Monthly Archives: April 2008

Taking it all apart… (yea, I know)

After a week and a half of cleco-ing, drilling, bending, cutting, etc… everything has to come apart now. Thats right, back to square one. Not because I messed up, but thats just how they have you do this stuff I … Continue reading

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Plane Parts!!

More work on the HS today revealed that I AM actually building a plane… somehow all of this stuff comes together and when you step back and look at it, it does resemble a shape of a plane part… kinda… … Continue reading

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My first oops!

Such a crap day.  I made my first mistake.  I knew it would happen eventually, but I wasn’t ready for it just yet.  Actually, if you want to get technical… this was the 2nd oops I made today.  The first … Continue reading

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More Front Spar work.

This front spar is proving to be a tad bit more challenging than the rear spar was. Anyway, the directions call for a 6 degree bend in the spar reinforcement bars as well as the tab ends of the spar … Continue reading

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Finished Rear Spar

Today I finished the rest of the steps for assembling the rear spar. Cleco’d and match drilled the elevator hinge brackets as well as the VA-146 bearing assembly. The only real “main event” today, was I drove my first rivets … Continue reading

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And so it begins… The Rear Spar

Today was kind of a big day for me I suppose… I actually got the guts to quit tinkering with the practice kit and start working on the REAL THING! Very easy so far, just time consuming. I began constructing … Continue reading

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Practice Kit #2: The Airfoil

Today, a former RV-8 builder, Chris Pratt, I found on VAF came by the house to help get me started on this second practice kit. I must say, the difference between the toolbox practice kit and the airfoil practice kit … Continue reading

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Empenage Kit Arrives!

I got the tracking # for FedEx when Vans shipped the tail kit… After looking at the tracking # online, I saw the expected delivery date was April 21st.  Once again, FedEx came through and delivered on the 18th.  Quite … Continue reading

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Cabinets and DRDT-2 table…

Today was pretty un-eventful.  Aside from non-stop allergies, I built the DRDT-2 table per the plans that it came with and really sanded the crap out of it (as if my allergies weren’t bad enough!)  I am very happy with … Continue reading

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Practice Kit #1: The Toolbox

Today I received the practice kit from Vans. You basically put this thing together and end up with a small toolbox. The practice kits are designed to cover majority of the techniques needed to build and complete the airplane. So … Continue reading

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