Introduction/New RV-8 Kit Owner

Hi guys! I just wanted to introduce myself. Now retired, I had been thinking of building an RV kit for quite a while. I had considered several models, but in the end, I wanted a plane that would bring back to the passion and joy of flying I experienced as a young pilot in high school and early college, including aerobatics and tail draggers and finding new places to explore. The RV-8 has most everything I wanted in a plane.

After a factory tour, an unplanned demo ride with Jerry in his RV-12iS and a the blessing of my wife, I committed to buying an RV-8. I was very impressed with the operations and staff.

I made the commitment and ordered an RV-8 kit. Over the next 4 or so months waiting for the empennage kit to arrive, I'll be doing a bunch of reading, studying and tool buying. I have much to learn just to begin the project as I've never build a kit plane before. I've built (or "assembled," more appropriately) lots of model airplanes, Heathkits, stereo and guitar amps, but nothing this involved.

Anyway, I look forward to learning from you guys and sharing my build as I'm able to. I'm sure I'll have a lot of questions.

Skyflyr said:

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I made the commitment and ordered an RV-8 kit. Over the next 4 or so months waiting for the empennage kit to arrive, I'll be doing a bunch of reading, studying and tool buying. I have much to learn just to begin the project as I've never build a kit plane before. I've built (or "assembled," more appropriately) lots of model airplanes, Heathkits, stereo and guitar amps, but nothing this involved.

Anyway, I look forward to learning from you guys and sharing my build as I'm able to. I'm sure I'll have a lot of questions.

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Welcome! You've come to the right place, and it looks like your background will put you in a very good position to build an excellent aircraft. My small sampling of builders that come from a model building background do amazing work - they understand "attention to detail". The electrical part of the build intimidates a lot of people, but looks like you have that under control. There is a good book called the aeroelectric connection that you will probably devour in a few nights of reading, if you have not already heard of it.

I love flying my RV-8 - on my way to the hangar now!

Welcome to VAF

Scott--welcome aboard the good ship VAF

Thanks guys! If you have any recommendations for reading or practicing before the empennage kit comes, or where to buy my tools, I'm all ears! I'll look into that electrical book. I don't want to imply that I'm more skilled than I am, but I can read directions and solder fairly well. I'm ready for the "fire hose"influx of info I must devour quickly.

You guys who've already built or are building really motivate me and I thank you for sharing your build suggestions in advance!!

Practicing Ideas

Welcome Skyflyr. I’m only 1.5 subkits into the project, but can share a couple ideas while you are waiting for your kit. I highly recommend the Vans practice airfoil kit or even pick up some 0.025 and 0.032 aluminum sheet scraps from a local metal source and practice drilling, dimpling, bending them. For what it costs, id suggest 1/4 lb of each AN426AD 3-3.5, 3-4 and AN470AD 4-4, 4-5 rivets. You can rivet the sheets together, drill out some rivets and replace them while trying not to enlarge the holes. As a challenge, you can try replace a 426-3 rivet on your practice assembly with a larger one (without disassembling) which may become necessary if a rib/bulkhead hole gets enlarged too much. Also you can rivet from an inside corner to practice “offset riveting” some 470 rivets.

I’ve bought tools from a few of the “tool suppliers” on Vans website. FWIW I really like my tungsten bucking bar(but it’s too big for rivets close to a trailing edge) I also use drill stops on my bits. Tool preferences can be subjective, however...

I found setting up the shop a exciting part of the project. As you probably know, there are countless tools and organizing them to work for your personal “ work flow” really helps during the build. Good luck!

Thanks! I really appreciate the advice and will look into it soon.

Welcome! My RV-8 should be flying this year. I have two build sites; a KitLog build log and a Blogspot RV-8 blog; see links in my signature below. TONS of detailed information on my journey. Every builder's journey is different, but you may find a lot of helpful information on those sites.