Vent/Break Lines

Wow what a pain it is to make vent lines!!! I thought bending aluminum would be easy, but yet again I was wrong. After about 2 hours I think I got my right vent line in, too bad I still have to paint, that means I will have to remove it (sound familiar?) and then reinstall it later.

I have finished the roll bar and yes it is removed awaiting fitting of the canopy.

Next up is riveting the bottom wing skins, just need a partner to make it easier, I know people have done it by them selves but I am not in that much of a rush. The scary part is that after the bottom skins are all on I can add the flap and then it's time to put the wings on for fitting :)

I am also working on the front cabin top so that I can get moving on the canopy, but as I think about my panel I can see how that affects everything, so if I could just find the last big chunk of $$$ then I could get a panel on the way, but unfortunately that is not the case right now.

Ok bed time, just know I need to post on this thing every now and then, aloha!

Back to work, roll bar

Well it I really need to keep this site up to date...

Today I worked on the roll bar and support parts.

Ok time for some dinner!

Working on roll bar

Ok so I am trying to get this to work from my phone so I might post more stuff.

I have been working a lot on the plane but don't have time to update this so I hope having my phone do the work will help.

I have added autopilot servos, sealed the tanks, put in the static ports and am working on the roll bar now, to bad I leave for the desert on sunday again... Oh well piece by piece and one day I will be done.

I have a PROP!!!

Well it’s official, I now have a prop! Yep it was delivered 3 days before I got home from my last (not last one that I will ever do, but last as in most recent) deployment from Iraq. It is nice to see the parts showing up, in fact today the UPS man set a prop governor that I got via a VAF group buy on my garage door =)

Most of the day was spent cleaning the house and getting things back in order but don’t worry the RV factory is about o kick into full gear as I have some off time and parts that need to be assembled!

Hotel Whiskey ER Tanks...

I have been thinking about this for a long time and I think I am going to push go on the extended range tanks. I want the legs but not the weight but I think in the end I will be happy with them, here are some of my concerns:
1. Weight (10#s for the life of the plane)
2. Cost ($1800!!!)
3. Will I get water in the tanks as they are going to be empty most of the time?
4. Will I use them enough to make up for the cost of the tanks?
5. Complexity / how much time does it add to the build?
6. Will there still be room in the wing tips for a archer antenna and nav/landing lights?
7. Will they change the roll rate?

You can see there are always pluses and minuses but I think in the long run having longer legs will be a good thing. I will try and call HW today and see what they say. Also I have been emailing Danny King who installed them in Doll and he is very happy with them am and recommends them.

Decisions decisions…

Wing Skins and Pitot Tube

4 Hours

Well I didn’t post last night but I got a few hours in over the last 2 nights. I counter sunk/dimple/nutplated the bottom skins to accept the pitot tube and access plate. This was the first nut plates that I have had to drill and install.


Nutplates from the top view (and a knee)


Nutplates from the bottom


Nutplates installed on the pitot mast

I have a guide for #8 nutplates but not for #6 as I was using. That meant that I used the nutplate itself as a guide. I don’t like the idea of using different sizes all over the plane but the wing access panels already use #6 and I wanted to stay as small as I could when drilling through the spar.


The cutaway in the wing skin look worst in this picture but I am very happy as tight as the fit really is.


I think this is a clean install and it even looks straight (with a refection of me too)... must be living right =)

I think everything looks pretty tight and it’s nice and smooth and now I can remove the pitot tube if I have too. Now I just need to drill the holes for the actual pitot tube and run the tube from the inboard rib to the mast then that part is done. It sometimes feels like I am moving slow but it is nice when I see that I am moving!

Oh and they are saying that we might have a bit of snow and have a late work day or even a “snow day” so keep your fingers crossed because I would love to work on the plane instead of going to work (at least on a poopy flying day)

Pitot tube and Riveting

6 hours

Ok so I spent a lot of time in the garage today but didn’t feel as productive because of the amount of time I spent thinking about how to do things. I guess that’s part of the build but it’s not as rewarding as driving rivets. Speaking of driving rivets…


I did rivet the aft side and bottom skin to F-712 (the last bulk head) today! It is really nice to see things go together and also to know that I won’t be taking them apart any more =)


I love it when a PLANE comes together ;)


I clecoed the bottom skins on so that I could see how they fix and well the fit! I did notice that I need to sand down the lapping edge to make it a little smother but it is on the bottom so not as visible as the top but every ounce of aluminum I remove the better!

I also spent considerable time trying to figure out how I was going to mount the pitot tube but I made a decision and well now there is a hole in my pretty bottom skin. The plans call for a bent piece of ¼” aluminum tube but I wanted a heated pitot tube so I needed to get that and figure out how to mount it.


I looked at a few different peoples planes online and went against how the mounting tube people said to do it. They wanted me to rivet the mast to the wing, I wanted it to be removable… So it’s now removable =) I just didn’t want that thing sticking out in the wind for the next 2 years as I am working on it, don’t know it I will ever need to remove it again but hey at least I can.

Ok well this Turkey day holiday did allow me to get a bit done, would always have liked to get more done but I am happy with the forward progress. Only 10 more building days (ok any kind of days really) till I ship out again so I hope to get some more stuff done, maybe the flap motor next…