Hours to complete:
Preliminary stuff: 12 hours
Fuselage: 491 hours
The fuselage arrived Aug 4, 2004
As of Aug 17, all is inventoried and arranged. Did a pretty major cleanup of the garage and had to rearrange almost everything. LOTS of parts and little bags full of stuff. Everything looks good, although I didn't find the static kit. Plan on starting on the fuse in about a week.
Aug 23, Began work. Test fit firewall components and deburred bulkheads (4 hours)
Aug 24, Assembled firewall. (7 hours) Aug 25, Began fitting main bulkhead/spar carry through (6 hours)
Aug 26, Larry came over and helped with main bulkhead (4 hours X 2)
Aug 27, Light work on main bulkhead, seatback bulkhead. (3 hours)
Aug 28, Assembled and drilled rear spar carrythrough bulkhead, made many pieces needing fabrication. Built up control stick assembly. (5 hours)
Aug 30, Finished prep work on rear spar carrythrough, primed same. (5 hours)
Aug 31, Riveted same. Misc small parts fabrication. (5 hours)
Sept 1, Larry came up and we bent the curve in the right longeron and did misc bulkhead prep. (Larry 3 hours, me 6 hours)
Sept 2, Preped and primed all rear bulkheads in the AM and assembled the read fuselage in the afternoon. (7 hours)
Sept 3, Deburred some small parts, etc. (2 hours)
Sept 4-? Back problems delay work. Rats. Impressions of the fuselage to date: Nothing really surprising here; everything fits well and is easy to work with. Easier than the wings. The instructions are not nearly as complete as the earlier kits. More studying of the drawings is in order than with the wing and emp kits and some instructions require looking at several drawings.
Sept 13, Feeling well enough to get back at it. In the last week I studied the drawings and plans and revised my panel layout for the 82nd time, but that was about all. Van's replaced the missing static kit and I machined nice ports to replace the "pop rivet" kind in the kit. Today assembled the rear of the fuselage. (6 hours)
Sept 14, Larry came up and we drilled all the holes in the rear fuselage. (4 hours Larry, 6 hours me)
Sept 15, Primed and reassembled the rear fuse, ready for riveting. (8 hours)
Sept 16, Larry came up and we riveted the rear fuse. (Larry 4 and me 6 hours)
Sept 17, Assembled the fuselage center section. (5 hours)
Sept 18, Drilled and fitted on center section. (2 hours)
Sept 19, Worked on electric aileron trim. More work to this than the elevator trim! (4 hours)
Sept 20, Deburred and dimpled on center section, finished electric trim. (6 hours)
Sept 21, Primed center section. (4 hours)
Sept 22, Larry came up and we riveted the center section. (3 hours X 2)
Sept 23-28, Misc work on rudder pedals, brake system and deburring parts ahead. Fitted longerons to the rear fuselage. Fitted seat bottoms. (14 hours)
Sept 29-Oct 3, Away at National Missionary Convention in Peoria, IL. Wonderful time!
Oct 4, Put center section in place and installed front side skins for the first time. VERY pleased with how everything fits. (5 hours)
Oct 6, Larry came up and we bent the conical bends in the side skins. They came out well. Drilled holes in longeron, etc. (Larry 4 hours, me 6 hours)
Oct 7, Finished drilling the longerons, test fit the firewall. Everything fits very well. (4 hours)
Oct 8, Began adding the forward fuse components. Larry came up. (Larry 4, me 6 hours)
Oct 9, Made and fitted gussets and such. (5 hours)
Oct 10, Began fitting the rudder pedals, etc. (3 hours)
Oct 11, More work on forward section of the fuse. Bigger job than it looks at first! Have most everything except floor stiffeners and a couple of small parts. (7 hours)
Oct 12, Larry came up and we have the side skins and floor ready to prime. Deburred and dimpled most of the day. Also added the floor stiffeners. (Larry 5 hours, me 8)
Oct 13, Primed the side skins and front floor. Also dimpled and countersunk many of the small parts. (7 hours)
Oct 13, Finished countersinking. Made small parts. Primed longerons. (6 hours)
Oct 14, Began fitting side skins. Longerons back in place. (5 hours)
Oct 15, Spent way too much time getting the gear support web and associated parts into place. Plans are very vague on exact location. All's well that ends well, however. (5 hours)
Oct 16, Assembled the rudder pedals and test fit. (4 hours)
Oct 18, 4" rain and associated mess pretty much took all day.
Oct 20, Larry came up and we began riveting the side skins. Got about half done. (Larry 4 hours, me 6)
Oct 21, Finished the brake pedals and drilled the mounting locations. Started riveting the longeron. (5 hours)
Oct 22, Larry came up and we finished about 90% of the rivets in the side skins. (Larry 4 hours, me 7)
Oct 23, Hooked up the brake lines between the two sets of pedals, misc. (3 hours)
Oct 24, Painted the bottom center section, just to see how good I could do on an area that no one would ever see close up. Glad they won't. (4 hours)
Oct 25, Painted the rear bottom. Did much better, but decided I could do better with a better gun. Ordered a better gun. It is always the equipment's fault! Did decide that I can probably paint this thing and make it look presentable. (5 hours)
Oct 26, Larry came up and we finished all but the floor. Didn't work all that hard. (Larry 3 hours, me 4 hours)
Oct 28, Larry came and we riveted the floor in and ROLLED THE CANOE! (Larry 3 hours, me 6)
I was almost shocked when I saw the fuse right side up for the first time. It looked so much bigger! Of course the only way I had seen the inside was while under it riveting, which is kinda claustraphobic. I actually find it hard to believe I have built this thing. I just checked my own log, and I started work last year on November 30, so in less than 11 months and with somewhere around 750 hours of labor, we have something I can reconize as an airplane. Think I'll put some pics up on the "tips" page.
Oct 29, Started doing all the work on the top of the fuse, brackets, securing the static line, etc. HAD to install the control stick. Looks much better with it there. (6 hours)
Nov 1-12 Seat backs done, rear deck in place and drilled, vertical stab in place to double check alignment, most rivets installed in rear half of fuse, front top skin and associated braces clecoed in place, rear top skins in clecoed in place, center section floor partially done, front elevator push tube finished and installed, initial work on interior done. (Larry up three times for 12 hours, me 45 hours.)
BIG NEWS! On November 12, we bought an O-320 plus firewall forward (except for prop) out of Florida. It is off of an RV-6A that was damaged in the recent hurricanes. Being another -A, the engine mount and nose gear will work, as will the exhaust, and most of the other FWF stuff. Perhaps even the cowl will work. Either Larry or both of us will pick it up next week. Seems like a pretty good deal. It is a low time (around 800 TTSN) 160 hp that was turning a FP prop. Having all the FWF stuff done should save a bunch of time. I actually wasn't looking forward to breaking in a new engine, so this should be about the best of both worlds. May the 6A rest in peace.
Nov 14-20, Fitted the fuel vent lines, fuel lines, fuel selector, main gear mounts, and associated items. Got to see if my "theory" about installing the gear mounts and fuel supply lines at the same time really would work. See the fuselage tips page for details. Even with all that, everything took quite a bit of time. (27 hours)
While I was working on the plumbing, Larry went to Florida and picked up the engine package.
Nov 21, Went down to Larry's to look at the engine. Looks great! Exhaust seems to be in excellent condition, as does the mount. Determined the alternator to be 60 amp, a pleasant surprise. Wheels and brakes look good and the tires have about half tread left. All in all, it looks like a good package.
Nov 22, Finished work on the spar pass through bulkhead and plumbing. (4 hours)
Nov 23, Larry came and we installed and drilled the HS. (Larry 3 hours, me 5 hours)
Nov 24, Built the large elevator push tube, adjusted front push tube and installed the VS. (5 hours)
November 25, Thanksgiving and also my 39th anniversary of our wedding (which was also on Thanksgiving.) A time to reflect and thank our God for the wonderful blessings we enjoy. Those of us fortunate to have been born in a land of freedom and plenty can and should take more than a day to reflect on those things. Without freedom and plenty none of us would be building and enjoying the marvelous gift of flight, along with many of the other blessings we consider necessities. As a videographer chronicling Christian missionaries, I have traveled to many parts of the world. While many nations are blessed, none more than our own. Let us not only be thankful, but accept the responsibility to maintain and protect our freedom and be good stewards of the plenty God has seen fit to grant us.
Nov 26- Dec 6, Work slows down a bit due to weather (the shop isn't heated, and neither is the outside!) Will be moving to many of the smaller jobs that I put aside to be done in the house. In the mean time, Larry was up two times and we mounted the VS. Installed my own version of the rear tiedown, lighter and non-removable. Installed nutplates to make all floor panels removable. Recommend this be done prior to building the center section. That would have saved considerable time. Think!! Also disassembled/inspected/repacked and/or replaced all wheel bearings in the RV-6A wheels we got with the engine. (Me 30 hours, Larry 7)
Dec 7, I try to spend much of this special day thanking those who gave much, and remembering those who gave all. While I believe God alone gave us our freedom, the men and women of our armed forces deserve our thanks for preserving it.
Dec 8-12, Began working on the interior. Have the baggage compartment painted. Mounted the ELT. Began prepping the VS for paint. (15 hours) Dec 13-17, Started cutting panel holes. Mounted xponder and altitude encoder, "six pack" subpanel, ELT switch and AM/FM Sony. Spend a LOT of time planning or you will have interference with bracing and such. Very pleased so far. (20 hours)
Dec 18-21, Removed the tail, lifted the fuse and installed the landing gear and wheels (from the damaged 6A that provided our engine.) MUCH easier to move everything about now. (6 hours.)
Dec 22-28, Plowed LOTS of snow. We were only a few miles from the deepest area (North Vernon, OVO, had 33", we had over 25") and haven't done anything on the project. Glenda (my wife) was stranded 16 miles from here for two days and nights, making it home Christmas eve PM. On the bright side, we sure had a White Christmas!
Jan 4, 2005, After all the snow and tons of rain, we mounted the engine today. Three people (Larry, me and special thanks to friend Bruce Foster, ex-military engine guy) took about 2 hours to drill the six holes and mount the engine mount, complete with engine attached. All went well. Also installed the nose gear, wheel and tire.
Jan 5,6, Spent some time going over the engine and straightening minor dents in the baffeling. Nothing major found, few items I don't understand. All workmanship on the installation was quite good. I was impressed at how well the previous owner had cooled all components and how neat everything was. (6 hours)
Jan 7-22, Not much done on the fuse as the weather has been too cold to work all that often. Panel work (inside where it is warm) includes mounting Dynon D10-A. Some interior work. Also pulled oil cooler and lines for replacement. Riveted the panel and top skin supports in place. (Larry 4 hours, me 10)
See emp page and new Finishing page for more on engine work, etc