Hey guys,
I spoke with a couple Rocket builders and there are a few major challenges they brought up.
First, I was told that the fuselage skins on the F1 fuselage are specified as butt joints rather than lap joints and that Vince is adamant that they need to be this way. Is there an engineering strength reason for this, or is it for aerodynamic / cosmetic reasons? I was told that if they can be assembled as lap joints that the cost of bringing the fuselage to QB status will decrease very significantly.
I found what I think is a good deal on a fully assembled RV8 tail kit and an in-the-crate wing kit. The seller is asking a negotiable $4500 which sounds very reasonable. However, the wing kit is an early one from 2000, and Loyd wasn't sure if his spar carry-through would work. He said I'd have to just build the wings and see if it works... Any ideas here? I don't think I mind the slightly reduced aerobatic weight of the early wings since I don't plan to ever do anything beyond basic rolls and loops, but any input would be appreciated as to whether the early wings should work with the carry-through. It would be interesting to hear if Brad might have happened to use an early wing on his build.
I was also told that the aircraft is essentially built by taking a set of RV4 plans, and a set of HR2 plans and "figuring it out". Does anyone have actual plans for an F1 fuselage, or is it really a "make it work" kind of deal? Loyd said the flight controls are primarily made for RV8 parts, but didn't get much info on how much they'd have to be modified. How much experience / creativity / guesswork goes into the flight controls and other aspects of the finishing kit of the F1?
My main concern is my lack of experience, and the apparent lack of detailed instructions. It seems like lots of points of uncertainty for a guy that's never built a plane before... With my work on Blackhawks, everything is laid out in extreme detail in the Sikorsky manuals, and I've always had access to people with over a decade of experience working on that airframe.
As a side-note, I was told that as a low-time pilot with no TD time I should stick to the four-bangers. Not sure if others will second this, but sounds reasonable.
Thanks,
Steve
I spoke with a couple Rocket builders and there are a few major challenges they brought up.
First, I was told that the fuselage skins on the F1 fuselage are specified as butt joints rather than lap joints and that Vince is adamant that they need to be this way. Is there an engineering strength reason for this, or is it for aerodynamic / cosmetic reasons? I was told that if they can be assembled as lap joints that the cost of bringing the fuselage to QB status will decrease very significantly.
I found what I think is a good deal on a fully assembled RV8 tail kit and an in-the-crate wing kit. The seller is asking a negotiable $4500 which sounds very reasonable. However, the wing kit is an early one from 2000, and Loyd wasn't sure if his spar carry-through would work. He said I'd have to just build the wings and see if it works... Any ideas here? I don't think I mind the slightly reduced aerobatic weight of the early wings since I don't plan to ever do anything beyond basic rolls and loops, but any input would be appreciated as to whether the early wings should work with the carry-through. It would be interesting to hear if Brad might have happened to use an early wing on his build.
I was also told that the aircraft is essentially built by taking a set of RV4 plans, and a set of HR2 plans and "figuring it out". Does anyone have actual plans for an F1 fuselage, or is it really a "make it work" kind of deal? Loyd said the flight controls are primarily made for RV8 parts, but didn't get much info on how much they'd have to be modified. How much experience / creativity / guesswork goes into the flight controls and other aspects of the finishing kit of the F1?
My main concern is my lack of experience, and the apparent lack of detailed instructions. It seems like lots of points of uncertainty for a guy that's never built a plane before... With my work on Blackhawks, everything is laid out in extreme detail in the Sikorsky manuals, and I've always had access to people with over a decade of experience working on that airframe.
As a side-note, I was told that as a low-time pilot with no TD time I should stick to the four-bangers. Not sure if others will second this, but sounds reasonable.
Thanks,
Steve