Karl.Kruger
Member
No matter what kind of luck you call it, I think today I used up my fair share for 2011. I would like to share my brief story not to expound on my stupidity (I will beat myself up pretty good over this) but to share with other builders that a dose of extra insurance is worth a lot and once again, not repeat my error.
My friend Tod and I finished up riveting the forward skin on the bottom of the fuselage today and we rolled the airplane over so it sat ever so RV-7A like on my saw horses. I decided that I would attempt to see how the landing gear fittings would fit. So far so good. I did find that I would have to do a slight modification to one of the stringers that goes from the spar to the firewall (aka grinding). I got all set up and proceeded to do the work and was nearly finished when my stepstool decided it had had enough and decided to fold up on me. (Bad Luck)
We all know about the center of gravity and the effects it has if it is too far aft, or, in my case, too far forward. I had the sawhorse placed at the main spar and found that roughly 200 pounds placed forward of that (because there was no place for me to go quick enough) brings the tail high enough into the air to hit the shop lighting, makes the fuselage slide forward, collapse the sawhorse and the entire fuselage crash to the floor. My friend Richard was close by and after I stared at it for a long time contemplating how much aluminum scrap is going for these days, called him to help me pick it back up. (Good Luck)
So the good news is, and a testament to how tough this aircraft is built, I bent a tab on the firewall and a rib in the baggage compartment, both very easily bent back, I have checked the alignment of everything and it's still as straight as it was before all this happened. (Dumb luck)
So, after all that, I am calling it., after all, how much luck could one guy get in one day?
My friend Tod and I finished up riveting the forward skin on the bottom of the fuselage today and we rolled the airplane over so it sat ever so RV-7A like on my saw horses. I decided that I would attempt to see how the landing gear fittings would fit. So far so good. I did find that I would have to do a slight modification to one of the stringers that goes from the spar to the firewall (aka grinding). I got all set up and proceeded to do the work and was nearly finished when my stepstool decided it had had enough and decided to fold up on me. (Bad Luck)
We all know about the center of gravity and the effects it has if it is too far aft, or, in my case, too far forward. I had the sawhorse placed at the main spar and found that roughly 200 pounds placed forward of that (because there was no place for me to go quick enough) brings the tail high enough into the air to hit the shop lighting, makes the fuselage slide forward, collapse the sawhorse and the entire fuselage crash to the floor. My friend Richard was close by and after I stared at it for a long time contemplating how much aluminum scrap is going for these days, called him to help me pick it back up. (Good Luck)
So the good news is, and a testament to how tough this aircraft is built, I bent a tab on the firewall and a rib in the baggage compartment, both very easily bent back, I have checked the alignment of everything and it's still as straight as it was before all this happened. (Dumb luck)
So, after all that, I am calling it., after all, how much luck could one guy get in one day?
