Empenage kit ordered!!!

danielhv · #1 04-10-2008, 10:04 PM

Last night, I placed my order to Vans Aircraft for the Empenage kit. It feels like I?m making a ton of progress, yet haven?t driven a single rivet. Anyways? the next step is to get the kit to the house, do inventory, then set it aside to collect dust while I pay for everything I?ve bought the past few days! Kidding, I?m sure I?ll try to slowly start working on this thing. I need to look into taking one of the construction classes some weekend as well as getting in touch with my local EAA Chapter for some beginning assistance. Cant wait!

Oh, and my DRDT-2 showed up today... this thing is much bigger than I expected. Very nice product.

lightning · #2 04-10-2008, 10:31 PM

way to go buddy!!!! have fun with that thing!!

i'll be ordering my emp kit when i get home from iraq at the end of the year!!

danielhv · #3 04-10-2008, 10:32 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by imac

way to go buddy!!!! have fun with that thing!!

i'll be ordering my emp kit when i get home from iraq at the end of the year!!

I plan on it! Thanks for what you're doing and stay safe!

lightning · #4 04-10-2008, 10:35 PM

i certainly hope to stay safe and in good health!!... she'd kill me if i came home dead.

haha

but i can't wait to start on my -8, and now she wants to help too!!

i'm super stoked about that.

JHines · #5 04-11-2008, 12:26 AM

[quote=danielhv;214290]

Last night, I placed my order to Vans Aircraft for the Empenage kit. <SNIP> /quote]

Congratulations, and I'm jealous - I'm about 3 weeks away from my order.

You will love the DRDT-2. I recommend building the extended worktable they provide the plans for. Good thing to do while you're waiting for the kit to arrive.

RBD · #6 04-11-2008, 04:55 PM

Congrats Daniel! I hope to be in your shoes some day soon. I've got this wife problem (kidding.....kind of) holding me up right now. I saw your other thread about bucking rivets, and I would encourage you to attend an EAA SportAir class if you haven't already. That being said, I'm sure there will be no stopping you from starting your project once that emp kit shows up.

All the best!

danielhv · #7 04-11-2008, 05:02 PM

Yea I would like to attend one of those classes... unfortunately they dont have any in my area and I cant take time off to fly to one. I fumbled my way through the toolbox practice kit today... got it finished but not as pretty as I want. So I ordered another practice kit. This time I got the other one. I'll make sure to spend more time on it now that I've got the anxiousness out of my system!

RickWoodall · #8 04-11-2008, 05:30 PM

Dont worry about a class. Post here and find a local builder who will help. I found a repeat offender who flew 2 hours for free to take me for a ride and get me started.
Great folks, lots of experience out here...get shown the basics, find a couple of websites to follow and ask lots of questions.

My days in the shop are great therapy, much better than a shrink or prozac. Enjoy the build.

122 posts and not even a bit of tail yet. Ha ha, you must be eager.

Jeff R · #9 04-11-2008, 07:37 PM

Congrats on the tail kit. It is a lot of fun to build.

I suggest you get the emp building video that Van's sells. It is not exactly well produced, and I think still only available in VHS, but it really helps get you going. I suppose the builders workshops are great, but you don't need them. The kit will come with a bunch of spare sheet metal that you can practice riveting with. Just drill a bunch of holes then practice dimpling and riveting, and then practice removing those rivets and re-riveting, and you will do fine. I assume, of course, that you have at least done some studying on the theory of riveting via books and online or, better, joined a local EAA chapter and have asked for someone to show you. I learned to rivet without any help, but it took a while (and getting some advice here) to learn how to remove rivets acceptably well.

You will love the DRDT-2! Very smart purchase.