izzybear

izzybear

Well Known Member
Friend
Well I finally jumped in and did it?Friday afternoon I faxed my RV-8 empennage order in to Van?s to start this odyssey! Thanks so much to all of my mentors out there - on this forum, EAA chapter 168, and to my wife and family! I?m really looking forward to the journey ? and the end result! :eek:

I haven?t yet heard from Van?s, but it was Friday afternoon when the fax went off. Sitting in the mountains of Ruidoso, NM now for a short vacation with the wife?her idea, knowing we/I will be kinda busy for the next few years!

I think I feel the corners of my mouth curling up just a little bit...actually alot!;)
 
If they don't receive your fax order WAIT!!! You don't know what you got yourself into :D
 
Yippe yo ky yey!!

izzybear said:
Well I finally jumped in and did it?Friday afternoon I faxed my RV-8 empennage order in to Van?s to start this odyssey! Thanks so much to all of my mentors out there - on this forum, EAA chapter 168, and to my wife and family! I?m really looking forward to the journey ? and the end result! :eek:

I haven?t yet heard from Van?s, but it was Friday afternoon when the fax went off. Sitting in the mountains of Ruidoso, NM now for a short vacation with the wife?her idea, knowing we/I will be kinda busy for the next few years!

I think I feel the corners of my mouth curling up just a little bit...actually alot!;)
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Jim,

Congratulations on the emp order!!! If we can put a man on the moon by having a dream to do so....I believe you can put an RV-8 in a hanger by having a dream too!!!:D:D

We are looking to have our own Vladventures.....Jimventures....Bobventures...you get the point:D

Counting the breaths I take while building the RV so she can give me moments that will take my breath away:D:D:D

YOL BOLSON MY FRIEND!!!
 
Thanks!

Thanks for all the well wishes my RV-friends! It's fun to finally be a true part of the family/fraternity/group/gaggle... etc.!
 
Congrats..

izzybear said:
Well I finally jumped in and did it?Friday afternoon I faxed my RV-8 empennage order in to Van?s to start this odyssey!
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Congrats Jim. Can't wait to hear about the first rivets and come check out your progress some time. I'm not far behind...probably ordering tools this week.

izzybear said:
Sitting in the mountains of Ruidoso, NM now for a short vacation with the wife?her idea, knowing we/I will be kinda busy for the next few years!
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While you're in Ruidoso, be sure to go to Texas Club for a sirloin or filet. My favorite steak place on earth!;)
 
Congrtulations Jim!
Now changne your VAF signature from:

Jim
Current RV Dreamer / Soon to be RV Builder
RV-8 N223TG (reserved)
Preview plans, CHECK - tools, CHECK - Sportair class, CHECK - tidy up the garage, CHECK - more light and electrical outlets, CHECK, workbenches done, CHECK - empennage ordered 10/5/12
VAF Dues gladly paid up till October 2013

To:

Jim
RV 8 Builder!
RV-8 N223TG (reserved)
Preview plans, CHECK - tools, CHECK - Sportair class, CHECK - tidy up the garage, CHECK - more light and electrical outlets, CHECK, workbenches done, CHECK - empennage ordered 10/5/12
VAF Dues gladly paid up till October 2013
;)
 
Thanks!

Nihon_Ni said:
Glad to hear it, Jim!!
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Thanks Rob! I couldn't let you get too far ahead of me :D

KCBerner said:
Congrats Jim. Can't wait to hear about the first rivets and come check out your progress some time. I'm not far behind...probably ordering tools this week.


While you're in Ruidoso, be sure to go to Texas Club for a sirloin or filet. My favorite steak place on earth!;)
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Would love to have you check it out the progress KC....as soon as there is some :D Yes, the Texas Club is a good place for steak! Tonight, we had my all time favorite pizza, Cafe Rio! - a mandatory stop each time we are here!

lorne green said:
Congrtulations Jim!
Now changne your VAF signature from:

Jim
Current RV Dreamer / Soon to be RV Builder
RV-8 N223TG (reserved)
Preview plans, CHECK - tools, CHECK - Sportair class, CHECK - tidy up the garage, CHECK - more light and electrical outlets, CHECK, workbenches done, CHECK - empennage ordered 10/5/12
VAF Dues gladly paid up till October 2013

To:

Jim
RV 8 Builder!
RV-8 N223TG (reserved)
Preview plans, CHECK - tools, CHECK - Sportair class, CHECK - tidy up the garage, CHECK - more light and electrical outlets, CHECK, workbenches done, CHECK - empennage ordered 10/5/12
VAF Dues gladly paid up till October 2013
;)
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Thanks Lorne - I did contemplate changing that part of the signature...but I didn't feel like I could yet, since I haven't actually "built" even a small part of an RV yet... But I will be changing it soon!
 
panhandler1956 said:
Congrats for taking the plunge! You'll be glad you did...at least at some point! :)
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Most of the time, at least. In the preview plans, there's a little bit that goes: ?The project you are about to undertake will probably be the most frustrating, time-consuming, enjoyable, fulfilling, and rewarding you have ever experienced.? They're not kidding about the frustrating part, it does happen.

But then you go cool off, come back and eventually get past the hangup, and then one day you have a completed aircraft part. Then you have another, and another, and as horrific as the frustration seemed at the time, it's all worth it.

:)
 
Thanks!

...I think... :) I know it won't always be sunshine in the RV-factory, and I appreciate the honesty about the build. I do enjoy the process, but for how long.... I hope and pray that I can do what so many have done before me... to completion we go...!:eek:
 
Welcome to the brotherhood! You couldnt have made a better choice. Now, fill out the wings order form...the empennage goes unbelievably fast...no point sitting and waiting for the wings to show up. When they ship the empennage....order the wings!

Capitalize on the initial excitement....focus on accomplishing something each day...even if its just planning the next day. A small stall has a way of snowballing. Forward progress is the key.

Congrats!
 
Too true Bill!

Thanks for the encouragement and the affirmation Bill. Really? The wing order now...? :eek: I am a pretty slow builder....I think, but I will definitely be cranking on this thing every day as you suggested...but you are right... I will need to be ordering sooner rather than later - as I look at the lead times...Let's do it!!!:D

ColoRv said:
Welcome to the brotherhood! You couldnt have made a better choice. Now, fill out the wings order form...the empennage goes unbelievably fast...no point sitting and waiting for the wings to show up. When they ship the empennage....order the wings!

Capitalize on the initial excitement....focus on accomplishing something each day...even if its just planning the next day. A small stall has a way of snowballing. Forward progress is the key.

Congrats!
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Congrats. Just finishing up my empanage....you will learn alot just building the vertical stab....one thing a builder/friend told me is "don't fret over your mistakes, it can all be fixed" I'm still having trouble with that on:D
 
Tailpilot said:
Congrats. Just finishing up my empanage....you will learn alot just building the vertical stab....one thing a builder/friend told me is "don't fret over your mistakes, it can all be fixed" I'm still having trouble with that on:D
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This was a sort of mental transition I made a little ways into the empennage. Early on in the project, when I'd make a mistake, I'd make a big deal about it. Get mad, go back in the house, stew for a while, wonder if I could really finish this thing, blah blah blah. Eventually I'd get back to work, but not after some downtime to sort of recover.

Then, when I was skinning the horizontals, almost without thinking about it, my attitude changed. I remember botching a skin rivet...looking back now, it seems like no big deal, but there was a time when that would have really bothered me. But this time, I just sort of shrugged, circled it with a marker so I could come back and replace it later, and continued riveting. Later, I came back, drilled it out, and enlarged the hole. Something else that previously might have bugged me, but in this case, I just thought "oh well, drill to #30 and use an oops rivet."

If I look at this stuff self-critically, I can see that I tend to put overly high expectations upon myself. As in I go into the project thinking "I'm going to be really careful, not foul up anything, and end up with an awesome plane!" Which isn't a bad goal to have, but it's probably not realistic for a guy who's getting his first taste of metalworking and rivet-banging. In the grand scheme of things, mistakes are part of life. It's not the presence of absence of mistakes that defines a person, it's how he deals with and recovers from those mistakes.

:)
 
Thanks!

Thanks Sean! That is good advice, I will try to follow it. I tend to "fret" about mistakes...as I see you do too. :)

Tailpilot said:
Congrats. Just finishing up my empanage....you will learn alot just building the vertical stab....one thing a builder/friend told me is "don't fret over your mistakes, it can all be fixed" I'm still having trouble with that on:D
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Also good advice - thanks.

Philip,
Also very good advice... From what I have read and understand from you, and others - It seems that the toughest part of the build is the mental aspect of it. The daily grind to get past the boring/un-fun/tough parts to get to the times when satisfaction and a sense of accomplishment can be celebrated. My hope is that I can celebrate the little things that happen on a more regular (daily) time frame too - so that the enjoyment of building stays with me and I can look forward to small victories each day. I still get a sense of pride after mowing the lawn...;) ...but maybe I am just glad that it is over??...

But I must say, (you builder's already working on your wings, don't laugh) but there sure are a bunch of holes in those skins! :eek:


N546RV said:
snip... In the grand scheme of things, mistakes are part of life. It's not the presence of absence of mistakes that defines a person, it's how he deals with and recovers from those mistakes.

:)
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I've honestly not had any problems keeping motivated through some of the "drudgery" parts so far. I know I've read of thinking in terms of building components, and maybe I just do that naturally...I can't think of a point where I stepped back, thought of how tiny my current work was in the grand scheme of things, and got depressed or anything.

Now I have had little mental blocks on a smaller scale. I have a tendency to go out in the shop with this idea of what I'm going to get accomplished that night. Quite frequently, I don't achieve that goal, and that does tend to maybe bum me out a bit, but not badly. I think it's another manifestation of the same thing I mentioned about making mistakes...I set these goals for myself that are frequently not grounded in fact, just an "I want to do this" sort of thing. Since they're not rational goals, it's not surprising that they don't work out like I planned in my head.

That, of course, is not to say that goals are a bad thing, of course. I still go out in the garage and think "I'd like to get XYZ done today." But I'm learning to not take it personally when I don't get XYZ done. Even if I don't get much done in terms of physical parts, I've made some kind of progress in terms of learning, new skills, and maybe That Wasn't The Smartest Way I Could Have Attacked That Problem.

Maybe that's been the biggest adaptation so far for me. I knew I'd be learning new skills with my hands, but I didn't foresee that this project would also teach me new mental and emotional skills. Understanding how I hamstring myself with unreasonable goals sometimes. Learning how my mental picture and my interpretation of events has a dramatic effect on how I handle things. That sort of stuff.

Perhaps this is why people say building an RV will change your life.
 
Kit come in yet?

Just checking in to see if you have received your tail kit yet. I remember the day I got mine, sure is a fun journey.
 
Yes I did!

I rec'd it on 10/16 and inventoried that night! I still had a few things to do in the shop and I also ordered another practice kit so those were taken care of and I officially started the project on 10/28. I have been working fairly steady on it and I am really enjoying the build. I have already experienced a "mini-microcosm" of what all the other builders have said - the joys and the frustrations - the highs and the lows! But I am really enjoying it - just wished I had started sooner!!!:D
Haven't completely figured out the time management "dance" between building, work, sleep, bills, honey-do's, etc... I could use some help with that... :)

Thanks for asking -
 
A buddy of mine who used to build boeings was the one who really convinced me I could build an RV. When the emp kit showed up (rv4- not prepunched) we inventoried and I laid out the first spar. Measured, marked, rechecked, picked up the drill, set it down, rechecked the plans, remeasured....repeat a few times. He finally said let me in there for a second so I stepped aside. Before I could stop him, he picked up the drill and zip zip zip....punched all the holes. Then he turned to me and said, "it's just an airplane, build it".

If you really want to get a grip on the "just an airplane" idea....stick your head in a Cessna and check out the rivets. That will relax you quite a bit.

Build on!
 
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Tailpilot said:
Congrats. Just finishing up my empanage....you will learn alot just building the vertical stab....one thing a builder/friend told me is "don't fret over your mistakes, it can all be fixed" I'm still having trouble with that on:D
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One other thing, if you bugger up a part, no big deal, it can be replaced for not much money. The only thing you will be out be a little bit of time and a little bit of cash.

Here is a picture of just some of the dead parts I had amassed in my shop by the time I made the first flight. The good thing is that I had plenty of scrap for making "Stuff".


(Click to enlarge)

One other thing, if you find yourself saying, "I don't have the correct tool but I can make so-and-so work," STOP and order the correct tool. Otherwise you will bugger up your part and end up ordering the correct tool and a replacement part.

Best of luck! Now get off the forum and get to work. Remember, rivets don't pound themself.
 
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