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Status Report: #1

Here we go, the first actual status of the project.
For who is asking: yes we plan to have a full
autonomic blog and already checking several
templates. Any advise here will be appreciated!
But the main focus is now on the things listed bellow.
Anyway I think it will be great to continue with* brief
updates here even after we will takeoff on the
web.

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• The plan:

We are building RV14a. No quick shortcuts, all the
fun is in touching each rivet of the bird so that is what
is going to happen. The engine is standard
recommendation by Vans: Lycoming IO-390. The prop
is: Hartzell 74'' The avionics: from what we study so far
Dynon IFR RV-14 quick panel will do the work. It's not
cheap but hey it is so well organized so no doubt we are
not going to cook anything better on our first construction.
We decided not to focus on electronic wires this time and
let pros to help us here. If you guys have any piece of
advice for us here please speak up!

Priming: yes - we are on the Mediterranean beaches,
with monsterous humidity most of the time. We already
have done some minor research and starting to talk with
local vendors. More news in the next updates.

We are taking break from our professional life and focusing
on the RV exclusively over the next months.
Actually we plan to have no more than 18 months.
That is our budget and we will be totally focused on
the project to stay in the boundaries. On 2020 July
I will turn 40y old. I want to have that bird flying till
then.

So what do we have so far?

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• Ordered the kits:

We already ordered the 5 basic kits

1. Wings
2. Empennage
3. Fuselage
4. Firewall
5. Finishing

This 5 is as most of you know the all actual plane,
except the engine, the prop, the fancy leather and
the avionics. Acording Vans & shipping guys the
package will land in our garage some time at the
end of August. That is when we start to count our
18 lunas. We didn't order any extra components,
so if we should please give us piece of advice.

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• Got the pracrice kit:

Actually 4 of them 2 toolboxes and 2 small aero-profiles.
We plan to study any possible nuance of that material.
That is why we are not only constructing it by the plan
but also planning to test our prime and study what will
be the best color to use on the final plane. We even have
special plan for a totally original painting scheme, but
will keep the secret for a while - untill we are ensured it
is doable on that metal.

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• Tools:

To start scratching the aluminium we ordered some
tools. Most of the ideas is from Vans official
recommendations and the blogs you are posting.
That is the best source so far. Here is the full list,
feel free to leave any comment on that:

Cleveland aircraft tools and Aircraft-tools.com:

Local vendors:

We didn't order the full set of tools but just
those which will help us to accomplish the
training kits. I guess we will be much smarter
once finishing those and will make 2nd
delivery for the rest of them.

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• Preparing the workshop:

That is probably the tricky one. We don't have much
inexpensive space here in Israel so we are trying to
compromise by starting the project in a smaller place
than would be desired.





That is the biggest challenge for now to turn that small
shi**tty garage into a professional aero-lab. The challendge is accepted.

The lucky moment is that the garage is near JFK
airport:



...hmm ...hmm probably not, it is the ICAO:LLIB a small
field north of Israel - not that active and good enough
for our test take offs. Any of you wish to fly in - the
beer is on me.

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• Reading and studying:

The last one but maybe the most important: we dig
the web for the information. First of all it is great
fun to read how people are building a real plane in
theirs back yard. It sounds crazy almost like
constructing an elevator to the moon using a plier
and a screw driver. But in our case those birds are
actually flying at the end which makes the whole
thing much more magical.

So what are we looking for? The answer is: everything!
Any info about tools, work processes, tips and tricks
and workspace arrangements. We read probably 50-60
blogs so far and that is the best university I could
have. That is so much fun so I am seriously consider
to start writing blog reviews spreading Michelin
stars to the best sheffs. Well probably leave that idea
in favour of finally starting our own blog.

Ahh yeah got the digital version of the instructions
from Vans, helps to spend time in the throne room.



Guys, we are mega excited, we know that we are amatures but all the info is out there, and we have
all the motivation to catch up and the most important:
we enjoy every moment doing that. Like my good friend
says: "Remember: Noah's Ark was built by one amateur, the Titanic by a bunch of professionals."

So don't hesitate to give us peace of advice or just
troll us for anything we say or post. Happy to be part
of such great community of so many tallented individuals.

Cheers.
Roman & Dima

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Status Report: #2

Our second report is about:

• Workspace Preparation
• Training project
• Vessel location report

The plane is yet in the ocean and will hit the shore of
Israel in about 1-2 weeks from now. But we are not
wasting our time. Since our last report we managed to
prepare the environment for the project, and first and
most important is the workspace:


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• Workspace Preparation

We spent last 2 months searching for a pretty spacious
hangar, and rented it. The price was reasonable but the
place was absolute in ruins so it took us some time to
clean it up and paint the walls to feel comfortable there.




Now the tables: as we watched dozens of videos of
other builders, we had pretty good understanding of
what kind of tables we should have. The only problem
was that a professional table of that size is not a budget
product. That is why we decided to construct the tables
ourself from steel profiles.

We designed it exactly the size we think will be optimal
for most of the tasks: 3m x 1.2m x 0.9m, and what a
beautiful result 4 wheels with optional high changer
and voila we have 2 self made tables, for almost no
money. All the training we done later kind of proves it was
the right decision.




Next, we had to organize all the tools in the right way so
they will be placed right in front of us all the time. Cause
you never know which exact drill bit you are going to use.

Here are some results:



Shelfs, shelfs and more shelfs, I think once we have
all the boxes opened it will help us with organization
of the aluminium parts.




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• Training project

The first rivet was not an easy thing, and ‘How the **** we
suppose to do 10,000 of those?, I was thinking to myself.
That is exactly why Vans training project is what
helps to get the right experience and confidence that
you can master those skills relatively quickly.



The train project is great, after getting pretty decent result
I think we got handful of new skills that will be about
70% - 80% of our job in the upcoming months. Cause
really... what is most of the work, if not: understanding
the drawings, deburing, dimpling and rivetting the parts.
All those in various sizes and levels of access difficultly.



Check that result: after all - we didn't know nothing just 2
months ago and now it looks like a real wing. Small but
truly aerodynamically shaped.


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• Vessel location report

Luanda is the name of the ship. In current days it is
sailing somewhere in the Atlantic, approaching the
Gibraltar, heading to the Valencia port. That is already
our neighborhood - the Mediterranean. In 1-2 weeks
from now it should hit Israeli shore and then 4-5
days until we will open the boxes in our fresh office.


Summary: we are supermotivated, we have all the tools
and we feel super ready for the mission. God speed
for the captain of Luanda and hopefully our next report
will be about touching the real thing. Please keep sending
your wishes and your experienced advises, we really
enjoy chatting with each of you!




Cheers.
Roman & Dima

Hi Roman and Dima.
Would you please contact me at:
0507815801
Thanks
Ariel
הי רומן ודימה
תוכלו, בבקשה, להרים טלפון?
אריאל אריאלי
0507815801
תודה
RV8A
4X-OAA

So the cozy pilot/builder is called Yair Gil. He is building another cozy and might be a good source of information. He also lives just north of tel aviv in herzliya if i remember correctly.

Got you.

Thanks

Hi Roman and Dima,

I work for Elbit Systems America (ESA) and travel to Karmiel and Haifa sometimes.

If you know anyone at Elbit who travels to the US it could be useful to pick up small parts you may need. The folks that come to meeting with us are always shopping while in the US to take thing back.

TJ

Thanks TJ,

Next time you are in Israel you are welcome
to our place.On WhatsApp I am +972 547644377

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Status Report: #3

That report is about:

• The boxes are here
• Inventoring all the plane

At 9:00 am at the morning we got the phone from
the delivery company. "Be ready" they said "we will
land in your office in 2-3 hours". That is how we started
the day, drinking cup of coffe and refusing to do anything
but waiting... until the stop of a truck was clearly
squeaked at the gate. That is it. The plane is finally here !!!

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• The boxes are here

After long months of waiting, the plane is finaly here,
still in the boxes, still on the truck but we will fix
it quickly in the upcoming months.


Our neighbour helped us with the unloading process.
Fortunately he had a forklift and in 10 minutes all the
boxes went on to garage floor.



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• Inventoring all the plane

Each time we opened the box we unpacked carefully
each part from the packaging paper and placed it
nicely on the carpet. That way we had all the kit ready
infront of us waiting for the checklist.




The spars are different: first of all because they are
heavy and fun to work out, second it is awesome
feeling to hold a plane wing or a plane backbone
in the hands. Eventually it is the easiest part to store.
We just keeping it in the same box they were shipped
till its time will come




Here is the way we organised all the kits ready for
construction. Some of them will go in to the work
in the next days and some will wait couple of months
for its time.




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• Summary:

Time to clear the garbage. Two small wagons of packing
paper, and wooden boxes that we keept for later use -
probably for jig fabrication.

That is it, we are done with the unpacking, sorting, marking,
guessing and shelving. The inventoring process is done
and we are ready to start with the real work. Wait for the
first actual construction report. In the meantime Let us
know if you think we are doing the right things.

The inventoring took totally 30 hours of man work
cause there is two of us we finished in 2.5 days.




Cheers.
Roman & Dima

Very nice shop!

Best of luck putting her together!

When riveting, check your air pressures.

Here is a link that may help.

One other thing, next time you place a tool order, buy two extra micro stops, a deep no-hole yoke for your squeezer, and a longeron yoke.

The reamers in imperial sizes, tap and die set, inch-pound torque wrench, sockets, wrenches, etc. you should be able to source locally, maybe.

In the top picture thought the words "Last Bag" were on his shirt and he was trying to make some kind of statement.