Don Adamson & Dan came out to take a look at the build today… this was the first Tech Counselor visit. We spend about 45 minutes or so going over the build, the practices I have been using for various tasks, riveting, deburring, etc… Don was very pleased with my work, which was a hugh relief! All that time of “I hope this is right” has been confirmed! 
Below is Don (grey shirt) and Dan, along with his report:
Its a done deal now… No turning back! I faxed over my order form for the fuse kit… and even though my signature, website, and everything else says RV-7A…. you guessed it…
I have not a lick of TW time… never even rode in one! It all came down to this: The TW’s look better, and when I flipped my coin, it landed on tails! Boy, what have I done!!
Now I have to redesign the website. 
Today I got everything riveted in… Meg came to help out since my arms aren’t long enough to reach the leading edges. I pulled the clecos out, cleaned out the semi-dry proseal in the rivet holes, squirted some fresh proseal into the dimple, and set a rivet. Then went back and put dabs of sealant on each shop head. Here’s me filling in the dimples with sealant, and then Meagan shooting rivets…
And so thats how we did it, rivet by rivet. Cleaned it all up and went home. 
Today was a long one. Got all the ribs for the fuel tank deburred, dimpled, and cleaned. Also got the skin ready. Stiffeners went it, and I fab’ed the anti-hangup brackets for the flop tube, the attach angle, and the nose rib reinforcement plates. I also cut the fuel sender hole in the rear baffle.
I used a technique called “Fay Sealing” on this tank, and it works ALOT better than the typical wet set method as used on the other tank. Fay Sealing entails applying proseal to the rib flanges, as well as the skins… the goal is to get enough on there so that when you put the rib in and cleco it, proseal squeezes out between the rib flange and the skin. So you apply the sealant, slide the rib into the skin, and put a cleco in EVERY hole… spread the squeezed sealant out into fillets sealing the rib to skin joints, then go home! Let the sealant sit for 24 hours, come back, pull the clecos a few at a time, clean the proseal out of the hole, squirt some fresh proseal onto the dimple, drop the rivet in, and set it. This method is ALOT cleaner… And yeilds better results since you can actually see what your doing while setting the rivet. After you set all the rivets, go back and put a dab on the shop head of each one for good measure.
Yet another big day today… and some AWESOME weather. Sunny, calm wind, high in the low 70′s, it almost hurt to be on the ground. I opened the hangar door this morning, and though “man, I wish I could pull this thing out and fly it right now…” unfortunately, thats a LONG ways away.
Anyways, today I began and finished the leading edge. started by pulling everything apart (it was already matched drilled), and deburring everything. I had some slight corrosion that began primarily on the edges of the skin and went maybe an 1/8″ inward due to the blue protective film being left on… it traps moisture. So here is the leading edge before I started on it… and the ribs after I deburred and dimpled… Stack of ribs anyone?
Then I had to deburr, dimple and rivet the platenuts onto the leading edge joint plate:
Got everything primed and ready to go, then Meg brought lunch and Jake:
After lunch, Meg took Jake for a walk, and I watched this guy “walk” his helicopter :
Today I finished up some of the misc BS on the fuel tank. Had to deburr everything, dimple, and clean it up. I got the holes drilled through the ribs for the vent line and fuel return line. I also fabbed the end rib reinforcements, as well as drilled out the hole for the 6D elbow that the flop tube will hook up to. Fabricated the anti-hangup brackets, cut the end rib open for the inspection cover, and cut the hole in the rear baffle (second bay) for the fuel sender. All in all, I’m very pleased with the amount I was able to accomplish today. AND, I got home at a pretty decent hour too!
Got a LOT of work done today… spend a few hours re-doing a peice of angle on the wing stand. I couldn’t keep them squared up becuase the weak aluminum angle I was using kept bending… so I spent some time making one from steel and its rock solid now. Got it squared up, assembled the leading edge, and match drilled it. Nothing special here… I also did the inboard rib of the leading edge… my advice is to mark the center line and drill the spacer BEFORE you drill the rib. Anyway, got both of those done, moved on to the tank. Got the stiffeners done, ribs fluted and match drilled, and countersunk the skin holes along the baffle. No pics, but it was a good day. I keep forgetting to take my memory card to the hangar with me.
Today, got off of work, had two co-workers (Josh & “Salsa”) come out to the hangar… one brought the beer, the other brought the hot dogs for the grill. Fired it up, ate, drank, and pounded some rivets. All in all it was productive. Got the top skin of the aileron done, including the ribs, and mounted the brackets. Tomorrow I will finish up with the counterbalance rivets, and then finally the bottom skin rivets. Then its done! Sounds exciting, but I keep looking at that other fuel tank sitting in the corner… just waiting for me and the gray goo….
Yes you read that correctly… I started building again FINALLY. Feels good to get out and pound some rivets. I’ve been going to the hangar after work the past couple of days working on the aileron. Got everything match-drilled, deburred, dimpled, primed, and started final assembly today… Sould be finished with it tomorrow. Then, I get to tackle the other wing… Im dreading the proseal (again!). Maybe it won’t be so bad this time since I’ve got some experience with it under my belt now.
Back-riveted the aileron stiffeners…
This is the bottom of the aileron leading edge skin… You have to drill these out to a #30, which I did half here, and will pull the silver cleco’s and do the other half…
And the rest of todays pics…
This is truly an amazing story… so much so I felt I needed to post it on my own site right in the middle of my build log…
So as you have seen, when one orders a kit from Vans, they come in some pretty hefty crates… Well, the guy that builds those crates is 100% BLIND! Who would have ever guessed!?! Here is his interview:
AOPA
EAA
PlaneTools.com
Vans Airforce