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RV-10 Project - Scotland

jamcgee1978

Active Member
After ordering my kit in March, and turning what was a 2 car garage into my workshop Im finally picking the kit up tomorrow. Long journey from VANS HQ via New York then shipped to the UK and hopefully in the workshop come Thursday!!!! Too say im excited and raring to crack on is an understatement...more to follow soon.

James





IMG_0001 by james mcgee, on Flickr

IMG_0002 by james mcgee, on Flickr
 
Glasgow build

Congratulations on making the big decision to build.
Enjoy the process, as building to your best ability is the reward.
Keep in mind, just because you may see something on this or another forum, that may not be correct, only the method used by that builder.
A year ago I was in Glasgow as a tourist. Your city was impressive. I really liked the store on Buchannan st, with at least 1000 or more old sewing machines on display.
Measure twice, drill once.
Best of luck.
 
Congrats!

I'm also building an RV-10 and really enjoying it so far.

My mother was born just down the road from you in a small town next to the Prestwick Airport. Hope to return to Glasgow next May when my airline inaugurates a new route from JFK. Just got back from Edinburgh and St. Andrews. Luckily the weather was not too Scottish ;)

Best of luck on the build!
 
Congrats! I remember the excitement of starting! Building is SO much fun I know you'll have a great time.

BTW - I love your country - I wish I could go back, especially in the highlands.
 
I'm also building an RV-10 and really enjoying it so far.

My mother was born just down the road from you in a small town next to the Prestwick Airport. Hope to return to Glasgow next May when my airline inaugurates a new route from JFK. Just got back from Edinburgh and St. Andrews. Luckily the weather was not too Scottish ;)

Best of luck on the build!


Thanks for all your replies, yes we live a few miles from EGPK and is where the flying club is located. Lovely country for flyi g when the weather is not against you! So after a 4 hr drive down to Harrogate and a great day in the workshop with Mike a fellow RV builder, the Emp is in the workshop awaiting inventory.....very excited. Im still finishing the tool box and training kit but once complete i hope to start soon
 
and it all starts here! After spending a day with Mike in the workshop teaching me the basics this has given me oodles of confidence in a short space of time. I now am thinking of moving the bandsaw, drill press, scotchbrite wheel to the wall on a smaller table to free up the centre of the workshop. And man the crate looks perfect to turn upside down for a main construction table...anyone else done this....that wood is solid!

after a great night of curry, few beers and some good laughs, the next day the tail was loaded and taken back to her home for now!

Untitled by james mcgee, on Flickr

Untitled by james mcgee, on Flickr

Untitled by james mcgee, on Flickr
 
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Congratulations on making the big decision to build.
Enjoy the process, as building to your best ability is the reward.
Keep in mind, just because you may see something on this or another forum, that may not be correct, only the method used by that builder.
A year ago I was in Glasgow as a tourist. Your city was impressive. I really liked the store on Buchannan st, with at least 1000 or more old sewing machines on display.
Measure twice, drill once.
Best of luck.

thanks for the advice, ye i know that store lol.....everytime i walk past you cant help but admire its display
 
Nessies tail is complete!

Well after 17months and raising 2 kids under 2 i finished the empennage 2 days before my 40th birthday in time to show friends and family what the tail feathers actually were! As i write this the wings have just arrived at the Port of Liverpool (my familys hometown) and so im frantically installing insulation into the shop next week and re-organising in time for the delivery. The process and initial learning curve so far at times challenging has been so rewarding when any builder looks at the final product. Through this website and other builders who have become firm friends you learn, develop and ultimately go on to advise/help others and for me this was the lightbulb moment; I?m becoming a builder! So few pics before I disassemble, re-organise and build on.








 
Looks great! It’s tough putting the tail away after all that work but the wings will really keep you busy. (Omg all those skin rivets!).

Congrats and happy birthday!
 
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Might be in your neighborhood next year

There's a chance I might be landing in Prestwick late next May, although unfortunately not in my RV-10. I'm hoping to be on the crew of Miss Montana, part of the DDay Squadron (http://ddaysquadron.org/), which could be even more cool. I'm not sure how much time we will be on the ground in Prestwick on our way to Duxford, Normandy and Berlin, but if time allows I'd love to meet you and see your project.
https://missmontanatonormandy.com/

A C-47 is really just a really, really big RV-8.
 
Keep up the good work. When you finally get it done, you will quickly realized how great of a plane it really is. It is well worth it, such a joy to fly.
 
There's a chance I might be landing in Prestwick late next May, although unfortunately not in my RV-10. I'm hoping to be on the crew of Miss Montana, part of the DDay Squadron (http://ddaysquadron.org/), which could be even more cool. I'm not sure how much time we will be on the ground in Prestwick on our way to Duxford, Normandy and Berlin, but if time allows I'd love to meet you and see your project.
https://missmontanatonormandy.com/

A C-47 is really just a really, really big RV-8.
Absolutely Bryan ! More than welcome. Planning on taking the kids to Normandy next year for the event if i can put the rivet gun down and find a caravan.
 
And lots of Fiberglas dust....:)

Good luck from a scouser in AZ.
Cheers Gil .......grew up around runcorn/widnes, family from Bootle, Crosby. Memories of sitting in the back of a chipmunk at RAF Woodvale as a 13yr old got me hooked!
 
Looks great! It’s tough putting the tail away after all that work but the wings will really keep you busy. (Omg all those skin rivets!).

Congrats and happy birthday!
Cheers Brian, keep up the build blog mate its an inspiration to see how well your doing. Im currently renovating the shop and putting in insulation, how did you about storing the tail my thoughts so far involve either hanging or building a shelf from ply and bolting to the rafters
 
Cheers Gil .......grew up around runcorn/widnes, family from Bootle, Crosby. Memories of sitting in the back of a chipmunk at RAF Woodvale as a 13yr old got me hooked!

Then you will like this picture I took - before I was a pilot - as a photographer for the University of Liverpool student Guild Gazette paper.

Taken from a fourth Chipmunk showing the second Liverpool cathedral under construction c. 1968/69. The Chipmunks were out of Woodvale and part of the University of Liverpool Air Squadron.

oeQ.jpg


The tower just to the cathedral left is the Victoria tower and the origin of the UK terminology "redbrick university" with the then new engineering building just behind the "crown" of the cathedral.

I liked the picture so much I took it to the Liverpool Echo and they printed half page - effectively ending any hopes I had of joining the RAF since I forgot to get official permission before giving it to the newspaper. :)

ADDED - it was only my third ride in any plane and it got me definitely hooked on small planes. The two previous flights were joy rides in a DH Fox Moth and DH Dragon Rapide from the local Speke Airport, now John Lennon International.
 
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Thats incredible Gil thanks for sharing! I’ll always remember that first flight in a chipmunk and the parachute which made it incredibly hard to walk upright!
 
So after ordering the Fuse early 2021 xmas finally came last month here in bonny scotland! After the inventory and building new shelves from the crate to store the big stuff Iam ready to crack on, but first there is a little thing called Hogmanay to get on with first. Have a good one when the bells come in!!!! Happy building in 23!

Unwrapping
https://youtu.be/nXEvc_WnFLU

Forklift skills!
https://youtu.be/5UG9pPByLJ4




Mid November The beast arrives



Son get me my tools!





Its makes great drawing paper (cheers mike)



Shop chaos



Time to organise, de blue and inventory





Kids get cracking im off to the tip!



Build on
 
Hope to meet you in March when I am there for my daughter’s wedding.

Happy to help buck a rivet or two, as well.
 
Thanks for the visit!

Annie and I had the pleasure of meeting James and his building buddy Richard yesterday in Symington at his home and workshop.

James is building a beautiful airplane. I can assure you his shop is cleaner and better organized than in the pictures. He has shamed me into cleaning up my hangar when I get back from Scotland.

I was really impressed with the inspection process carried out by the LAA under the auspices of the CAA. I expect most in the States would object to this level of scrutiny by the FAA, but to me, build quality would vastly improve. The inspection checklist I saw is unique to the RV-10 and I assume there are different checklists for different types of planes. James said the inspections are done free of charge, but are mandatory. At the very least, I think mandatory close out inspections by EAA tech counselors would be a good step forward in the U.S.

I was also impressed with the level of dedication shown by James and Richard (and probably most builders in other countries). The costs to build are so much higher than with us, due in part to very high shipping costs plus an exorbitant VAT. Those of us in the States have it pretty good, I think.

It does sound like the RV community is thriving in the UK and the more experienced builders go out of their way to help the new ones. Mike Newall was mentioned as one of those great resources.

Also wanted to thank James for the personal note he sent via CPDLC to our flight from Edinburgh. The crew delivered it to me during the flight and they thought it was pretty neat. We also arrived in JFK very early, so I expect we got some priority and direct clearances from Shanwick Oceanic. (James works for Shanwick ATC in Prestwick.)

Meeting fellow RV builders in Scotland was a great experience. Thank you James!
 
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Great to see another Scottish builder (I'm based in Fife), I'm only about to kick of an RV-14A project, so way behind you - but will keep an eye on this thread for your updates!
 
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