So it’s been a while since I updated. For me the holidays have been exhausting with trips up and down the east coast spending time with friends and family. Seeing everyone has been awesome, however the schedules and the travel itself was tough. With that said, I have done almost nothing on my plane, nor have I really been able to fly much. I did get an offer to fly with Todd Stovall in his RV10 as well as helped him take the fairing off his bird for an oil change. That was a pretty cool flight and really glad Todd was nice enough to let me join him!
With the holidays over (and my payment to Vans for the Wing Kit sent), I have finally got a little motivation to heat up the Garage and get ready for delivery. Shipping company called me to let me know that they would arrive on January 12. Let’s just say there was some mixed emotion. I am very excited to work on the next kit, but have been dreading going into the garage to work due to the weather outside. Also I had quite a list of things I needed to get done before the kit arrived (including mounting the tailcone on the ceiling!)
First order of business was to move all the Empennage parts (rudder, elevators, etc) to our storage locker just to get it out of the way. Basically all that stuff fit onto one of my wire racks easily so it only took a trip or two for me to get everything moved. The Horizontal Stab ended up getting mounted to a wall in our basement, and after a few trips to Home Depot, I was able to hang the tailcone from the ceiling successfully. Then it was just a matter of cleaning up and trying to get ready as much as I could for the delivery.
Friday arrived, both chilly and starting to rain and the delivery driver was able to easily get both crates into my garage so they wouldn’t get damaged overnight in the rain. (Also with temps dropping below freezing I was VERY happy everything fit in the garage).
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Saturday was spend getting the “little” stuff out of the crates and beginning the inventory of the small parts bags (rivets and such). I broke down and bought a bunch of these small parts organizers from Home Depot. I’m hoping that they help me find things when I need them, but happy with them so far.
This morning I fired up the heater since it was in the low 20’s outside and got to it. Finished going through all the stuff in the box and figured out where everything was going to be stored. One well timed tip was from HomeBuiltHelp‘s Tip of the week. I was able to roll up the wing skins and cleco them so they sat as a large coil. This helped make them easier to move around and I was able to nest a few skins inside each other for easy storage. I’m feeling a little cramped in my garage but was able to get everything put away (or at least out of the way) so I can start working.
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Haven’t downloaded the video yet, but hope to possibly post something later this week. Edit: Video posted below
Looking forward, I think my biggest challenge is going to be trying to prime my parts in this weather (I will have the pushrod for the elevators to prime as well!) Hopefully the temp comes up enough where I can sneak in a few sessions so I can continue making progress.