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RV-8 build begins...

I'm quite jealous at your progress! Maybe I need to accidentally loose my day/night/weekend job for a few months to finish mine.
Lookin' very good indeed.
 
Very Impressive

David,

Thanks a million for sharing your experiences with your RV8 project. Have been following your thread and am inspired by all that you have done. Love the pictures, especially the one with you sitting at the controls and the prop spinning.

Keep up the great work :D !
 
Hey Dave,
I leave for a few days and the plane is almost done! Looking good, I will have to stop by next week for a progress check. Got the -6 up for a few laps in the cold.
Warmer days next week.

John
 
The day before yesterday the decision was made to bite the bullet and install the doublers in the HS front spar. I had ordered the kit and Vans sent it promptly. This is where I am at as of late yesterday.

It took 1.5 hours to remove the rudder, VS, elevators and HS from the aircraft. It took another 2 hours to remove the ribs and about 5 hours to drill out the 2 angle brackets.

I am taking it slow. If one does this every day it would go faster but slow is better to start. So far so good. The pieces came out in pretty good shape. I won't go into the technique to do it, that has been discussed on the forum and in the SB. Nothing new here on that subject, just go slow and try to limit the damage as much as possible. :)

Now it is a matter of putting it back together - one step at a time as per the instructions. Friend Dale Baldwin, an excellent mechanic and RV pilot, is coming over tomorrow to help, I will take all of that I can get. Should have it accomplished and everything reinstalled on the aircraft in a week or so - especially so since it is finally warming up around here. What a rotten nasty winter this has been. I really have the fever to get this machine flying and that can not be done with weather we have had this year.




 
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Yes, it is sideways. Probably because I held the Iphone sideways. :)

I am staying in shape (to finish the RV-8 HS mod later this month and the aircraft for flight later this summer) by walking to the Sanibel light house most every day. It is 4 miles round trip - very good trek for the mind and body. So is the 80 degree weather and the sound and ambience of the Gulf of Mexico.

We departed rather impulsively from the cold mid west winter 2 weeks ago. Driving to church on 2/16, I commented to my wife wouldn't it be neat to be headed to Sanibel today. She looked at me and responded with a grin, the decision is yours. I said lets pray on it - long story short, we were packed and on the road by 5pm that day.

Will return around 3/20, hopefully the hangar will be above freezing by then. Meanwhile, it sure is pleasant in this part of the country.
 
Dave,
You aren't missing a thing up here, that is except snow.. Ice... Cold!
We are headed down to Destin in the RV10 this Friday.
 
Well, you did miss the sleet, snow, and single digit temps. Plane looks great. Next trip to the Gulf Coast could be much faster!
 
SB 14-01-31 was completed today. This is how it looked this morning after riveting yesterday, today the ribs were reinstalled and also riveted.

Time including removing the HS was 23.5 hours. It will take 1.5 hours for the reinstall so total time - call it 25 hours.

The internal riveting went well with 2 guys (Dale Baldwin helped). I would not want to do it alone.

Overall, the task is not much more challenging than building, it's just a downer drilling out so many rivets. Installing the doublers would be very simple with an original build. I am pleased the tack is done.

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Hi Bill, we got back Sunday evening.
I could live on Sanibel Island except there is no runway. But being a beach bum is not a bad alternative. :)
 
I am back working on the windscreen so as to be able to paint the fiberglass that holds it in position. The canopy, cowling, and empennage fairing are at a local body shop being painted silver.

Good news re my local DAR, he is re-certified. :) I was looking at paying someone to come from Kansas City or Springfield, MO.

His boss at the Kansas City MIDO has changed the process somewhat in that he wants to see the paper work before the final inspection to make sure it is correct. If the paper needs fixing he sends it back to the builder, if it passes muster he sends it to the DAR. I sent everything required about 10 days ago and received a text message from the DAR earlier this week, the paper is in order and he has received it from the MIDO. Hallelujah!!

The airplane is not quite ready for that final inspection but is mighty close.


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Decided to add a little class to this airplane ala a WWII German Fighter spinner.

The cowl, canopy, empennage fairing and spinner were taken to a local auto body paint shop. The quality of the work is excellent. The parts are a silver grey and will go with a partially polished airplane very nicely.

I have decided to do all of the empennage, ailerons, and flaps also. The guy will come by and apply the same paint to the bottom of the wing and fuselage right here in my hangar. I figure about 2/3's of the airplane will be a silver grey with some blue trim at the wing tips. This will slow down certification a bit but I will like the airplane a lot better and the surfaces to be polished will be on top or vertical, no bottom polishing.






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Changed the flight plan.

The Becker mode S transponder has been checked and certified this week, same for the GRT Sport EFIS altimeter and air speed indications.

My DAR says the paper work is in order so we do the final inspection tomorrow rather than disassemble for paint, we will see what all I have missed. :)
 
Certified!

Mr. Frank Baldwin, DAR for the Kansas City MIDO on the left, did the final inspection and paper work today. The airplane is certified, thank you Frank!

The airplane is ready to fly but I am not. This effort has been 100% build for the past 28 months, now it is time to become a pilot again. To that end I am in "training" starting next week. First part will be in a Citabria with a friend CFI and the next part will be in a RV-6 with another CFI friend.

We'll see if this old coot still has it. :)


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Taxi time....

Finally got the beast all back together after the certification and partial paint. The engine is running fine, static rpm coming in at 2150, brakes work and it taxis well.

I need about 6 more hours of RV tail dragger dual to activate the insurance policy with AIG.

Probably could survive a first flight right now as I've had a few good landings in the RV-6, but a few more won't hurt.


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Dave,
I hear congrats are in order on your first flight today!!
Bill
First flight it was Bill, it went very well.
That about wraps us this RV Build Project. There is a lot of polishing to do yet but that will come in time.
First priority is to fly this thing until I am comfortable with it.
I already feel great about its handling characteristics and performance. The effort to build it definitely is worth the time, money and effort.
As aviators used to say, over and out. :)
 
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