ailerons-finished/ Sat, 18 Jun 2005 00:00:00 +0000 http://rv10.stephensville.com/post/2005/06/18/ailerons-finished/ Finished the ailerons this morning. Instead of using proseal along the trailing edge and waiting a couple days I tried the no-proseal method on these trailing edges. I used the same method that Mike Howe shows on this page. I used this method on the elevator and rudder trailing edges, but used proseal also. These trailing edges turned out as good or even better than the prosealed elevator and rudder trailing edges. http://rv10.stephensville.com/post/2005/06/14/ailerons-started/ Tue, 14 Jun 2005 00:00:00 +0000 http://rv10.stephensville.com/post/2005/06/14/ailerons-started/ Started working on the ailerons. Fabricated all the skin stiffeners. Man, there were a lot of those little buggers. Took a while. Match Drilled them all to the top and bottom skins. Deburred, dimpled, then primed. After the priming, all the stiffeners were back-riveted to the skins. Same old process here. Nothing new. I do like back-riveting much better than shooting the rivets though. Comes out looking much better. http://rv10.stephensville.com/post/2005/06/14/more-tools/ Tue, 14 Jun 2005 00:00:00 +0000 http://rv10.stephensville.com/post/2005/06/14/more-tools/ The time was getting closer where I’d need to fab the tank vent lines and in the future the brake and fuel lines, so I ordered up a tube bender and an end flare tool. The tube bender is for, well, bending tube. The end flare tool flares the end of the tube for fittings. This does the same job as the automotive and home flare tools do, but aviation flares and fittings are 37 degrees which is different. http://rv10.stephensville.com/post/2005/06/07/spars-complete/ Tue, 07 Jun 2005 00:00:00 +0000 http://rv10.stephensville.com/post/2005/06/07/spars-complete/ Completed the main spars by attaching the tie-downs and aileron bellcrank brackets. Tapped the tie-downs successfully as opposed to my first attempt on the tailcone tie-down. Used a lubricant given to me by a fellow builder which helped. The next step in the plans calls for finishing up the main wing ribs, skins, tanks and leading edges. I am going to skip ahead instead and do the ailerons and flaps. http://rv10.stephensville.com/post/2005/06/06/countersinking-and-nutplates/ Mon, 06 Jun 2005 00:00:00 +0000 http://rv10.stephensville.com/post/2005/06/06/countersinking-and-nutplates/ More work on the wing spars. Spent a few hours countersinking the spar flange holes. Also finished up the fuel tank attach and access plate nutplates. Soooooo many holes to countersink. I think I need to see the Dr. about possible countersink-itis. http://rv10.stephensville.com/post/2005/06/03/spar-extensions/ Fri, 03 Jun 2005 00:00:00 +0000 http://rv10.stephensville.com/post/2005/06/03/spar-extensions/ Back in action. First step is to attach the spar extensions. Why are there extensions? I don’t know. I guess it has something to do with raw material length, cost, etc. I’m just glad to be back at it. Even if the garage gets pretty dang warm in the summer. http://rv10.stephensville.com/post/2005/06/02/wing-kit-arrives/ Thu, 02 Jun 2005 00:00:00 +0000 http://rv10.stephensville.com/post/2005/06/02/wing-kit-arrives/ The wing kit arrived today. Four weeks late, but here none the less. The FedEx Freight guy was curious about the plane, so he hung out for about a half hour asking all kinds of questions. This kit seems to have less parts than the tail kit, but the parts are bigger. And heavier too!. The spars are not light by any means. Here’s a shot of the spars. They are anodized for corrosion protection. http://rv10.stephensville.com/post/2005/05/25/wing-kit-shipping/ Wed, 25 May 2005 00:00:00 +0000 http://rv10.stephensville.com/post/2005/05/25/wing-kit-shipping/ Called Vans today to ask the scoop on my wing kit. It is being sent out today (5-25-05). I guess there was a delay getting wing spars which was the cause of my kit delay. http://rv10.stephensville.com/post/2005/05/01/vertical-stabilizer-top-fairing/ Sun, 01 May 2005 00:00:00 +0000 http://rv10.stephensville.com/post/2005/05/01/vertical-stabilizer-top-fairing/ Finished the vertical stabilizer top fairing today. It turned out the best of all the fairings. I guess it is because of all the prior practice on the other fairings. This is the last of the empennage kit. Nothing more to do but wait for the wings to get here. Should be around the 2nd week of May. http://rv10.stephensville.com/post/2005/04/22/hs-tip-fairings-done/ Fri, 22 Apr 2005 00:00:00 +0000 http://rv10.stephensville.com/post/2005/04/22/hs-tip-fairings-done/ Finished up the Horizontal Stabilizer tip fairing seams. Turned out pretty good. The more I do this process, the better I get at it. Time to store the HS away. http://rv10.stephensville.com/post/2005/04/22/rudder-bottom-fairing-done/ Fri, 22 Apr 2005 00:00:00 +0000 http://rv10.stephensville.com/post/2005/04/22/rudder-bottom-fairing-done/ Finished up the Rudder tip fairing seams. Unlike the top rudder fairing, which needed a lot of fill work, the bottom was pretty good. Not much filler needed on this one. Time to store the Rudder away. All that is left is the Vertical Stabilizer tip fairing. http://rv10.stephensville.com/post/2005/04/18/tail-light-mounting/ Mon, 18 Apr 2005 00:00:00 +0000 http://rv10.stephensville.com/post/2005/04/18/tail-light-mounting/ I fabricated a mounting plate for the tail-strobe. It matches the shape of the bottom rudder fairing. I used JB Weld to fix the nuts in position on the inside portion of the mounting plate. This will allow the tail-strobe to be removed for maintenance. The mounting plate was primed and mounted to the bottom rudder fairing using two CS4-4 pop rivets. The access hole in the fairing had to be shaped with a dremel to allow for the nuts to clear. http://rv10.stephensville.com/post/2005/04/01/rudder-top-fairing/ Fri, 01 Apr 2005 00:00:00 +0000 http://rv10.stephensville.com/post/2005/04/01/rudder-top-fairing/ Finished the rudder top fairing. Still need to do the bottom rudder fairing after I get the mounting hole for the tail-strobe light cut out. Also finished up the left elevator fairing and started the left tip fairing of the horizontal stabilizer. Wing kit is expected on May 9th, so I need to get these done and into storage before then. http://rv10.stephensville.com/post/2005/03/18/tail-light-strobe/ Fri, 18 Mar 2005 00:00:00 +0000 http://rv10.stephensville.com/post/2005/03/18/tail-light-strobe/ Received the Whelen tail light strobe in the mail the other day. This will allow me to complete the bottom rudder fairing along with the rest of them. I need to order some electrical tools (which I’ll need eventually anyway) to extend the wiring so I can have a disconnect near the front of the rudder for easy removal. http://rv10.stephensville.com/post/2005/03/18/wing-kit-ordered/ Fri, 18 Mar 2005 00:00:00 +0000 http://rv10.stephensville.com/post/2005/03/18/wing-kit-ordered/ Finally ordered the wing kit yesterday (March 17th, 2005). I wanted to wait to make sure they arrived after the last weekend in April, as we’ll be out of town. They should take 8 weeks or so to get here. Hopefully I’ll have the emp fairings done by then and in storage. http://rv10.stephensville.com/post/2005/03/09/success/ Wed, 09 Mar 2005 00:00:00 +0000 http://rv10.stephensville.com/post/2005/03/09/success/ Wow, the whole process turned out really good on the elevator seams. I felt it was going to be fine, but I’m even more satisfied now that there’s primer on it and it looks great. After the first coat of primer I lightly sanded with 220 sandpaper then put another coat of primer on. I’ll now move on to the left side elevator now that I know the process works. http://rv10.stephensville.com/post/2005/03/06/right-side-fairings/ Sun, 06 Mar 2005 00:00:00 +0000 http://rv10.stephensville.com/post/2005/03/06/right-side-fairings/ The right side fairings on the horizontal stabilizer are filled, glassed, filled, and ready for a shot of primer to see how they came out. Looks like they’ll turn out pretty good. I’ll move on to the left side after these are primed. Wanted to try everything out on one side first. You learn quick when doing this that you were probably a little too worried about simple marks and such on the exterior skins. http://rv10.stephensville.com/post/2005/03/02/more-fairing-work/ Wed, 02 Mar 2005 00:00:00 +0000 http://rv10.stephensville.com/post/2005/03/02/more-fairing-work/ More sanding work on the fairing seams. On the right is a pic of the elevator after sanding the first coat of filler. West Systems 410 fills nice and sand like a charm. Glad I’m using it. The pic to the left shows the horizontal fairing gap finished off and sanded. The gap between the elevator and the HS fairing is about 1/8 inch as the plans calls for. It took a little bit of time to sand and shape this gap, but I think it will look nice after paint. http://rv10.stephensville.com/post/2005/02/26/rv-4-experience/ Sat, 26 Feb 2005 00:00:00 +0000 http://rv10.stephensville.com/post/2005/02/26/rv-4-experience/ A great big thank you goes out to Tom and Katie for letting me stop by their DVT hanger and say hello. It gave me a chance to see what I’m really on the waiting list for (the hanger) and also just to chat a while about plane stuff. Best of all, was the ride I was able to take in Katie’s RV-4. This was the first time I’ve been up in an RV. http://rv10.stephensville.com/post/2005/02/25/fairing-trim-and-seam/ Fri, 25 Feb 2005 00:00:00 +0000 http://rv10.stephensville.com/post/2005/02/25/fairing-trim-and-seam/ Trimmed the horizontal stabilizer fairing to match the elevator fairing angles. Left enough gap to fill and sand. After that I put in a foam rib as called for in the plans. Used some 5-minute epoxy to glue it in there. However, I will not be removing it as the plans call for. I will be filling on top of the foam rib with some West Systems 410 micro light filler and sanding to make the edges nice and rounded and form fit to the elevator fairing. http://rv10.stephensville.com/post/2005/02/20/elevator-tips/ Sun, 20 Feb 2005 00:00:00 +0000 http://rv10.stephensville.com/post/2005/02/20/elevator-tips/ Tore down the whole tail today. Decided not to put on the elevators again or the rudder. Would just be taking it apart afterwards anyways. So I decided to start on the fairings. Worked on the elevator tips. After getting them on, they don’t look too bad at the seam. There are some manufacturing defects in the tips that caused some dips along the seam. I think I will be doing as Dan Checkoway and filling and glassing the seam to make it look like a continuous surface. http://rv10.stephensville.com/post/2005/02/19/elevator-pushrod-and-trim/ Sat, 19 Feb 2005 00:00:00 +0000 http://rv10.stephensville.com/post/2005/02/19/elevator-pushrod-and-trim/ Completed the elevator pushrod. Had to work a little to get the threaded caps in the ends. A little 3M wheel torture convinced them to go in. Also completed the elevator trim assembly. Ran it through its paces by hooking up a 9 volt. This was one of the most enjoyable parts of the kit so far. It was fun to build and nice to see the trim motor running after it was together. http://rv10.stephensville.com/post/2005/02/15/vertical-attach/ Tue, 15 Feb 2005 00:00:00 +0000 http://rv10.stephensville.com/post/2005/02/15/vertical-attach/ The Vertical stabilizer was attached the other night. Getting a little big for one side of a two car garage. Going to have to get all the little items prepared before I attach the rudder and elevators. Elevator push rod, electric trim motor and attachment, etc. I need to be able to put the elevators and rudder on and take them back off in one day. That way the Therese will be able to keep her spot in the garage. http://rv10.stephensville.com/post/2005/02/14/horizontal-attach/ Mon, 14 Feb 2005 00:00:00 +0000 http://rv10.stephensville.com/post/2005/02/14/horizontal-attach/ Did some cleanup of the garage, errrr, RV-10 Production Plant this weekend and moved things around to try to accomplish most of the empannage attach sections. Looks like I’ll be able to do most of it, if not all. The pic shows the horizontal attached to the tailcone. Well, mostly attached. There were a few missing AN3-11A bolts that I have to find or order. http://rv10.stephensville.com/post/2005/02/09/tailcone-finished/ Wed, 09 Feb 2005 00:00:00 +0000 http://rv10.stephensville.com/post/2005/02/09/tailcone-finished/ Finished the tailcone tonight. Finished up riveting the aft top skin. Cool part about this is I back-riveted almost all the skins. A few places in the aft tail and around the curved edges were bucked, but the rest was all back-riveting. The forward top skin is attached when the fuselage is attached to the tailcone. After the skins were on, the battery/bellcrank mount was assembled with the specified hardware. http://rv10.stephensville.com/post/2005/02/06/aft-deck/ Sun, 06 Feb 2005 00:00:00 +0000 http://rv10.stephensville.com/post/2005/02/06/aft-deck/ Finished the aft deck this afternoon. All riveted and hardware installed. Just have the aft top skin and bellcrank/battery channel assembly to finish before the tailcone is wrapped up. http://rv10.stephensville.com/post/2005/02/06/skins-and-static-ports/ Sun, 06 Feb 2005 00:00:00 +0000 http://rv10.stephensville.com/post/2005/02/06/skins-and-static-ports/ Priming is done and I’ve started riveting the tailcone together. Both side skins and the bottom skins are on. It has taken about 13.5 hours of riveting to get to this point. I was able to back rivet most everything on the sides and bottom. The only exception was a few areas near the aft most tail section. I installed the Cleaveland static ports rather than the Vans pop rivet type. http://rv10.stephensville.com/post/2005/01/31/grunt-work-done-misc/ Mon, 31 Jan 2005 00:00:00 +0000 http://rv10.stephensville.com/post/2005/01/31/grunt-work-done-misc/ Not much (well, none at all) in the way of pictures this post. I’ve finally finished deburring and dimpling all the holes in the tailcone. Took a while, lots of holes. Started priming and was able to get all the bulkheads and battery channel riveted. Finally got the N-number reserved. It will be N428RV. $10/year to the FAA lets you keep the number reserved. Also got on the waiting list for a small t-hanger at Deer Valley Airport (DVT). http://rv10.stephensville.com/post/2005/01/26/tore-it-down/ Wed, 26 Jan 2005 00:00:00 +0000 http://rv10.stephensville.com/post/2005/01/26/tore-it-down/ Fabricated the elevator stops and matched drilled them along with the aft deck. Turning into a pro at fabrication of these parts. After a few of them it’s nothing anymore. Also match drilled the shoulder harness brackets. The whole assembly was then tore down and is now lying in pieces on the garage floor. I hated to do that after getting it all together. Lots of deburring, dimpling, counter sinking, and priming to come! http://rv10.stephensville.com/post/2005/01/25/top-skins-match-drilled/ Tue, 25 Jan 2005 00:00:00 +0000 http://rv10.stephensville.com/post/2005/01/25/top-skins-match-drilled/ Got the top skins on and matched drilled. Everything is now on and match drilled except for a few small parts that need to be fabricated. Took some measurements of the garage to see if I will be able to fit if I attach the fuselage to the tail when it is complete. Tim Olson has some measurements he just posted. I think I’ll just be able to make it. http://rv10.stephensville.com/post/2005/01/22/more-tail-match-drilling/ Sat, 22 Jan 2005 00:00:00 +0000 http://rv10.stephensville.com/post/2005/01/22/more-tail-match-drilling/ Was able to make good progress today on the tail cone. The left and right side skins were put on and match drilled to the stiffeners. No extra holes in my fingers today. The pieces are getting larger the further along I get in the kit. Gives you a better idea of things to come. Now that the neighbors can see this from the road they are all stopping over to have a look. http://rv10.stephensville.com/post/2005/01/22/tailcone-started/ Sat, 22 Jan 2005 00:00:00 +0000 http://rv10.stephensville.com/post/2005/01/22/tailcone-started/ The last major component of the empennage has begun. All the bulkheads were match drilled then mated with the bottom skin and match drilled. The assembly is hung upside down to attach the bulkheads to the bottom skin. The plans called for doing this on a set of sawhorses, but I just decided to use the 2x4 method as the picture shows. Idea stolen from Tim Olson. While match drilling the bottom stiffeners I drilled a #40 hole in my left middle finger. http://rv10.stephensville.com/post/2005/01/15/elevators-complete/ Sat, 15 Jan 2005 00:00:00 +0000 http://rv10.stephensville.com/post/2005/01/15/elevators-complete/ Wrapped up the elevators today. Last night I double-flush riveted the trailing edges of the elevators. They turned out much better than the rudder. I now have it down to a repeatable process and it looks good. Makes me want to do the rudder over. Maybe if I have some down time between kits I’ll do just that. Counterbalance lead weights were added to outboard rib tips. After match drilling the trim tab hinges to the elevators and trim tabs, they were riveted in place and both elevators are complete. http://rv10.stephensville.com/post/2005/01/12/skins-on-elevators/ Wed, 12 Jan 2005 00:00:00 +0000 http://rv10.stephensville.com/post/2005/01/12/skins-on-elevators/ The skins are now on the elevators. Much the same process as the rudder. I imagine the wing control surfaces will be much the same also. Not much trouble in this step. Everything went pretty smooth. ProSeal is on the trailing edge of the elevators and weighted down like before with the rudder. Foam ribs are also ProSeal’d in the elevators and the trim tabs. I’ll give it a couple days to cure and then finish these babies up. http://rv10.stephensville.com/post/2005/01/09/elevator-ribs/ Sun, 09 Jan 2005 00:00:00 +0000 http://rv10.stephensville.com/post/2005/01/09/elevator-ribs/ Worked on the next step of the elevators which was to back rivet the access reinforment plates and rib halves onto the elevator skins. Nutplates were also riveted to the reinforcement plates and spars. Tried out a new process with the elevators. I am priming a section of parts as I need them instead of everything in one big bunch. It breaks up the monotony a little. It’s very convenient because I am using the rattle can version of the primer. http://rv10.stephensville.com/post/2005/01/07/dimpling-deburring/ Fri, 07 Jan 2005 00:00:00 +0000 http://rv10.stephensville.com/post/2005/01/07/dimpling-deburring/ Spent most of this session dimpling and deburring all the elevator skins, ribs, etc. This takes a while. I need to get that dimple table top built before I order the wing kit. Should make things a lot easier with one person at the controls. My order came in from Aircraft Spruce and I was able to get Torque Seal put on the nuts of the Horizontal Stabilizer. This stuff goes across the nut and onto the threads. http://rv10.stephensville.com/post/2005/01/07/trim-tabs/ Fri, 07 Jan 2005 00:00:00 +0000 http://rv10.stephensville.com/post/2005/01/07/trim-tabs/ Switched over to work on the trim tabs for a bit. Both the elevators and the trim tabs require the use of ProSeal to bond in a set of foam ribs in the trailing edge. The elevators also require it for the trailing edge where the AEX wedge is. The ProSeal has a short working time and isn’t all that cheap, so I wanted to get both the elevators and the trim tabs to that point in the plans so I can do them both at the same time. http://rv10.stephensville.com/post/2005/01/02/elevators-started/ Sun, 02 Jan 2005 00:00:00 +0000 http://rv10.stephensville.com/post/2005/01/02/elevators-started/ Started the elevators today. Trying to take advantage of the couple days off for New Years holiday. Started out by assembling the inboard ribs and the tips. These were pretty straight forward. The ribs are similar to the rudder assembly. After that the skeleton was clecoed together and the skins and tips were put on for final drilling. The trailing edge was trimmed to size and inserted. The trailing edge is also similar to the rudder assembly and will take double-flush rivets, which should be easier the second time around. http://rv10.stephensville.com/post/2005/01/01/horizontal-stabilizer-complete/ Sat, 01 Jan 2005 00:00:00 +0000 http://rv10.stephensville.com/post/2005/01/01/horizontal-stabilizer-complete/ Over the New Years holiday I managed to wrap up the horizontal stabilizer. Lots of rivets in there. But small compared to the wings I imagine. There’s about 1000 or so rivets in the skins alone. I am noticing that I am improving a great deal in my rivet shooting technique. Somewhere along the line you realize that they turn out better if you let the gun and the bucking bar do the work. http://rv10.stephensville.com/post/2004/12/29/put-it-together-tear-it-down/ Wed, 29 Dec 2004 00:00:00 +0000 http://rv10.stephensville.com/post/2004/12/29/put-it-together-tear-it-down/ In the past couple of nights I have match drilled, tore everything down, deburred, dimpled, countersunk and primed all the necessary parts. Man, deburring, dimpling, and countersinking all the holes takes a while. Of course it is probably nothing compared to what the slow-build wings will be like. I managed to ding up one of the skins also. The skin slipped just as I was on the down swing with the dead blow hammer dimpling the skins in the c-frame. http://rv10.stephensville.com/post/2004/12/26/started-horizontal-stabilizer/ Sun, 26 Dec 2004 00:00:00 +0000 http://rv10.stephensville.com/post/2004/12/26/started-horizontal-stabilizer/ Over the Christmas holiday the family was visiting for a few days. They were able to see most of what goes on in my garage lately. My Dad and brother helped me make some real good progress on the horizontal stabilizer. Some things go a lot faster with an extra set of hands. And some things go even faster when one person is working on a section while two others are working on a different section. http://rv10.stephensville.com/post/2004/12/18/rudder-complete/ Sat, 18 Dec 2004 00:00:00 +0000 http://rv10.stephensville.com/post/2004/12/18/rudder-complete/ This morning I was able to complete the rudder. The other night I finished double-flush riveting the trailing edge and rolled the leading edges. I can say that I don’t like doing the double-flush and rolling the edges. Of all the things I’ve done so far, these two tasks were the least enjoyable. Both came out fine, not perfect, but good enough. I had the most trouble rolling the middle of the three leading edges. http://rv10.stephensville.com/post/2004/12/16/starting-final-assembly-of-rudder/ Thu, 16 Dec 2004 00:00:00 +0000 http://rv10.stephensville.com/post/2004/12/16/starting-final-assembly-of-rudder/ Over the last couple of days I managed to get a few things done with the rudder. With the priming fiasco out of the way, the stiffeners were back-riveted to the skins. Back-riveting is the bomb compared to shooting the rivets. I’m going to try and do as much back-riveting as possible, as most builders do I guess. It just looks so much cleaner. Also finished prosealing the trailing edge. http://rv10.stephensville.com/post/2004/12/12/priming-rudder-skeleton/ Sun, 12 Dec 2004 00:00:00 +0000 http://rv10.stephensville.com/post/2004/12/12/priming-rudder-skeleton/ Today I primed the rudder skeleton in preparation for final riveting. I finally got a chance to use my recently purchased mini-HVLP sprayer. All I can say is that I WILL NOT ever be using it again. It is a big mess. Cleanup afterwards is a royal pain in the #$?! I will be sticking to the rattle can version of the primer I use. I compared the amount of primer used from the quart I bought and it took almost as much as what it takes with the rattle can. http://rv10.stephensville.com/post/2004/12/10/rudder-trailing-edge/ Fri, 10 Dec 2004 00:00:00 +0000 http://rv10.stephensville.com/post/2004/12/10/rudder-trailing-edge/ Tonight I was counter-sinking the AEX training edge of the rudder and I ran across what I thought was an issue. Both sides of the trailing edge get counter-sunk to receive the dimples in the skins. When I started counter-sinking the 2nd side I noticed that it was opening up the hole because of the thin material and the depth needed to fit the skin dimples. I called Vans and they said that was normal and expected. http://rv10.stephensville.com/post/2004/12/08/rudder-test-fit/ Wed, 08 Dec 2004 00:00:00 +0000 http://rv10.stephensville.com/post/2004/12/08/rudder-test-fit/ Today I took a personal day off work and was able to get the rudder skeleton done and get everything put together. Of course I jinxed myself on the previous post and messed up a rudder strike plate. I forgot to check my micro-stop countersink depth before I dug in. Yup, way too deep. Oh well, called Vans and ordered the part which was a whopping $3.50. I doubted I was going to make it through the entire kit without a re-order anyways. http://rv10.stephensville.com/post/2004/12/03/rudder-started/ Fri, 03 Dec 2004 00:00:00 +0000 http://rv10.stephensville.com/post/2004/12/03/rudder-started/ Progress on the rudder has now started. Spent my lunch hour today on the first few steps. The ribs were separated and deburred. The shear clips were also separated and deburred and likewise for the stiffeners. Everything went smoothly. No parts to re-order (knock on wood). http://rv10.stephensville.com/post/2004/11/26/vertical-stabilizer-complete/ Fri, 26 Nov 2004 00:00:00 +0000 http://rv10.stephensville.com/post/2004/11/26/vertical-stabilizer-complete/ After priming the skeleton, I was able to set my first rivets. It is a little nerve racking doing your first. You are trying to be perfect. In the end it is no big deal. Even if you mess up a few, it is easy to drill them out and set a new one. Got the skeleton all riveted together (except for the portions called out for access to the skin rivets) and put the skin back on for final assembly. http://rv10.stephensville.com/post/2004/11/14/priming-the-skeleton/ Sun, 14 Nov 2004 00:00:00 +0000 http://rv10.stephensville.com/post/2004/11/14/priming-the-skeleton/ Today I tore everything down from the test fit and got ready to prime the skeleton. Just like most other builders, I went back and forth on the whole priming issue. Living in Arizona, I can avoid the whole Alodine mess. I could probably get away without priming at all. I settled for somewhere in the middle. I will prime the inside of the skins and the skeletons with self-etching primer. http://rv10.stephensville.com/post/2004/11/13/test-fit/ Sat, 13 Nov 2004 00:00:00 +0000 http://rv10.stephensville.com/post/2004/11/13/test-fit/ Today I received the missing parts from Vans, so I was able to finish those sections and test fit the vertical stabilizer together for the first time. One thing that I noticed is that it was rather hard getting the holes in the skin to match up with the holes in the center nose rib. Had to joggle things around a little. Eventually it all fell into place. Time to get the primer items all straightened out. http://rv10.stephensville.com/post/2004/11/08/starting-the-vertical-stabilizer/ Mon, 08 Nov 2004 00:00:00 +0000 http://rv10.stephensville.com/post/2004/11/08/starting-the-vertical-stabilizer/ Today I started working on the vertical stabilizer. Right off the bat you have to do some minor fabrication. The spar caps have to be trimmed as specified. No big deal though. While I was doing inventory on the kit I noticed a couple missing parts. One was for the horizontal stabilizer, so not required immediately, but the other was the lower rudder hinge brackets that are needed right away.