My first RV Grin appeared today! Many thanks to Captain Paul Schattauer for taking me up in N808PS (RV-8, IO-360-A1B6, 3-blade MT constant speed prop). What a thrill.
I met Paul the day before after taxiing in behind him at PDK. He was very kind in answering all our questions after he and his wife just flew back from STL.
Today we flew down to a picturesque grass strip for some avgas at wholesale prices. We indicated 165 - 170 kts true on the way down there. Couldn't believe how this thing handles. On the way back he let me do some stalls and steep turns. I want one of these things!
Paul came over with some scrap tin and gave me a brief intro to drilling, dimpling, countersinking, and riveting before we actually made progress on the rear spar. He showed me all the tips and techniques he learned along the way. Better to practice on scrap than the real thing.
Riveting with the gun was a little tricky because it was a brand new Sioux gun and the throttle was a little sticky in the beginning. It's starting to smooth out.
My options: nosewheel, tip-up, electric aileron trim and dual brakes.
Received confirmation from Van's on my quickbuild wings and fuselage order. Expected ship week is December 27 - looks like I'll be getting a very nice Christmas present.
Ohhh what a glorious day. Ann at Van's called to inform me my kit is shipping via ABF and gave me the tracking number. ABF website says it will be here on Friday Jan 14. Counting down the hours now...
Working on big changes to the website to make it more blog like. I've looked at all the blogging software and pretty much decided to enchance the version I wrote in VB.NET. That way I can customize it for aircraft building!!
Basically I have a VB.Net front end to a MySQL database. With a few clicks of the mouse I can easily update all the necessary pages. Hope you like it.
You couldn't buy better weather than we had today. Severe clear with temps in the upper 60's and variable winds at 3 kts. My flying was cut short due to the joys of spam cans and a busy GA airport.
Rented a C-172 from 2pm-5pm. Show up at 145pm with a family friend and come to find out that both comms are out on the plane I was to fly. Looking at the schedule showed another plane open but it had to be back by 3pm. After a quick preflight we taxi out and wait 25 min at the departure end for landing traffic. This is due to taxiway construction at PDK! Nice to see my money being spent on the ground. Once airborne I show my buddy his house in Alpharetta then head back to a very quiet PDK at 3pm.
But because of those inop comm's, my day was cut short.
Be sure to check out my new photoalbum and photocollage.
The QB kit is currently enroute from Green River, Utah to Albequerque, NM. Looks like they are heading south to warmer weather and I-40.
It was very nice of Chuck to come over and help me take all the crating material to the Clayton County dump (which is about an hour away). For 15 bucks it was worth it to get the stuff out of the yard.
Then I ordered the pitot, static and aoa lines plus the unheated Dynon pitot from safeair1.com. That should be just about everything I need for the wings.
Rented a spam can and flew up to RMG to keep somewhat current. RMG is 51.4 nm from PDK so it qualifies for a cross country flight... barely. AHN, however, doesn't qualify at 49 nm.
Here are the cooling towers near Cartersville, GA (just off KVPC).
Anyway, my build log/website database was 'reverted' back to the Feb 4 date... so I just spent a while re-creating what I had previously entered. Wasn't too complicated... I just re-entered what I had on the web.
From now on, the database also gets copied to the webserver as a backup measure!
Whatever it (legally) takes, find a reamer to open the holes in the weldments. I've already messed up two weldments because I let my drill bit wander. The reamers make life so much easier and better in many places (opening the holes in the brass bushings, opening the holes in the weldments, etc). Reamers make true holes.
So when people are tooling up, I'd strongly recommend a reamer for AN3 and AN4 bolts. And perhaps a No 40 and No 30 to open up the holes in the pre-punched kits. I had the smaller reamers just not the bigger ones. Ohhh and grab one for the landing gear weldment. That one is .311 but they say a 5/16 will do.
You can see my custom made rudder pedal brace. After making one with lightening holes I chose to leave it as is. The reason being that in the future, someone may want to move the brake lines. So just in case...
Also drilled the NACA vents. I plan to glue them in with 3M 5200 Marine Adhesive. The holes and clecos are only to hold it in position. I'll fill the holes with epoxy and microballoons later.
At the end of the work day, I drilled the NACA vents. The holes and clecos are just to hold it in position when I decide to glue them in. Probably will use 3M 5200 Marine Adhesive when the time comes.
Yours truly doing some bending (FAA picture).
Here's Heather - just over 2 months old! My wife says this is the only time she'll be in the plane - when it's safely on the ground. Little does she know... hahaaaa
It was very interesting to see what numbers or combination of numbers and letters were taken. 707XX seems to be very popular in most letter series (where XX are two letters). And of course Southwest Airlines has most of the SW's taken. Maybe if I get a SW number it'll mess up the competition up a little.
Flew to Kansas City this weekend to be with the wife as she took the oral portion of her psychiatry boards. If she passes this final test she'll be "board certified".
Anyway, Heather, our daughter, and I wanted to keep busy while mom took her exam. Noticing Olathe, Kansas (home of Garmin!) is very close on the map and since Heather and I have never been to Kansas, a side trip is in order!
We managed to find Garmin without any navigational aids of our own! Seemed like a nice campus. Bigger than I thought. So here she is - birthplace of many of our GPS, NAV/COM, and other goodies.
Flying back to ATL later that night was a mess due to Wx in both ATL and MCI. Didn't land until 130AM and then Heather wanted to play allll night after we got home.
As a side note, Comcast only allocates 25mb of space. My pictures are taking care of that pretty quickly. How useful is this website to everyone?
Just a note on GCA's sales tactics...
Last Thursday I called to inquire about prices on a GMS-340 audio panel. The sales guy at Gulf Coast said their normal price is $1195 but they had a 'brand new' one for $1100. He said it was purchased by a customer for installation by Gulf Coast but the customer backed out and they were selling this one cheaper. I clearly asked him 'It it used? Is it yellow tagged?' because the price seemed right. He repeated that indeed it was brand new and this one would not be around too long at this price. I've seem them go for much higher used on eBay.
So I gave them a credit card and placed my order. He said I should receive it tomorrow (6/17). Monday morning it still was not here so I called to ask where it was. The guy in shipping said it was a overhauled unit they were sending out? WHAT?!!! I clearly remember them saying it was new. So I ask for a manager who gets the salesperson on the phone. Again the salesperson reiterates and said the delay was because they had to do something, I forget what.
I finally receive it yesterday and lo and behold there's a real big yellow sticker on it and 'newly overhauled' in many places. I was furious. Granted it looks like it's in great condition but they lied to me. I call them up this morning and ask for answers. I am not so upset because it comes from Garmin overhauled (dated 3/3/04 no less) but the fact that they told me it's new and it's not.
The salesguy apologized for not looking into it before it shipped. The manager was pretty unhelpful - basically said take it or leave it. I could pay the difference for a new one. Such service. I informed them that they should monitor their sales tactics. I guess I'll keep the audio panel because it does appear in excellent condition and used ones garner more on eBay. The manager said he'll send me a letter saying I do have the full 2 year warranty.
Sorry this is so long but just wanted to share my experiences. YMMV
Finally updated my panel layout page. According to Grand Rapids Technologies, my 'due date' is August 15. Didn't know I was pregnant. I pretty much have everything major that's going in the panel. Fabian at Affordable Panels is getting ready to cut my plates.
Still have to determine which stereo I want in there. I wish car stereos were the same width as avionics (6.25 inches vs. 7 for cars).
The last few days the UPS guy has frequented our house quite a bit. I received my Grand Rapids Dual EFIS with EIS4000 engine monitor, a Panasonic car CD/MP3 player for the panel, and lots of goodies from Affordable Panels (ELT, CO Monitor, wiring supplies).
Today I am sending the install kits to Stark Avionics to have John make the wiring harness for the panel (GMA-340, SL-30, GTX-327 and integrate autopilot and GRT wire harnesses). He said turn around time is about 2 weeks. So maybe two weeks from now my panel might be lit up!
Well even if I don't need it yet, I figured I better get going on this. Hangar E-10 at LZU - Briscoe Field is the future home of N410S.
Have to find something to put in the hangar while the plane is at the house. Maybe I'll store the wings there to get lots more room in the shop!
Took my lovely wife and daughter to Chicago for the day. 830A flight up there and 545P flight back. We had a gift certificate for a downtown restaurant that had to be used so we made the trek. Walked around Navy Pier and Michigan avenue then headed back to KORD.
Heather, our 8 month old daughter, did really well on the plane (her 7th and 8th flights). Maybe this means she'll love flying as much as I do!
Big day today. Called up the nice folks at Aerosport Power up in Kamloops, British Columbia. Got me a new IO-360-B2B coming (LSE Plasma III direct crank, SilverHawk injection, B&C 40A). Sue gave me a few weeks to think about colors. Maybe black crankcase and gold cylinders. We'll see.
Sorry, no work to report on the plane. I did take the instrument panel pieces, all 11 of them, to get powder coated because I wasn't happy with tiny specks in my paint job.
We flew to Ontario, California for the weekend. Visited relatives (in-laws) and then drove to San Diego on Saturday to meet up with a good college friend of mine.
Here's a picture of us blasting off at ONT (Rwy 26L Prado 6 Departure with the Thermal, TRM, transition... you can see us turning towards the Paradise VOR).
A few years ago I scrapped my old P100 computer and made a power supply from its remains. Works like a champ powering all my avionics so far (GRT EFIS, AHRS, EIS 4000, audio panel, SL-30, and transponder). It measures 11.86V at the output but the avionics seem to be happy.
I can probably find the reference on the web to make one of these power supplies.
First, I apologize for the lack of updates... but I had a great excuse. Was cruising around South America - literally. Took a 16 day cruise from Santiago, Chile to Rio De Janeiro, Brazil. totally fabulous - you dont see this kind of stuff at home.
Here are 3 out of the 1350 that I took. First is a glacier in the Chilean fjords, next is me at 56S latitude rounding Cape Horn and last is the famous Copacabana beach in Rio.
Just wanted to let ya'll know that I didnt fall off the face of the earth. Hopefully will get back to RV building in a few days.
Started off the day by torqueing the landing gear bolts. Had to make the opening in the firewall for the nose gear bolt slightly larger on the top side of the hole. You may want to drill that hole a little higher.
Then I torqued the nuts on the two remaining bolts on the engine, the lower ones. Used two washers each side.
Next I riveted on about 35 nutplates on the remaining wingtip. And I added a 6 circuit terminal strip for my audio connections on the audio panel (audio in 1 and unswitched audio). This way, if I want to add more audio inputs in the future, I simply connect them here.
They are going to be covered by Abby at Flightline Interiors. Already waited about 8 weeks, she said it will take another 4.
Prop should ship this week. Keeping my fingers crossed.
Lots of updates to the website to cover last weeks building adventures. Hope everyone had a great Easter holiday.
Took the last week off to work on the plane full time. Why? Because it was my birthday and my wife wants the plane out of the garage by May 1 so we can stick a new car in there.
Anyway, I didn't update the website til this morning. Lots of pics so check out the page for April 2006. It may not cover everything that I did. Very busy time around our house so I do what I can with the website.
I know I haven't gotten many pics up lately. Here's some to make up for that.
First shows the tips on the stab and elevator.
Second shows the bracket I made for the Lightspeed ignition coils. Might have to make another that places the coils lower (without running into the fuel line).
Third is a shot of the tach sender connection on the accessory case. Have to find a tach sender that fits here.
McCullough Towing here in Atlanta did a bang up job. The driver really seemed to care that my pride and joy was properly anchored. I tell you... the rollback is the only way to go. The winch made it really easy.
The elevators, vertical stab, rudder and wings are still at home. I can do some glass work on the tail and still have some minor things to do to the wings (finish wiring, install fuel level senders, aileron stops, etc).
Stop by and see me at LZU.
I'm still alive. Sorry for the lack of pictures - life has just been getting in the way. With an extremely active and curious 1 year old, you have to enjoy what little time you get.
In the past week I've found some time to work on the fiberglass tips on the elevators, rudder and vertical stab. I've gotten them to the point of laying a piece of fiberglass over the seam to avoid cracking. After this is done, I'll sand and prime much like Dan C. did.
Also been tinkering with the wiring in the wings. Putting connectors on the wing tip wires for the strobes and nav lites. Putting connectors on the Tru-trak servo. Still have to put the Archer wingtip VOR antenna in, the aileron stops and fuel level senders. Although I may do the latter two at the hangar.
Today I made a 2' x 8' table for the hangar. Took the opportunity to sweep the hangar, too. Here's a pic of what the hangar looks like today!
Once I got to the airport, lots of hangar neighbors came over to check out the project. It was cool meeting all of them.
Thanks Uncle Dave for helping me get the stuff to L'ville.
Up ahead in the picture is Stone Mountain. This pic was taken on Hugh Howell Road.
Took a break today - flew down to MLB for a little time on the beach and see some college friends.
And I'm trying to be as nice as I can here...
Due to the @#$^\%^*$$'ers at Comcast, I'll be taking my ISP business elsewhere sometime soon (as soon as I can get my phone and internet set up elsewhere). Sooooo I dont know what that means for this site. Have to find a place to put it in the future.
Long story short - the illegal immigrants, working for DeKalb County, managed to cut the cable and phone lines while pouring new sidewalks on our street. After spending 3 hours and waiting 4 days finally got our internet and phone back (phone is on cable)... you think they would fix this inconvenience on my monthly bill?? Hell no, they think I'm a new customer (since my line was down and later reconnected) and charge me $11 more per month from now on! Do they even realize I'm one of their oldest customers???
Screw you Comcast - I'm taking my business elsewhere and keeping my dish!
Running out of things to do! I may give the DAR a call and see what his schedule is like. I have a little list of remaining items in my head - safety wire (brakes, alternator, baffles, oil filler tube), baffle seal material on cowl, final inspect all nuts and fittings, weight & balance, finish paperwork.
Gratuitous shot of the plane as it sits today.
We went out and did some stalls and slow flight. After that we entered the pattern at 2J3 for some touch-n-gos. My first RV landing was acceptable! We landed and rested for an hour or so. Then back in the plane for more pattern work. I'm getting the hang of this thing. Was probably good to go at 2.0 hrs but I decided to spend the night for more the next day. On Saturday we did some more stalls, a power off descent to a field, then lots more pattern work. After 3.0 hrs I was good to go. Said I could fly his plane solo but I was not on the insurance! :)
Thanks Pierre!
Sorry for the website problems lately. It seems I have run out of space (25 MB) on my Comcast account. That's why some of the larger pictures are missing.
Furthermore, I have officially dumped Comcast as my ISP (and there was much rejoicing!) So if this site goes away after Friday you know why. I'll try to get it re-established with BellSouth once we're back with them.
Fellow RV-7A builder Jamie really helped me out in getting my website back up! Thanks for the webspace Jamie. I promise your server won't get hit too hard!
BellSouth's personal web pages are even more ungangly than Comcast's... so I'm grateful to have this space.
The information presented on my website is for reference only and is meant to satisfy FAA requirements to document this aircraft's construction.
Comments that appear on this website should not be interpreted as instructions on how to build any aircraft. Please consult with the manufacturer.
2004 Scott Will.