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Show us the status of your 8/8A project!

Getting closer

Here is a couple of pictures of my project. Still have some work to do but with the paint job I can find it in the back of the hanger a lot easier.
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[/URL][/IMG
]Here is my nearly finished RV-8. The 40 hours phase 1 is complete and now I have to finish the exterior details.
 
Modified Instrument Panel

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Hey guys,
Does anyone see a problem with this mod?
I'm 6'-5" and have started sitting in my QB fuselage and was a little concerned about the mounting/dismounting gyrations I would have to do...my long legs and size 13 feet can't be pulled back to the spar because my knees hit the bottom of the panel. So I started looking into modifying the panel.
Are there any concerns that I don't know about that would make this setup inpractical? :confused:
Thanks.
 
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Final cowl fitting

Final fitting of the cowl yesterday! As things come together, I'm a bit conflicted about covering up the wonderful complexity beneath the skin. Like the human body (though on a much lesser degree obviously), relatively simple outside. Inside? Not so much!

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Pretty..what color red is that? What brand of paint and have you buffed yet? Sure is shiny! Looks awesome...
 
Pretty..what color red is that? What brand of paint and have you buffed yet? Sure is shiny! Looks awesome...

Thanks. Haven't buffed yet.
Dupont Rival, Single stage. Industrial replacement for the Imron.
The color is, ready?, Atchinson-Topkea-SantaFe Flame Red! It was supposed to be Millie Migula Red from my Corvette color code but it wouldnt cross over.
 
Looking good!

Hey Tim,

Looks great. I'm a little ahead of you in the build and am still dealing with nutplates for the removable floors. Are you contemplating that? If you are, let me know and I can tell you where to add what nutplates now before you rivet things together so that it will make it easier for you down the road.

It's a pain in some areas and I have had to add the odd rivnut.

Cheers,

Don
 
Hey Tim,

Looks great. I'm a little ahead of you in the build and am still dealing with nutplates for the removable floors. Are you contemplating that? If you are, let me know and I can tell you where to add what nutplates now before you rivet things together so that it will make it easier for you down the road.

It's a pain in some areas and I have had to add the odd rivnut.

Cheers,

Don

Thanks Don!
I haven't read about the floors yet but, I'm interested. Any info is greatly appreciated.... Just send me an e-mail when you have time...
 
Wings have been installed!

Brought the airplane down to the hangar a few weeks ago. Now we have the wings installed!

Emerging out of the Man Cave onto the truck
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Few weeks later the wings have been installed.
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Now we're getting the fuel lines hooked up and tightening a few nuts and bolts.
 
Bringing plane home from paint shop

It took a lot of family and friends, and a lot of beer when we were done, but we got the plane back before the -23 temperatures arrived.
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In the building and ready to assemble.
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We're hoping to be finished by the time the weather warms up.
 
"So Scott, how is that RV8 project coming?"
Well, I just came in from the shop after taking off the Bunny Suit. This morning I asked Tanya, "Hey, would you mind coming out here and masking the canopy while I mix up some primer?" We'll see how she did tomorrow :).
Actually we both spent about six hours yesterday masking the inside and outside of this thing. I'm hoping that the exterior is final "very rough" finish for now until final surface finish just before paint. Not a pin hole anywhere in sight. Can you say, clear candy coating?
The interior is coming along as well. I shot my last coat of high build primer yesterday. Next is a little more final finish sanding, paint the glairshield flat black, then final finish on the interior which is AKZO green primer :).
Giddyup! I'm tired of having to thumb wrestle for an airplane to fly.

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First Engine Start!!

Got a GoPro clip from inside with comm and video from my iphone edited together on imovie on my ipad. Taxi tests will be next


Getting Fuel
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Video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qljpWMXyd2g

Unfortunately the sun was in the way and blacked out most of the instrument panel. Oh well. Next time
 
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Late update

I had a visit from Larent today, who hails from France, but is relocating to the Toronto area. Spent quite a bit of time in the workshop looking and talking about the build. I think he's pretty convinced now on building the -8. Nice meeting ya Laurent and thanks for coming by!

I've been pretty tardy with my build log at mykitlog, but here are a few pictures of my -8 build. I still have to cut the wood floors and put them in.

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In the second picture, you can see the mod to the rear baggage floor for the battery access, and the hinge that I added to the baggage upright. I'm going to copy Brent Owen's with the mod he did. Still waiting for a Hartwell latch to to finish the installation.

Cheers,

Don
 
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Visit to Don

Oh yes, thanks again for the visit yesterday. Now I'm 200% sold to the RV-8.

Seeing your build and getting your feedback has been useful at so many levels... I must say I can't wait to start the build (but of course, I still have a lot of preparations...)

And your build is really clean and super well thought of. Congratulations! I hope I can reach the same level of craftmanship.

Cheers,
Laurent
RV-8, preview plans stage
 
Got Canopy

...I'm too sexy for my... Oh, sorry, wrong channel.
You can stick a fork in it if you like. I'm declaring my year long canopy project done! Boy it sure has been an entertaining journey but I'm quite glad it is finally over. I think I have become one with the fiberglass and micro-on/micro-off gods. I did the final test fit today before we took it back upstairs and put it to bed until it is time to move the airport. Now I can get back to actually building an airplane and not just a canopy.

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Nice.
Standard bubble or third party vendor?
For those who have built the showplanes, will it work with a tall bubble?
 
Nice!

Bryan is gonna be mad at you for doing the overlap ;)
Yep, well aware. I listened to him cuss yours for a couple minutes at OSH. (Not really, he is an extremely nice guy.) I'm looking forward to the extra ventilation :). My current tip-up already rains on my feet and I've already filled up a GRT AHRS with water and survived :eek: I think I'm all set.

Nice.
Standard bubble or third party vendor?
For those who have built the showplanes, will it work with a tall bubble?
Todd's canopy.
 
My current tip-up already rains on my feet and I've already filled up a GRT AHRS with water and survived

I think your worries are over with this one. I've flown in light rain a few times and never saw a drop inside. I don't think the trim panel design will allow water to the avionics in flight or parked.

Did get a little in over the front of the right sill while parked in an OSH deluge once. It all seemed to have dripped into the right footwell. When you do your trim panel, maybe you should add a a tiny little dam on each side where marked to make sure the water goes over the outside even parked off level.



Maybe something like this.



(SIGH) ....can always build the second one better...
 
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I think your worries are over with this one. I've flown in light rain a few times and never saw a drop inside. I don't think the trim panel design will allow water to the avionics in flight or parked.

Did get a little in over the front of the right sill while parked in an OSH deluge once. It all seemed to have dripped into the right footwell. When you do your trim panel, maybe you should add a a tiny little dam on each side where marked to make sure the water goes over the outside even parked off level.


Maybe something like this.


(SIGH) ....can always build the second one better...
My top panel is complete as well, but one of the hopes of epoxy primer as final finish is that it is infinitely touch-up-able. That would be super easy to accomplish. Maybe the next time I mix up a small batch of primer. Good idea.

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Just getting back into mine after a few distractions (building a new hangar/workshops and strip for one (or three?)).

"year long canopy project" yikes. I got some work to do!
What is this overlap you speak of? I must have missed that little tip.

Also Scott, did you get the Todds RV-8 bubble, or the rocket style that he does.
I actually have both just in case. At $350ea, and $1000 for post:eek:. I figure I can sell the one I don't use.

Now as for the 15" FP spinner for that cowl, I am still none the wiser. Home made??
I guess if I had the skills of the Guru (you know who you are :D), I would just whip one up in my composites workshop. Which I also don't have.

Hope the pics show.

Paul.

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"year long canopy project" yikes. I got some work to do!
What is this overlap you speak of? I must have missed that little tip.

Also Scott, did you get the Todds RV-8 bubble, or the rocket style that he does.
I actually have both just in case. At $350ea, and $1000 for post:eek:. I figure I can sell the one I don't use.

Now as for the 15" FP spinner for that cowl, I am still none the wiser. Home made??
I guess if I had the skills of the Guru (you know who you are :D), I would just whip one up in my composites workshop. Which I also don't have.

Hope the pics show.

Paul.

I used the Todds RV-8 plastic.
Dan and I overlapped the forward edge on top of the top skin instead of matching the height of the forward edge. It will act as a bit of a wind/rain scoop depending on fit.
I'm using the vans cowl.
 
The interior is coming along as well. I shot my last coat of high build primer yesterday. Next is a little more final finish sanding, paint the glairshield flat black, then final finish on the interior which is AKZO green primer :).
Giddyup! I'm tired of having to thumb wrestle for an airplane to fly.

Scott,
Watch the interior with that primer. No UV protection and will fade.
Rocket is the one that advised me of that.

Boomer
 
Dan and I overlapped the forward edge on top of the top skin instead of matching the height of the forward edge. It will act as a bit of a wind/rain scoop depending on fit.

Looks like this Paul...about an inch of glass, maybe a bit more, added to the front edge of the canopy frame to overlap the screw line. Brian intended it to be a flush fit, but there's no bulkhead under that screw line, just a double-flushed strip doubler. It's hard to convince the unsupported edge of the aluminum to conform to the exact profile of the pre-molded fiberglass. I debated reworking the glass to match the aluminum for the intended flush fit (which would not be hard to do). In the end I liked the appearance of hiding the screw line.



As the overlap was laid up with the canopy frame latched firmly to the fuselage, the original fit conformed to the aluminum perfectly. In the first year the right side developed a gap of about 0.050" along a stretch of 3" of so (arrows). I think it's from the weight of the canopy when sitting open in the sun. Note that the fit of a flush setup would have changed the same way. Anyway, there's an air leak there that gets directed across the face of the panel by the internal canopy rib. I've threatened to install a smaller version of a blow-up seal like Dave Buntin did on his slider, but it's so "not bad" that 3 years later there is still no motivation. Worst case, I pull on nomex gloves when OAT is below freezing. Compared to a slider, these tip-overs are hermetically sealed.

There's no right or wrong here; do what you like. Scott and I are tugging Brian's appendage just a bit ;)

 
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Thanks Dan, that explains it perfectly.
I won't mind having those screws visible. It'll at least give the appearance of some structure beneath.
There is a bit of flex at the doubler. I'll see how things looks when I get there.
And anyhow, an extra (non planned) shot of cool air would generally be a blessing where I am.

I remembered seeing a pic (below) showing the area you pointed to, (albeit on the other side), illustrating the potential challenge of getting things to fit.

I think it was Bud Silvers'.

Paul.

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Fun under the skirts!

Weekend of fitting the skirts to a Sika bonded Todds canopy. Plenty of re-inventing the wheel here.
 
Bonding skirt to canopy

Hi,
Have recently sika bonded my Vans canopy to my canopy frame and am wondering what bonding medium you are using to attach the canopy skirt to the canopy frame and bottom of the canopy.
 
Hi,
Have recently sika bonded my Vans canopy to my canopy frame and am wondering what bonding medium you are using to attach the canopy skirt to the canopy frame and bottom of the canopy.

Actually doing that this weekend. Same Sika product. 295. Cut the number of rivets in half and bonding the perimeter of the frame but not the vertical bars. Masked off the area to contact Sika so it will be to raw fiberglass. Thin spacer between canopy and skirt.

If you haven't trimmed the skirt yet, be aware that the additional thickness of the sika changes the position of the skirt. I trimmed to scribe mark and was too short. Had to build it back up. Added another week of build time.

Will shoot some pics this weekend and post.
 
It may not be the fastest or most efficient, but it's going to be the most kickass RV-8 ever! Me want!!! Can't wait to see and hear it run and fly!

How is it going to affect CG?
 
It may not be the fastest or most efficient, but it's going to be the most kickass RV-8 ever! Me want!!! Can't wait to see and hear it run and fly!

How is it going to affect CG?

It's definately going to sound cool. The cg should be right where it is with any other RV. Rotec built the mount to my specs, so I had the liberty of picking the CG position. I chose to mount it a little bit closer to the forward side of the envelope. The engine weighs 275 lbs, which is about the same as a Lycoming O-320.
 
Wow , wow , all I gotta say is wow , what more could you ask for , what a ultimate setup. Is there any rv,s right now flying with a radial or anyone else doing this setup , , I think it's cool
 
Windscreen band

Took a deep breath and removed the masking from the fiberglass layup. Expecting all sorts of gremlins from resin creep or raw edges.

Nice! Another task completed and satisfaction sets in.

Exhale.



On to the skirts
 
Goop?

Hi Blain,

That looks like nice work there, well done. I am following along and just about to do battle with fitting the forward canopy screen. Quick question: What material (black looking goop in the photo) did you use to fill the gap/fillet between the screen and the roll bar?

Cheers

Nigel
 
Hi Blain,

That looks like nice work there, well done. I am following along and just about to do battle with fitting the forward canopy screen. Quick question: What material (black looking goop in the photo) did you use to fill the gap/fillet between the screen and the roll bar?

Cheers

Nigel
Sikaflex. No rivets in the plexi. Also ran a bead around the base where it sits on the forward skin. Made as nice fillet inside and outside. I'm sold on the stuff but there are 2 strong camps for and against.
 
How do you spell relief? P H E W!

Over the last week, I've been trimming and sanding and repeating the process so that I would have a good fit on the slider. I found that sweet spot (I hope) with the Todd's canopy and made the necessary marks for the big cut.

Once I was happy with the location, clamped it all in place and let the Van's cutting disk go to work. Took about 2 minutes to get it cut.

The edges were sanded and it looks pretty good.

I used a 1 inch scotchbrite wheel in my dremmel when I was sanding the edges with the initial cuts on the forward flange of the canopy. We'll Murphy decided to make an appearance and the actual abrasive let go of the shaft and skipped across the interior of the canopy :eek: It didn't look all that bad and after a quick call to Todd, he recommended a product that should take the little scuffs away.
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A little more fine tuning on the slider and I'll pick up the Sika and start playing with that!

For anyone contemplating at Todd's, there is no need to cut any of the canopy from the sides until after the big cut. A little (3/4 inch) off the back to help get it in place is all that you need. A fair bit of cutting on the forward wind shield is need to get it where it's needed on the slider.
 
final ergonomics check

Last call on placement of controls, switches, and accessories before wiring and plumbing the airframe. Feels pretty good, I think this will work.

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