RV-10 N313KC Jeff Rich

[Freightdawg]

I guess it's time to come out of lurker mode and introduce myself.

My--sorry--OUR empennage kit was delivered today. Everything is already uncrated and inventoried except for the goody bag. That can wait for tomorrow. It's bed time.

Thanks for all who have posted and have made the decision to start so easy and a bit less daunting.

Pictures to follow.

G'night, y'all.

JR

[dmaib]

Welcome Jeff. I remember when "our" launch down this path began in 2006. Neither of us have any regrets!

[Mike S]

Originally Posted by Freightdawg

I guess it's time to come out of lurker mode and introduce myself.



JR

Jeff, welcome to the good ship VAF

[rleffler]

It's been six years and I'm just about done. The time flies fast. Just keep pounding away. Welcome to the club!

Bob

[Freightdawg]

FINALLY! I've been getting a flat spot on my forehead from banging it against the wall trying to get pictures on here. For whatever reason, VAF doesn't like Flickr, but it likes SmugMug.

Anyway, here's picture of my lovely bride of 20+ years squishing rivets on our toolbox.



I'm VERY fortunate to have several coworkers who have built or are building RVs. One was kind enough to come over this past weekend to give us a riveting clinic.

I'd originally proposed building a 9A thinking by the time the project is finished we'd be empty nesters, or nearly so, but She-Who-Must-Be-Obeyed said we'd needed 4 seats. So, a -10 it is.

The empennage kit arrived Monday, inventory was finished yesterday, and actual construction began today.

Buckle up! It's going to be a bumpy ride!

[pierre smith]

Great choice Jeff. It's an incredibly stable instrument platform as well.

I've accidentally carried a load of ice last winter and flown through yellow stuff (On the weather channel), on the TruTrak autopilot and it comes through shining.....all this while delivering an honest 200 MPH TAS with 4 aboard!


Best,

[Freightdawg]

Yeah, I'm a little behind. But I still wanted to brag on my wife and what she was doing on Mother's Day. We were up to dimpling the skin for the vertical stab, but the table for the dimpler hadn't been built. So, here are a couple of pics of my wife's Mother's Day festivities:



On a more somber note, the build has hit a snag. Without getting into a debate about to prime or not to prime, I've opted to prime and ordered AKZO from Spruce. It was supposed to arrive on Monday (6/3), but instead I received the following email:



Guess that gives me more time to catch up on VAF?

[Freightdawg]

This is a picture of my daughter doing some of the riveting on the vertical stab rear spar.



The skin is about half riveted in place. Trying to rehydrate so I can go back out and finish up before supper.

[Freightdawg]

We finished the horizontal stab yesterday (11/2). Riveting the skin to the rear spar went very quickly with my wife putting rivets in the holes and me coming along behind her and squeezing--the rivets!

This brings up a question: how's my pacing? I have 154 hours into the project. That's time with hands on metal and doesn't include time here researching or making trips to Harbor Freight/Lowes/Home Depot/etc. And that's essentially over 6 months. (Kind of over 5 months since life got in the way in Aug and I only had 1 day with any time on the plane.)

Off to pull parts for the elevators.

[Rupester]

Nice work.

Don't worry about your "timing". Enjoy the process, share with your family at all times possible, and work to a quality standard that pleases you. At the end, you'll have a great plane to fly and a family to enjoy it with anytime you/they wish. Guaranteed. AMHIK