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RV-7A JCarne

As of now I just left the slight pillowing. I may address it in the future but at the same time I would rather spend the time flying. :D I think the average person wouldn't even notice pillowing in these areas unless they were looking for it. Thanks for the complements!

How much or does it affect flight? If not, harumph...
 
Well I powered through the deburring and priming of the bottom skins the past couple of days. I also started on the fuselage! :D I can already tell this should be more fun than the wings as I'm not staring at rib after rib after rib, oh and did I mention they all look the same?!? haha

20180421_164631 by Jereme Carne, on Flickr

You have to get creative when your building a plane in a one car garage.

20180421_164622 by Jereme Carne, on Flickr

20180421_132043 by Jereme Carne, on Flickr
 
Oh boy! Things getting serious now! As if they weren't already.

Yep time to keep that ball rolling and make up for my 3 months off in the winter. I am motivated to get this thing in the air dare I say next year (got to have goals right?)! It has been too long since I have flown on a regular basis and with were I live I would sure like to be able to get to a major store in less than 2 hrs. :D
 
Well I made a minor mistake on one of the firewall parts so I am waiting for a replacement so that I can get everything primed and riveted. While I wait for that I started on the center section. This is a pretty fun little section to do. Lots of drill shavings for sure!

20180425_185417 by Jereme Carne, on Flickr

Boelube really helps when drilling the 704G bars.

20180425_193149 by Jereme Carne, on Flickr

All match drilled.

20180425_193821 by Jereme Carne, on Flickr
 
That is nothing at all really. :)

Keep in mind the wings are a flexible structures. That slight pillowing will go away when it hangs on the fuselage (on ground).

It will also be more pillowing when in flight, depending on how much the wing is loaded.

All of which is normal.
 
Jereme! Your progress is pretty incredible. Whats your background? I'm an Air Traffic Controller at KCHA. I've never done anything like this but would like to. Take it easy.

Justin
 
Jereme! Your progress is pretty incredible. Whats your background? I'm an Air Traffic Controller at KCHA. I've never done anything like this but would like to. Take it easy.

Justin

Jereme is a sheet metal "Yogi" or "Guru" as they are sometimes called...

40846706995_09e336c91f_b.jpg
 
Keep in mind the wings are a flexible structures. That slight pillowing will go away when it hangs on the fuselage (on ground).

It will also be more pillowing when in flight, depending on how much the wing is loaded.

All of which is normal.

Very interesting, I never thought of that but it makes sense.
 
Jereme! Your progress is pretty incredible. Whats your background? I'm an Air Traffic Controller at KCHA. I've never done anything like this but would like to. Take it easy.

Justin

Thanks for the complements good sir! I have been many things already, now I teach industrial arts and math to high schoolers. Before that I did HVAC so I guess that's where I learned my metal skills. And before that I was an engineer. Dang maybe I should stick with something! :D Teaching has been the funnest so far so i think I'll keep it there.

Kent,

Haha that gave me a good chuckle!
 
LMAO That's hilarious. I'm going to Oshkosh this year. Really hoping to learn some metal work at some of the booths.

It's definitely worth the trip for sure! I am planning on being there as well. Maybe taking a few of the electrical classes as that will be here before too terribly long.
 
I'll be there Monday and Tuesday. I'm considering buying the RV7 quick build kits. Do you have any build videos on youtube or just pictures? The pictures are great.

I need some more tools. I have C squeezer and air compressor but need a drill and drdt-2. Look forward to seeing more progress!
 
I'll be there Monday and Tuesday. I'm considering buying the RV7 quick build kits. Do you have any build videos on youtube or just pictures? The pictures are great.

I need some more tools. I have C squeezer and air compressor but need a drill and drdt-2. Look forward to seeing more progress!

No videos, just pictures. If you decide to build definitely look into some other build logs, I use Mike Bullocks as my go to, he documented the build very well!
 
Well I received my replacement angle for the firewall so I thought I would finish it up. Priming was on Friday followed by an enormous amount of time riveting the parts over the weekend. I can't believe how time consuming riving the firewall was since the plate had to be elevated for the flange. I must have turned that firewall over a hundred times in the process. Glad it's all riveted and I even got back to the center section. Bolting some of the control pieces on was fun!

Close up of my riveting.

20180429_124308 by Jereme Carne, on Flickr

20180429_132343 by Jereme Carne, on Flickr

20180429_132456 by Jereme Carne, on Flickr

Here you can see I drew a little picture just to remember what combination of washers worked the best. Also, thank goodness for washer wrenches.

20180429_153822 by Jereme Carne, on Flickr


After getting the sticks on it was time to see how it felt.

20180429_174139 by Jereme Carne, on Flickr
 
Well believe it or not I have still been working on the plane, just forgetting to take pics! :)

I also found out while working on the plane that I may or may not be allergic to bees (when you think you are brushing off a piece of aluminum from your shirt it may be a bee...). haha Had to take a few days off for this one...

20180506_085135 by Jereme Carne, on Flickr

20180506_085138 by Jereme Carne, on Flickr
 
I finished the center section bulkhead as well as the 705 bulkhead. The 705 bulkhead took waaaaay more time than I thought it would. Many parts to fabricate and a lot of non-punched parts. I also managed to get most of the way done with the 706 bulkhead. Only a couple more days and I think the bulkheads will all be ready for priming.

Creative clamping time.

20180510_182456 by Jereme Carne, on Flickr

F-705 almost finished

20180512_130632 by Jereme Carne, on Flickr

The 706 bulkhead is actually making things look like something!

20180515_185617 by Jereme Carne, on Flickr
 
Jereme, the fun is just starting! Wait until you get to put all those pieces together. YES----you must sit in it and make engine noises!
Tom
 
Carne!
I think for me 706 was the most fun. Really starting to give it form, and function. I just got a series to do so I am going to be out for some time, so carry on brother builder!

Sorry for the bee sting deal, that looks painful!
 
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Tom thanks for the words, the fuselage has been loads of fun so far, even deburring is more fun because it's always different. Airplane noises will for sure be happening!

Kent that's awesome you got another series under your belt, just build when you can man, I have really come to take to heart the saying someone posted about it being a marathon not a sprint.
 
After a very short match drilling session time for a good ole mass quantity of hours spent deburring. Lots of nooks and crannies in these babies. At least it won't be as painful as the wing ribs! :D

20180518_221652 by Jereme Carne, on Flickr

I use 400 grit sand cloth for all my deburring. Only bad part is it doesn't last long.

20180518_221657 by Jereme Carne, on Flickr
 
For deburring, I find a Roloc disk (blue usually) in the angle grinder works really well. No self-mutilation required at all.... I bought a box, and it lasted through the wings and fuse.
 
DUDE! That is a lot of emory cloth! I guess I didn't do as good a job LOL. Scotch Brite wheel and an angle grinder with Scotch Brite little wheels and a file was my route...hope that was satisfactory for the job.
Did the cut my finger test all around and came out clean in the end...
 
For deburring, I find a Roloc disk (blue usually) in the angle grinder works really well. No self-mutilation required at all.... I bought a box, and it lasted through the wings and fuse.

I tried this once upon a time but never understood how people got it into the little nooks and crannies.
 
DUDE! That is a lot of emory cloth! I guess I didn't do as good a job LOL. Scotch Brite wheel and an angle grinder with Scotch Brite little wheels and a file was my route...hope that was satisfactory for the job.
Did the cut my finger test all around and came out clean in the end...

The stuff I use is off of McMaster, its aluminum oxide and it really doesn't last long at all which is why I go through so much of it. I wasn't happy with the marks a file left so I abandoned that, maybe it was my technique though.
 
Hows the hand? The one that was stung by a bee?

The hand is thankfully back to 100%! However my list from the wife is not done yet. haha I have also been waiting for the weather as my next step is to prime and paint some interior parts. I am tiling our new master shower right now, couple more days and the airplane factory will be running 8 hours shifts! :D

I also gotta get crackin since my finish kit has crate date of mid July!
 
I've got a set of the Bullerent Longeron bending dies if you want to borrow them... I'll ship them up to you and you can ship'em back when you're done.

It'll be a while before I am needing them with the way I am progressing on the wings.. heh.

Thanks for the offer Lynn but another gent from Colorado is letting me borrow his. Bending will take place within the next few days! :eek: haha

Also, I just looked at your blog again, you are almost done with the crappy part of the wings! It's all a lot more fun after them ribs are dealt with!
 
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Well it was time to bend the longerons finally. I didn't find them that easy or difficult, just time consuming and tedious. The first shallow bend took me 3 hours and a few choice words, the next one was half of that!

First I put the shallow bends in the longerons, the picture below shows both longerons clamped together after the bend. The trickiest part of almost anything to do with the longerons is that when you bend it one way it usually bends in an undesirable way too (which must be corrected).

20180615_182052 by Jereme Carne, on Flickr

Next the aft canopy deck goes on and gets drilled to the longerons. The front of the top flange lines up with the 28.25" mark. You also use some scrap 0.032" to simulate the side skins as the canopy deck sits on top.

20180615_183554 by Jereme Carne, on Flickr

All drilled and matches up nicely. I would also add that before you drill the canopy deck that you debur the outside edge as it sits on top of the side skin and deburing after may ruin this fit to a very small degree.

20180616_175849 by Jereme Carne, on Flickr

Next was on to the downward bend. A little math will make life easy! I found it difficult to reliably measure the deflection as things move as you whack it. Therefore, with a little bit of math I found that 5.5 degrees of deflection over 28.25" will yield pretty dang close to the 2.75" the plans call for. After the bend I held it up to the forward side skins and it matches it almost exactly! Looks like I don't have to embarrass myself after all with my math, especially since I'm a math teacher. :D (ugh, after looking at the plans again it has this angle on it! haha they call for 5.6 degrees, live and learn)

20180616_205721 by Jereme Carne, on Flickr

Measurement on top where there is no bend.

20180616_205547 by Jereme Carne, on Flickr

Measurement of the forward bend deflection.

20180616_205557 by Jereme Carne, on Flickr

This is what I used to clamp the longerons into place, worked really well!

20180616_205746 by Jereme Carne, on Flickr

Next was onto the twist. First I measured where there is no twist.

20180616_210410 by Jereme Carne, on Flickr

After applying the twist you get your 17 degrees. You have to really get after it to make this twist!!! The aluminum really springs back a lot.

20180616_210444 by Jereme Carne, on Flickr
 
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Nice! I have heard tell these can be a pain, what was your experience?
Mine was bent a little at the rear left side and built a jig to straighten it.

Solve for "X"...always loved math, not too adept, but loved the easier stuff like this. I also like watching your progress!
 
Nice! I have heard tell these can be a pain, what was your experience?
Mine was bent a little at the rear left side and built a jig to straighten it.

Solve for "X"...always loved math, not too adept, but loved the easier stuff like this. I also like watching your progress!

I'm glad you enjoy the updates Kent, I really like yours as well, perhaps one day when our planes are done we will have to meet in the middle.

I found the longerons to be a pretty large pain in the neck. Trying to bend the first one really had me upset at one point because the tape protecting the longerons kept getting jacked up in the Buller dies. (and fixing the verticle bend was a pain too) The downward bend was a pain since I couldn't figure out how to keep it from walking in the vice (until I used metal strips). Lastly, I don't know how anyone gets through bending these without some sort of nick in the longerons. I'm pretty OCD about nicks in my parts so removing them with scotchbrite was just icing on the cake.

All in all if I could do it again I would probably get it done in half the time and be more relaxed about it. It was also more enjoyable than fuel tanks and tank ribs so I guess there is something positive. :)
 
Longerons

The Longerons are one of the task I have been thinking about being very difficult to get right. I have them hidden in my shop for now while I build the wings. Thanks for the step by step pictures. looks like you are producing really nice work!
 
The Longerons are one of the task I have been thinking about being very difficult to get right. I have them hidden in my shop for now while I build the wings. Thanks for the step by step pictures. looks like you are producing really nice work!

Thanks for the complements! The longerons you will find to merely be tedious and frustrating at times but certainly not the hardest part of the build. Then when you are done with them guys things will start to take shape!
 
Oh snap, look who made some progress today! I may need to finally move them wings off to the side of my garage, things are starting to get cramped.

20180617_160156 by Jereme Carne, on Flickr

For those of you about to this part of the build, know this... The F-779 skin will try and beat you, you mustn't give up the fight! :D

20180617_132512 by Jereme Carne, on Flickr
 
Cramped?! LOL. That looks pretty sweet! I am sure your project will progress rapidly from here on out, the results are so rewarding in magnitude so to speak.
 
Well the aft fuselage is drilled, I thought I would continue on to the center section so that I could prime both in one or two days together.

The center section is all drilled now except for a couple of ribs I need to research.

Also in the pics you can see the gray F-705 bulkhead, that is one of the colors I'm going with in JetFlex. That was my first time working with JetFlex and it was a non event (thanks Larry for the tips)! The 705 bulkhead isn't riveted yet so I did things kind of out of order but I wanted to paint before riveting as I think the contrast of the rivet heads looks awesome!

20180624_153754 by Jereme Carne, on Flickr

20180624_144621 by Jereme Carne, on Flickr
 
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