June 19, 2009 (F) - Logged another 2.5 hours after work. Didn't do anything especially noteworthy, just flew to the southern edge of my test area and worked my way back up the eastern shore. Shot a couple of landings each at Smyrna and Massey grass strips. The RV continues to run well. I've been running the engine hard at 23 squared but I think it is probably broke-in by now.
June 16, 2009 (Tu) - The weather wasn’t that hot – 3500 broken, high overcast, squirrely crosswind – but I headed out to the airport after work anyways. It turned out to be a very enjoyable flight. The air was very smooth. There was a big open spot around Ridgely. To the north, it was broken around 2500, where I had a good time diving and weaving around the clouds. A high overcast darkened the sky. All the different shades of gray were kind of beautiful.
June 14, 2009 (Sun) - Flew another five hours today. One three hour flight, refuel, then another two hour flight. RV still running great. Tried out the autopilot for the first time; worked well.
June 13, 2009 (Sat) - Finally put some serious time on the RV, logging five hours. Joined up with Mike R. over Ridgely at 6000 feet and flew around with him for awhile. We had the $100 hamburger at Georgetown. Then we flew over to Bay Bridge and Mike R. headed for home. I still had hours to fly so I flew over to Cape May and back. The RV ran great; engine temps were normal.
June 12, 2009 (F) - Took Naveen from work for a Cub flight, then took a short flight in the RV so he could see it fly. Least I could do after his having to listen to me talk about building it for years.
June 3, 2009 - I havn't been posting much because the RV was down for maintenance the last three weeks. It's been frustrating. But today I think I nailed it. After today's test flight, I finally feel the plane is fully operational and flying the way an RV should. Over the last three days, I replaced the stock Niagara oil cooler with a new, more capable Stewart Warner. I also fixed the Electronic Ignition system. Lightspeed had tested the Ignition Module box and found nothing wrong with it. In the meantime, I had discovered I had not wired the IM box up correctly -- I had neglected to run the ground wire! Also I discovered the Electronic Ignition crank sensor wire bundle had a big chunk out of it near the starter plate. There is not a lot of room between the starter plate -- which rotates -- and the engine itself. Obviously the starter plate had cut the wire bundle. It's amazing the EI worked at all. I installed a ground wire per the Lightspeed installation instructions. To repair the crank sensor wire bundle, I had to take off the prop which was a major ordeal. Bruce's engine hoist was a big help; it allowed me to remove and re-install the prop by myself. It still took a long time to splice the wire bundle, re-install the prop and safty-wire it.
Today, after all the above was done, and a couple of other things, I tested the engine on the ground. The EI worked perfectly. No oil leaks. I put the spinner and cowl back on and took the RV for a test flight. It had gradually dawned on me that the engine was overheating during the climb. So right after takeoff, I pulled the RPM back to 2500. I kept my climb very shallow, and climbed to 1200 feet at 110+mph. The cylinder head temps (CHT) were locked around 370 which was amazing because I was used to seeing them in the 400s. The oil temp started around 180 and very slowly climbed to a max of 220 after about 25 minutes.
I zoomed around a large triangular pattern from Essex to North Point to Miller's Island back to Essex at 150+mph. I made about four circuits before having to land because of an approaching thunderstorm. Now I think I'll really be able to log some serious hours and finish my Phase I test period. I'm not sure what was responsible for the dramatic temperature drop but I'm sure the Stewart Warner oil cooler was a primary factor. To you builders out there, do yourself a favor and go with the Stewart Warner from the start. And make sure that crank sensor wire bundle is kept clear of the spinner plate!
May 9, 2009 : I had a eventful weekend with the RV, having my first significant flight -- 50 minutes -- and attending the Massey fly-in. Unfortunately, preparing to leaveI during the run-up I discovered that my electronic ignition (EI) was not working. I had to leave the RV at Massey and caught a ride home with Bruce in his Cub.
April 29, 2009: Bit the bullet and ordered a better oil cooler: the Stewart Warner 8406R I updated the Building Stats page with the final stats: 3114 hours, five years and one month.
April 9, 2009: I am happy to say that after five years of effort, my RV-7 is officially airworthy and flies beautifully. Yes, on Tuesday the DAR came out to the skypark and did the inspection, which the RV passed without problem. As with most of the project, I underestimated how much time it would take to put everything back on the plane. I spent four hours after the DAR left and wasn't even halfway done. The weather on Thursday was perfect for a first flight, so I spent five hours putting the remaining items back on the airplane, and then around 5:30 PM took to the air with Bruce holding the hand-held radio on the ground. 20 minutes later I was safely on deck and feeling very happy!
March 29, 2009 : I am calling the plane finished. I put in a full day today at the airport and finished everything on my list. I'll give the DAR a call tomorrow and schedule the inspection. I mailed him my paperwork a couple of weeks ago so he already has that. Yesterday I finally finished the canopy which for me was the most troublesome part of the project. But at least I didn't crack the darn thing -- knock on wood. Today things were really clicking and I left the airport feeling good. It's hard to believe the project is almost done after 5 plus years.
March 22, 2009: I hit it hard this weekend, trying to get the plane ready for an inspection next weekend. I got a lot done but as usual everything took2-3 times longer than expected. I think I will probably postpone the inspection a week. This will give me time next weekend to leisurely go over the airplane and double-check everything. On the "getting the pilot" ready side, on Wednesday I did my bi-annual flight review in a Cessna 150, and today, flew two hours with Mike Regen in his RV-7A. I logged some great airwork and brought my proficiency up to speed. I feel very confident about flying the RV on its first flight.
March 7, 2009: Sorry I havn't been too good about updating the log. I have been working on the RV every weekend, except for a week I was away on business. But I did get to see the RAF Museum in London during that week. Great museum, by the way. The end is in sight now. The weight and balance is done, the fuel tanks are calibrated and the top forward skin is riveted. There's a bunch of minor odds and ends left but there's no reason I should be able to make my goal of having the inspection on March 28. I've been talking with the DAR -- an inspector designated by the FAA -- and am almost done with all the paperwork.
February 15, 2009 : I've taxiied the RV, and "broke-in" the brakes. The RV taxiis well on the ground; I had no problem navigating around the tight little taxiways at Essex Skypark. The fuel flow test went well. The Electronic Ignition RPM drop issue was solved by capping the primer system outlet. So what's left? There is nothing on the airplane that isn't working (that I know of). I still have to test the pitot/static system and transponder, and calibrate the Dynon fuel capacity. I have to rivet on the top skin and adjust the canopy fit. Then there are a bunch of little miscellaneous things. I'm shooting for inspection in 4 weeks. That's about when we should start seeing some good flying weather here in Maryland so my timing is good -- not that my planning had anything to do with it.
February 7, 2009: I am pleased to report that the Engine has started. Yes, we had first engine start today and it went reasonably well.
January 18, 2009: I put in five hours on the project Saturday when the temperature was in the teens. Another six hours on Sunday when it was warm -- high 30s. Saturday wasn't too productive: finished the flaps for good and trimmed the canopy aft edge. Sunday was better. I finalized the elevator and aileron rigging, then tightened and torqued all the pushrod and control linkage bolts, washers and nuts.
January 11, 2009: This weekend I secured the rudder bottom tip to the rudder, then mounted the rudder on the airplane. I ran the Nav/Strobe wires through the rudder bottom tip and tested the lgihts -- they work great. The tailwheel chains and springs are in place. I safety-wired the elevator trim tab hinge wire as well as the flap hinge wires. I finished torquing the last two spar bolts. The list of things to do continues to shrink. I am hoping to start the engine in 2 or 3 weeks. The inspection shouldn't be long after that. We're getting there.
January 4, 2009: Happy New Year! I think I can safely say that my RV will definately fly in 2009. I had a four weekend and spent each entire day working on the RV. I'm determined not to let the cold weather deter me. But the weather was fairly milde most of the weekend. I only ran the torpedo heater a few times in the morning. I got a lot done, although as usual not as much as I had hoped for. The ailerons and flaps are rigged and ready to go. The elevator trim is all hooked up and working properly. The autopilot is hooked up and working -- just need to finalize a few things with that. Bruce painted the cowl, spinner, rudder and wing covers for me -- they look great with their gloss black paint. Plus I did a lot of little miscellaneous things too insignificant to comment on but all necessary to get to airworthiness. I also got a nice motivational flight in Mike Regen's RV-7A.
December 28, 2008 : Got a lot done this weekend, logging about 13 hours thanks to relatively warm weather Saturday and almost T-shirt weather on Sunday. I wired everything up on the wingtips -- Nav/Strobe lights, Land/Taxi lights and Dynon magnetometer. All tested 4.0. The plane looks great with the gloss black wingtips on. I installed the flap pushrods and had fun moving the flaps up and down with the panel switch. I also hooked up the aileron pushrods. It's all coming together quickly now. If the temperature will stay tolerable -- 30's and up -- I can probably finish up by the end of January.
December 24, 2008: I was able to get out to the airport last Saturday and then again today. I was able to hang the ailerons and flaps on the RV, and help Bruce with hanging the wings on his Cub. Working in the cold, poorly lit hangar hasn't helped my productivity, but I am making progress. The next task is to connect up the Nav/Strobe/Taxi-Land Lights and mount the Dynon compass magnetometer so that I can mount the wingtips.
December 14,2008: I spent both Saturday and Sunday at the airport this weekend and got a lot done. Some friends came over and helped me hang the wings Saturday. I now have the wings installed, the empennage (minus the rudder) installed including elevators. I put non-skid pads on the wingroots. The canopy is on the fuse with gas struts installed for the first time. The canopy still needs a lot of fiddling with to get it to fit tightly. Since it gets dark at 5PM, I'm only able to work on the RV on the weekends now. All my friends at the airport really like the RV.
December 6, 2008: The fuselage is at the airport! This cold Saturday morning, I hired a towing company to transport the fuse via flatbed trailer to the airport. The move was uneventful, thankfully. Once the fuse was in the hangar, I started attaching the horizontal and vertical stabs.
November 30, 2008: Well, the web log is caught up for the first time in a long time. I kind of took a break from the project this week. We always host the big family at our house on Thanksgiving so that took up some time. I'm burned out on the cowl so I did some work on the aft canopy and started the gear leg fairings. Also, I helped Bruce move his Cub restoration project to the airport. We would have moved my RV to the paintbooth but the trailer was not wide enough. I think I'm going to hire a flat-bed towtruck and move the RV directly to the airport. I'll just have to paint the fuselage there.
November 25, 2008: I apologize for not having updated the site the last month. The RV work hasn't been very exciting; it seems like all I've done in a long time is sand and fill on the cowl halves. The cold is here, so it's not much fun working out in the garage. That said, the fuselage is pretty much ready to go to the paint booth, and then on to the airport. Went to London for work and stayed a little extra making a mini-vacation out of it.
October 26, 2008: I've been putting a couple of hours at least every high and most of the weekends on the project. I'm getting very close to finishing up the fuselage so that it can be moved to the paint booth. No major components -- just completing the many little things that need to be done.
October 6, 2008 : I've been working on my "Things Remaining List" and crossed off a number of things. Probably the most significant were installing the new Garmin GPSMap 496 and riveting the Airbox together. I'm trying to get everything done in the Fuselage so I can get it out of the garage and over to the paint booth.
September 21, 2008: I wasn't having much success with the airbox, so I shifted my schwerpunkt (focal point) to working on the "things remaining list". Mostly it was things firewall forward: mounting the baffles and oil cooler for good, wiring up the alternator circuit, running the brake lines, and wiring up the magneto and Lightspeed ignition wires. I also installed the seatbelts. Lynnette and I took the wings out to the hangar. I spent one weekend driving up to Oswego, NY to do some transition training in a RV-7 with Mike Seager.
I apologize for injecting some politics into my aviation log, but hey, it's my site! I put together a page on Sarah Palin's convention speech . Spoiler -- I liked it.
September 12, 2008: The wings are prepped for painting. I've resumed work on the airbox. I made a list of everything that is left to be done on the project and am starting to work down that. I updated my Building Stats section -- check it out.
September 8, 2008 : Things are moving very fast on the project. I'm having a hard time keeping up with it in the web log. The ailerons, flaps and empennage are painted and in the hangar at Essex Skypark. I'm in the midst of prepping the wings for painting. At home, after countless iterations of fill and sand, the canopy fairing is pretty much done and ready for priming. I finally got going on the airbox and am making some progress there. Last weekend, Mike R. took me up in his RV-7A. It was so much fun flying it. I can't wait to fly my own. I really liked the side-by-side.
August 30, 2008 : Big day yesterday; Bruce and I moved the wings and empennage to Bruce's paint booth. The move went very smoothly -- no damage or incidents. Today I started prepping the empennage components for priming and painting.
August 26, 2008 : I've been putting a lot of hours on the canopy fairing. I laid down the fiberglass cloth and am now going through endless iterations of fill with micro, sand, fill, sand. I've actually been getting up a little early and putting in an hour before work. This way I can do two iterations a day. When I'm waiting for micro to dry, I do some work on the oil filler door. It's almost done.
August 24, 2008: I spent all weekend working on the RV, putting in about 18 hours if you count Friday night. Started work on the canopy leading edge fairing and got a lot done on it. I also worked on the oil filler door and upper cowl. I'd like to start priming and painting the wings and empennage this week. I feel like I'm on the homestretch now; I can actually see light at the end of the tunnel.
August 20, 2008: I'm pretty much done with the polishing. I'm happy with how it looks. The polishing effort wasn't excessive but I sincerely hope I don't have to do it more than once a year. We will see. I'm starting the prep-work to paint the wing bottoms and empennage. I also decided to paint the leading edges of the wings, HS and VS.
I added a couple of museums from the July vacation -- the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library/Museum north of LA and the Aerospace Museum of California in Sacramento. I encourage you to visit the Reagan Museum if you have a chance; it's outstanding.
August 3, 2008: Went out to the Skypark today and swept out the hangar. It's looking good and ready for the RV-7. Have started polishing the fuselage and wings which has got the project momentum going again. After polishing I'll roll right into painting the undersides and empennage gloss black.
July 27, 2008 - I recently returned from a 3 week family vacation in California. Great time -- did a lot of stuff: visit parents in Sacramento, Napa Valley, Lake Tahoe, 4-day cruise out of Los Angeles with high school buddies. Ate and drank too much. No RV building, or even sightings, but I did get to the Planes of Fame museum in Chino as well as soar to 15K in a Grob 103 glider in Minden, Nevada.
June 22, 2008 - I havn't been too good about updating the web log, but I continue progressing. The baffles are almost done and I've been hooking up hoses, sensors and cables.
May 18, 2008: I'm still working on the baffles making slow but steady progress. It's mostly trim and fit, trim and fit. The problem is that after fitting, you have to take everything off to trim. Then after trimming, you have to put everything back on. It's time consuming. Not particularly harder than anything else on this project has been, just time consuming.
May 8, 2008: Everyone said that the baffles would be challenging. They were not wrong, my friend. They were not wrong. I'm definately stuck in the doldrums: trim, mount baffles, install bottom cowl, fit, remove everything, then repeat cycle. The Camlocs are all installed on the top and bottom cowls. They Camlocs are already paying off: removing and installing the cowl is fairly quick and easy. I took most of last weekend off and actually did some flying. Had two nice flights in my K-8 glider, logging almost two hours.
April 22, 2008: The cowl is fitted and I'm happy with how it came out. Now I'm installing the Milspec Camlocs. I've also started on the dreaded Baffles. I have the latest Van's Baffle kit which I'm hoping will take a lot of the pain and time out of the baffle installation. We'll see. I'm also working on the spinner. Cubicle-mate from work took my fishing in his boat and I caught a big Rockfish. Maybe I should give up flying and building the RV for fishing. Nah.
April 6, 2008: I've gotten quite a bit done the last two weeks. I installed the carburator, alternator, prop governor and exhaust system on the engine. I bolted on the roll bar, riveted the roll bar bracket and screwed/bolted down the aft canopy. I installed the spinner bulkhead and prop. Finally, I fit the top cowl. Last but not least, Lynnette and I checked out the Cherry Blossoms in Washington D.C. and caught them at "peak".
March 22, 2008: The fuse is in the garage, on the gear with the engine mounted! Took me a little over four years to get to this point.
March 9, 2008 : It was a productive week. I successfully fixed the empennage fairing using with fiberglass and epoxy. I installed the AN Shunt and wired it up. I also did some work with the Outside Air Temperature sensor. I did a bunch of stuff in the forward fuselage area so that I could rivet the Firewall Recess, which I did. I've scheduled the big move -- fuselage from basement to garage -- for March 22. I think the timing is perfect. It's definately starting to get warmer and with daylight savings time, the days will be longer.
March 2, 2008 : Well, I really had some momentum going, putting in 20 hours a week, week after week. I knew it couldn't last, though. What stopped it was having to go to Spokane, Washington for work. I was gone four days. When I got back, there were a bunch of social events and an airport meeting which cost me a lot of a weekend. Then I came down with a cold perfectly timed to cost me this weekend. I've noticed in the four years of this project that once you lose the momentum, it is tough to regain it. But its got to be done.
Despite the above, I've been able to finish the wingtips on both wings: all the attachment stuff to the wing, mounting the nav/strobe lights, and fashioning the clear plastic covers. There's a bunch of miscellaneous things left to do in the fuse. I've been doing some detailed planning for painting and polishing. I think I'm going to move the fuse to the garage in two or three weeks. Finally, after only two weeks of submission, I got my registration certificate for the RV from the FAA.
February 17, 2008: This past week I did more work on the empennage tips. They are all riveted to the HS and elevators. What's left is building up a few areas with fiberglass cloth and filler, then preping for paint. I ordered some Loehle WonderFil which is supposed to make filling the notorious pinholes easy.
I went to install the center cabin cover and ran into a brick wall. I ended up scratching my head quite a bit on that one. Eventually I found a solution.
Finally, I set the right wing on saw horses and spent most of the weekend installing nutplates on the right wingtip and for the wing fairing.
February 9th, 2008: I continue to work all-out on the project. I've finished everything I can on the Baffles prior to engine mounting. They're all match-drilled, deburred, edge-smoothed and primed. I'm still working on the empennage tips: using Rage Gold filler to get them ready for painting. I'm finishing up stuff around the firewall, so that I can rivet the firewall recess soon.
I've decided to hold off on moving the fuselage to the garage until March, when it will be a little warmer. Since I'll pretty much be done with the fuse within a week, I plan to put a wing on some sawhorses in the basement so I can install the wingtip, as well as the nav/strobe lights and clear plastic lightcover. I may even start polishing the top of the wing with the Nuvite.
February 4th, 2008: January was my second 90+ hour building month in a row. I was shooting for 100 hours but I frittered away too much time on the weekends. That said, if I can keep the 90 hour months going, I could be flying this summer. As much as I miss flying the Citabria; it freed up a lot of time for me to build.
I finally finished running the control cable through the firewall eyeballs. I'm nearly done with the empennage fairings. Of course I have the fiberglass pinhole filling and paint preparation joy ahead of me. I've done about all I can at this point on the cowl support strips for the Camlocs. I have started working my way through the notorious baffle kit. Lots of edge-smoothing work, that's for sure.
January 27th, 2008: I put in 16 hours this weekend on the project. I've mostly been working on the upper and lower empennage fairings and the control cable firewall passthrough eyeballs. Both have been time-consuming. Once they are done, though, it won't be long until the long awaited move from the basement to the garage.
January 24, 2008: Lynnette and I finished riveting the aft top skins. They came out very nice. I didn't even have to crawl in the back of the fuse to buck. I had to sit in the baggage area which wasn't bad at all. I also finished fashioning the cowl support strips for the camlocs. I've started on the empennage fairing and am entering the world of fiberglass. It's just one learning experience after another. I'm putting at least 2 hours into the project every weeknight and most of the weekend. It's cold, rainy and windy outside -- nothing else to do.
January 20, 2008: Continue to hit it hard. I'm putting in a couple of hours every night and a lot on the weekends. I'm almost done riveting the aft top fuselage skins. I've been fashioning the cowl support strips for the Camlocs as well. Finally, I've been installing steel eyeballls for the control cables in the firewall. I think I'll be able to move the fuse out of the basement and into the garage in a few weeks.
January 5, 2007: I added a link to my 2007 Flying Adventures . December of 2007 was one of my best building months ever -- I put in 93.5 hours.
December 31, 2007: I havn't been very good about keeping the web log updated. But I have been working hard -- for me, that is -- on the RV project. It's the "perfect storm" of RV building conditions: cold rainy weather, no plane to fly, and lots of time off from work. I'm trying to finish everthing I possibly can in the fuselage before I move it out of the basement and into the (cold) garage for engine mounting. This will probably happen sometime in January-February. It seems like I don't get that much done in a daily session. But it all adds up. Building this log for December I realize how much I've got done.
Looking back, I think 2007 was a productive year. Although I didn't even come close to achieving my goal of flying in 2007 but I did make a significant amount of progress: built the Canopy, wings fitted, empennage mounted, Interior painted, wheels attached to gear, engine mount fitted to firewall, Panel cut-painted-installed and wired, electrical system installed and operational, engine acquired. I've come to have a strong understanding of the phrase: 90% done, 50% left to go.
Left to do: final touches on the fuse, move the fuse to the garage, install the engine, install baffles and cowl, move airplane to airport, put airplane together, finishing touches, have it inspected and then ...... FLY. December 8, 2007: The winter weather is definately here now. We've had our first snow, and most of the leaves have fallen. Unfortunately, the leaves cut into the RV building time. I've probably had to put seven hours into raking and bagging leaves the last three weeks. I spent a Saturday helping Bruce take apart his Corben Baby Ace and putting it on a trailor. He's going to restore it. While I was out there, Jan took me up in his RotaxFalke motorglider and I flew that around for an hour, and got a motorglider endorsement in the logbook.
But mostly I've been working on the RV. I finally got around to crimping the terminal on the last wire I needed to complete the main power circuit, then powered up the panel for the first time. It worked fine. I had the Dynon hooked up so it came right on. Then I decided to be systematic on how I finished up the panel. I started doing a system at a time, finishing one system before moving onto another. This approach seems to be working pretty well. I've knocked out the Flaps, Fuel Pump, Dynon, Pictorial pilot wing leveler, Transponder, Starter button, Panel lights/dimmer, and the low voltage warning light. I also hooked up the cabin heat control cable. So it's coming along. I didn't come close to being complete in 2007 which was my goal but 2008 looks like a good possibility.
November 21, 2007: Happy Thanksgiving! I continue to steadily chip away on the project. I'm sort of on hold with the electrical while I wait on a Spruce order. I finally got around to fashioning the forward elevator push-rod, then bolted in the elevator control rods and stick mechanism. I also riveted on the fuse main spar side covers. It was unusually warm yesterday for mid-November so I took the day off and went flying in the Cub. Took some nice foliage shots.
November 4, 2007: I'm sad to report that the Citabria is gone. She went to a good home. Now, I have no excuse not to hunker down and finish my RV.
The last few weeks I've been working on the wires that run through the fuselage, go out to the wings, or the tail. This includes the intercom, strobe powersupply and lights, autopilot, nav and landing lights, ELT, magnetometer and elevator trim. It's been very time-consuming because first I had to figure out how I was going to run the wires, then drill the holes, then thread the wires through. There was a lot of trial and error, and I had to rerun some of the wires two or three times. Plus I had to solder up the intercom jacks. But I'm slowly but surely getting it done. With the cold weather almost here, I'll be able to devote more time to building.
October 21, 2007: I'm well into the wiring process and making painfully slow progress. Unbelievably good flying weather the last month hasn't helped either. Now that it's getting cooler, I'm hoping to give the project more hours. Bruce and I had a nice flight past Manhatten via the Hudson River in the Citabria. Link .
September 27, 2007: September hasn't been a very productive month for RV building. The weekend weather has been great and I've been flying the Citabria quite a bit. We had a great All Grass Tour on the 16th. I flew to Dayton, Ohio to see Air Force Museum and the World War I Rendezvous. The panel is done and on the fuselage. I'm very happy with how it came out. Did it all myself. Well, I did have my nephew-in-law spraypaint it for me. I'm definately in the wiring phase of the project and will be for awhile I think. After that, it's on to the powerplant.
September 4, 2007: Finally finished updating all my pages back to August 6th. Check it out below. Today the panel was painted! Ray, a family member, came over and sprayed it for me. Looks nice. Got just the light grey I wanted. I'm hoping now I can start making rapid progress. I want to rivet the subpanels and upper ribs, mount the panel, install the avionics and instruments, and start wiring.
August 30, 2007: The home computer registry decided to get corrupted on me and I had to take it to a service shop to get it back on line. Fortunately I didn't lose all my files. I've got to get better about backups.
August 5, 2007: I apologize for not keeping the site current. Rest assured, I have not been slacking on the RV. I've been working pretty hard on it. By my standards, that is. Plus, I was at Oshkosh last week. Had a great time there, as always.
I'm on hold with the Panel while I wait for a bunch of stuff I ordered to arrive. I need a couple more switches, a dimmer, some indicator lights and a DC port (i.e., cigarette lighter). I need them so I can cut the final holes in the panel, then paint it, then start putting a bunch of stuff back in the fuse for good. In the meantime, there are no lack of things to do. I did some riveting on the wings, installed the ELT and strobe mounting brackets, installed the aux fuel pump, started on the static port system, drilled the center spar gussets, finished the mapbox (almost), and probably some other things I can't remember.
July 22, 2007: I just have to drill a few switch holes and the panel is ready for painting. I'm pretty sure I'm going to go with a light grey -- not sure what type paint. After it's painted, then I'll mount it in the plane and start wiring. After a hot and humid June, July has seen great flying weather -- not too hot and great visibility. Go figure. The Citabria needs an annual so I've been soaring the last three Saturdays and accumulated 7.5 hours on three tows. The last flight I set three personal records: longest (3.5 hours), highest: 7,800 feet, and longest distance.
July 13, 2007: Work continues on the panel. The round holes have been cut. The subpanels are done. A bunch of stuff arrived from B&C and Vans. The Citabria needs an annual so I've been soaring the last two weekends.
July 9, 2007: I'm making good progress on the panel. I have the rectangular holes cut out for the mapbox, Dynon and Stack. The Dynon mounting bracket is drilled to the panel. I fabricated angle mounting brackets for the stack components. I'm almost done with the holes in the subpanels for the mapbox and SL-60 Comm/GPS. The panel is looking good so far. I had a nice visit with Chip the multiple repeat offender who answered all my many questions concerning the "beyond finish kit" stage. I had a nice two hour flight in the Ka-8 Glider Saturday. The Citabria is down for Annual inspection. That won't be a problem with the RV-7!
July 3, 2007: A lot has happened in the last three weeks. The big event was my oldest daughter getting married. The RV project was low priority for a week or so. We had some fantastic flying weather over the weekend and took advantage of it by going to the Sentimental Journey Cub fly-in at Loch Haven, PA. I probably spent 20 hours planning and researching the electrical system and Panel. I am very familiar with Bob Nuckoll's AeroConnection book at this point. Finally, I had done all the planning and research I could do, and it was time to start actually doing something. I have the battery and starter contactors mounted on the firewall. The next step is to mount the avionics on the panel. Then I'll put the fuse blocks on and start wiring.
June 14,2007: The last few weeks I've been working on the project on the weekends but not so much at night during the weekdays. I've finished up the gear, wheels and tires pretty much. I did the brake pedals and lines. The Brake reservoir and battery contactor are mounted on the firewall. Battery box and starter contactor in work. I also took the wings off.
May 29, 2007: Fairly busy week. The engine mount is drilled to the fuse. I've also mounted the tubes and tires on the wheels, and fitted the brakes and flanges to the landing gear. I've resumed work on the Kitfox, spending one evening a week out at the airport working on it. Had a nice flight on Saturday down the Delmarva peninsula all the way to Cape Charles.
May 22, 2007: I'm finishing up bending the fuel lines in the fuse. I've also started mounting the engine mount.
May 12, 2007: May is prime flying weather so I'm not getting much done on the RV. But I did have a great time flying an All Grass All Day Tour with the Trunk Monkeys on Saturday!
May 9, 2007: I made the flap pushrods, then cut holes in the fuselage for them. Then I mounted the flaps and connected the pushrods to the flaps and the flap actuator bar. Finally, I hooked a battery to the flap motor and moved the flaps up and down. Yippee. I had to go to London last week for work. I only had a single afternoon to look around but I took full advantage. I've started working on the fuel vent tubing.
April 29, 2007: It always seems hard to get back into the project after a layoff, in this case the trip to Sun 'N Fun. But I've gradually gotten back on the step. I drilled the fuel tank bracket, and the fuse lower center skin to the wing. I also made the wing root fairings. Saturday I spent the entire day helping Mike mount the wings of his RV-7A. We got an incredible amount done in one day.
April 26, 2007: I'm back from a week at Sun 'N Fun. It has taken me awhile to put together the web log on the trip. Of course, not much RV work was accomplished while I was down in Lakeland. I did take the plunge, though, and ordered a TMX-360 engine from Mattituck. Spring had arrived upon our return from Florida so I soared in the glider for the first time this year.
April 15, 2007: I had to spend most of the day doing my taxes. But I've got a lot done in the last two weeks. The canopy is bolted to the frame. And the wings are attached to the fuselage with rear spars drilled. The wings are straight and with the correct incidence. Despite the global warming, April has been unusually cold and windy. I've only been able to get one flight out in the Citabria, which was yesterday.
April 1, 2007: I had motivational problems during the week and took a few nights off but I hit it hard over the weekend and made some real progress. I painted the interior and riveted the canopy frame together. Just a couple of more things on it and I'll be able to bolt the canopy on. I think my next step is to mount the wings to the fuse. I figured out how to arrange things so I can do it in the basement, with its flat, smooth concrete floor.
Dave Parsons, who has one of my favorite builder pages, finished his RV-7A and flew it this week. It was neat to be following his progress and then, bang, there's no more left to do, he got it inspected, and then flew it. A good motivational shot in the arm for the rest of us builders.
March 25, 2007: I finished the Canopy Frame gas strut mounting pieces and the Reinforcers. It's now time to prime and paint the canopy frame and cabin interior. I took everything not riveted out of the interior. I also removed the tail feathers. I primed stuff that needed priming and final painted the interior pieces with Rustoleum "Hammered" silver. The next steps are to paint the cabin interior and rivet the canopy frame together. Today was our first genuine spring day -- sunny, relatively warm, light winds. In the afternoon I went flying in the Citabria and had a great flight. Saw lots of deer.
March 11, 2007: Continued work on the canopy frame as well as the battery box. My Dynon FlightDek FD-180 arrived in the mail. It's an awesome piece of technology. I flew the Citabria down to Norfolk Saturday and flew back Sunday so I didn't get much building done this weekend.
March 4, 2007: I finished fitting and drilling the canopy frame side skirts. I drilled, deburred, dimpled, and countersunk the canopy frame and skin. It's been either too cold, or too windy, or both to go flying the last two weekends.
February 27, 2007: The forward canopy has been fitted and drilled to the canopy frame. Now I'm working on the side skirts. Once that's done, I'll take everything apart and prep it for riveting.
February 17, 2007: My parents are visiting so I havn't been working much on the RV. My Dad and I drove down to D.C. on Saturday and visited the National Air and Space Museum. Always a good time.
February 11, 2007: The aft canopy is pretty much done and ready to be bolted and screwed down when the aft top skin is riveted. Enjoyed flying to Lancaster, PA on Saturday for lunch with the Trunk Monkeys. We had six Citabria/Super D's.
February 5, 2007: I've been working hard on the project. Winter finally arrived in Maryland and it's been pretty cold outside. The forward canopy is trimmed and ready for drilling, but is on hold while I'm waiting for new canopy frame channels to arrive. I finished the rudder stops. Now I'm working on the aft canopy and have drilled it to the roll bar and aft top skin.
January 29, 2007: Work continues on trimming and fitting the forward canopy. I've made slow but steady progress. I just have to trim the rear edge, then I'll be ready to drill it to the frame. Flew all day Saturday, making a big loop around BWI airport, landing at five airports I've never been to. Had to file eight ADIZ flight plans! Potomac and I were on a first name basis by the end of the day.
January 24, 2007: I updated the Building Stats page and created a new 2006 Flying Adventures page. I also moved the first half of 2006 building links to the Builder's Log page. The canopy trimming and fitting continues.
January 23, 2007: The die grinder breaking cost me time last week, plus Thursday I went to my EAA chapter meeting and did no RV work. But Friday night I was ready to go, and I finished trimming the canopy. It was cold and windy -- plus snow on Sunday -- so I got a lot done over the weekend, including making the Big Cut. I'm also making slow but sure progress on riveting the left wing bottom skins.
January 14, 2007: Last week I decided to try and work on the project two hours a weeknight and ten hours on the weekend. I managed to meet that schedule this week. I finished up the crotch bracket installation, although I won't pop-rivet the front brackets until final wrap-up. I made some beautiful rudder stops but they aren't long enough so I'm on hold there until I get more angle stock. I had been putting off cutting on the canopy but today I went for it. The goal was to trim off enough to trail fit the canopy on the frame for the first time. I would have made it if my die grinder hadn't broke near the end. Still I'm well past the opening kick-off nervousness.
January 9, 2007 -- I finished mounting the vertical stabilizer and hung the rudder for the first time. The canopy is ready for cutting. I bought a cheapo pneumatic die grinder and borrowed my brother-in-law's compressor (bigger than mine). I've been working on the crotch strap bracket install. Finally, I'm getting ready to order the rest of my avionics. I already have a SL-60 Comm GPS and Pictorial Pilot. I need to order the Dynon FDK-180, Garmin GTX-327 transponder, PM501 Intercom, and an AirGizmo GPS mount. The plan is to finish the canopy, mount the wings and do the panel/electrical before Sun 'N Fun in April, when I'm going to order my Mattituck TMX-360 engine (carburated).
January 2, 2007 -- Happy New Year! My resolution this year is to fly the RV-7 in 2007. I think it's possible if I work hard. Maximum effort this three day weekend, putting in some good hours building the RV. I worked on mounting the Vertical Stab, mounting the elevators, fabricating the elevator push-rod, installing the trim tab servo and trimming the elevator and HS fiberglass tips. We finished riveting the bottom skin on the right wing. One down, one to go.
December 30, 2006 -- Just got back from the Christmas Vacation to Sacramento, California. No aviation activities to report other than receiving some nice gifts from Santa: a tube bending tool, a SmartTool digital level, and Rod Machado's IFR book.
December 19, 2006 -- Finished drilling the HS to the Fuse, and attaching the elevator to the HS. Next step is to drill the Vertical Stab to the Fuse and HS. Lynnette and I are almost done riveting bottom skin 2 of 4. We're still enjoying relatively warm and good weather this December so I've been logging some quality Citabria time.
December 16, 2006 -- Still havn't had the courage to make the first cut on the canopy. Actually, the thing is so big and unwieldy, that I havn't figured out how I'm going to secure it yet. I've been working on the horizontal stabilizer and elevators, and attaching them to the fuselage. The bottom skin riveting continues. Lynnette and I do an hour at a time. I've actually been flying the Citabria quite a bit lately, in this unusually warm and sunny December weather. Lynnette gave me a Canon Digital Rebel 10XTi camera for Christmas so my picture quality should improve. It's going to take me awhile to learn how to take advantage of its capabilities.
December 8, 2006 -- The Canopy Frame is riveted together. I'm ready to start cutting the canopy. I've also gotten started on riveting the bottom skins to the wings. I'm on skin 2 of 4. It's slow going. The Oregon Aero seats and Hooker Harnesses arrived.
November 25, 2006 --I worked hard on the RV this week, mostly on the canopy frame. I've got it in the proper shape and position and have match-drilled the splice plates. It won't be long until I start cutting plastic. Bruce and I finished riveting bottom skin 1 of 4. It's some challenging riveting, let me tell you.
November 21, 2006 - I'm working on a number of things for the RV. I did some more leak testing on the fuel tanks and declared them leak-free. They are back on the wings. Bruce came over Sunday night and we started riveting the bottom skins. We only got 1/4 of the right, inboard skin done so we have a long way to go. But it's a start. Work continues on the canopy frame. I edge-smoothed the side weldments and aft channels. I'm making the spacers for the channels. Finally, I've started the crotch-strap bracket installation. Bruce and I flew the Citabria to South Jersey airport on Saturday and checked out the Air Victory Museum.
November 12, 2006: I've been bad about updating the log. Put it off and before you know it, you're two weeks behind! Rest assured, however, I've been working hard on the RV. And, to a lesser extent, the Citabria and glider... It's a mania. I've been workly mostly on the forward canopy frame with some fuel tank leak-testing.
October 31, 2006: We had strong winds all weekend so I didn't get to fly. But I did get to build and I got a lot done on the canopy latch mechanism. I also used Proseal for the first time, sealing the access covers and senders to the fuel tank. I'm doing a lot of research on avionics and am gradually finalizing my panel. I've also been researching seats.
October 26, 2006: I've finished with the forward upper fuselage including the canopy release blocks. I primed everything but am holding off on riveting until I solidify my panel planning. I riveted on the rudder cable fairings. I've started on the canopy side latch area. We had a nice little Citabria Fly-in at the Flying Cow Airpark. We towed gliders with the Citabria and enjoyed a nice warm fall day.
October 17, 2006: I've been working on the forward upper fuselage, mostly. All the components have been fitted, drilled, deburred, edge-smoothed, and dimpled. I'm waiting on the weekend to spray them with Mar-Hyde. I started the canopy but am waiting for a #10 bit to arrive. In the meantime, I finished up the seats and will do some other various things like the rudder cable fairings and pitot system. There's no lack of things to work on. I ordered and received a bunch of tools and components for the electrical system. I spent most of the last weekend flying and working on the Citabria.
October 8, 2006: Maximum effort on the RV this weekend. I worked Friday night and most of the day Saturday and Sunday. We were supposed to have a Citabria Fly-In at the Flying Cow airpark Saturday but the weather was horrible so the fly-in was cancelled. Sunday brought perfect flying weather but I had the momentum going on the RV so I kept at the building. I got a lot done on the forward upper fuselage and even got started on the canopy.
October 5, 2006: I finished the laborious process of cutting notches in the panel reinforcers. I had made a mistake on the throttle mounting bracket and one of the short ribs, so I had to order replacement stock from Vans. That arrived and I refabricated the parts, correctly this time. So I'm ready to go forward with the forward upper fuselage. I flew 5.5 hours on Saturday attending the Virginia EAA Fly-in.
September 25: I'm working on the forward upper fuselage and installing the aluminum tubing in the wing for the pitot system. On Saturday I helped a fellow builder mount his TMX-IO-360. I was out in California a week ago and attended the Reno Air Races on Sunday. Go seem them if you ever get the chance.
September 10: Finally finished the cabin frame except for tapping some holes for a #10 screw. I started fashioning angles and trimming components for the forward upper fuselage, which is the next area I'm going to tackle. I'm also running the aluminum tube in the left wing for the pitot system. Last weekend I mounted the Pictorial Pilot wing leveler servo in the right wing.
Here is my rough plan of action for the rest of the year (and beyond):
- Forward Upper Fuselage
- Rivet bottom skins on wings.
- Fit empennage to fuselage
- Fit wings to Fuselage
- Canopy
- Electrical System and Panel
- Install Engine Mount and firewall forward stuff.
After all of the above, I'll move the fuselage out of the basement and into the garage where I'll mount the powerplant and gear.
September 4: Had a great time flying with the Trunk Monkeys on the 2nd Annual All Grass All Day Delaware-Maryland Eastern Shore tour.
September 3: Almost done with the Cabin Frame. I also started mounting the wing leveler servo in the right wing.
August 26: I worked hard on the RV this week and got the Cabin Frame riveted together. Now I have to attach it to the fuselage, then I'll move on to the upper forward fuselage.
August 19: I finished the lower forward fuselage and have started on the Cabin Frame. It's going to take some time. Lots of holes to drill, countersink and rivet. I got a ride in an RV-8 last weekend -- what an awesome plane!
August 2, 2006 - I've gradually worked my way back into my normal routine -- working on the RV-7, flying the Citabria, updating this page. I've done most of what I can do at home on the Kitfox so I moved it out of the basement and garage to the hangar at Essex Skypark. I'll try and finish it up out there. That allows me to start back on the RV-7 at home with a clear conscience. I was able to put about 5 hours on it the last three days. It took me a couple of hours just to get organized and find the fuselage instructions!
July 25, 2006 - The company that hosted my web page apparently went out of business with no warning or info. I wasn't really surprised because their service had been steadily declining. I had been thinking about changing anyway; one, to get better service, and two, to go with a shorter domain name.
July 13, 2006 - Well, it took me quite a long time, but the Oregon Trail web log is complete. The grand adventure is preserved for posterity! Early in the fourth of July weekend I threw out my back, so I couldn't work on airplanes much the last two weeks anyways.
July 1, 2006 - I just returned from flying the Citabria to the West Coast and back. I was gone for almost three weeks. Trip of a lifetime! I was very lucky with the weather and did almost everything I had planned. I'm working on a web log of the trip and trying to get it done as soon as I can. I took over 1000 digital images so it's gonna take awhile. Despite the great trip, I feel guilty at not having done anything on the RV for a month and a half.
June 8, 2006 - I've been focusing the last few weeks on preparing for the big Oregon Trail flight in the Citabria. I'm at the point in the RV-7 building that I fit the wings to the fuselage and then the empennage. I'll do that when I return from the Left Coast.
May 29, 2006 - We had a big party for my oldest daughter's graduation from college. I cleaned up the workshop beforehand and temporarily put in most of the things that go inside the fuselage. It looked good.
May 28, 2006 - Spent Saturday at the Grimes, PA fly-in and doing an All Grass Tour.
May 21, 2006 - Pretty much finished up the flap actuator mechanism, with the exception of some nutplates on the backrest. Four airplanes in the Citabria Yahoo group got together on Saturday and went to the Horn Point antique fly-in at Cambridge, MD.
May 18, 2006 - I decided I should rivet the aft seat floors down before continuing with the flap channel assembly. I also worked some more on the Kitfox cooling system plumbing.
May 14, 2006 - I devoted most of the weekend to working on the flap actuator system. I didn't get it done but I made a pretty good dent in it. I flew the Citabria after work on Wednesday -- gotta love it when it doesn't get dark until 8:30 PM.
May 7, 2006 - During the week I worked mainly on the RV forward cover (between the firewall and F-704 bulkhead). I also worked on the Kitfox's Rotax 582 liquid-cooling system; i.e., putting in the plumbing. It's slow going because there are no instructions to follow. I have to figure it out. Yesterday (Saturday) I did mostly family stuff and today Bruce and I went soaring & Baby Ace flying.
April 29, 2006 - It was perfect flying weather for the third annual Massey Aerodrome Chili cookoff-Fly-in. I met a couple of other Citabria drivers at Smyrna Airport (N38) and had a cup of coffee with the regulars there. Then we flew form over to Massey and enjoyed the fly-in. There were a ton of planes, of every variety. The majority were taildraggers. I finished this great aviation day with a little fun-fly on the way back to Essex.
April 27, 2006 - Well, April hasn't been very productive building the RV-7. I've been flying the Citabria/and or soaring every weekend. Last Thursday, my EAA Chapter had their meeting at my house and the RV-7 and Kitfox projects were the topic of discussion. It took me the two nights before the meeting to clean up the shop and garage so things would be presentable. But, we had a good meeting and I think the chapter members enjoyed looking at my project. I've also been working on the Kitfox, trying to get it wrapped up so I can fly it this summer. Finally, I've been flight-planning for the big Oregon Trail flight in the Citabria this June. This is all a roundabout way of saying that I haven't worked on the RV-7 the last two weeks.
April 14, 2006 - I finished the Baggage Bulkhead and started on the seat floor tunnel cover area. Now that spring is here, I've been flying on the weekend, plus I've started working on the Kitfox again, trying to get it finished by summer. Bottom line, the RV building progress is going to slow a little. I'm actually not that far from fitting the wings and empennage. After that, I'll probably start working on the canopy. I'm going to have to order the engine and avionics one of these days, as well.
April 8, 2006 - I actually made some visible progress this week. First I ran the rudder cables, which was kind of cool. Next I riveted the baggage area side panels and floors. Then, I started something new -- I fitted and drilled the lower baggage bulkhead and put in all nutplates on the F-706 rib for it.
April 3, 2006 - I spent most of last week working on the seats and seat braces: drilling, prepping, priming and riveting. I'm about ready to rivet the baggage floors and sides down so I can start working on the baggage bulkheads. Sunday was a great flying day. I logged 4.5 hours in the Citabria doing a little mountain flying in West Virginia!
March 25, 2006 - I'm still not done with the baggage area, but I decided to start on the seat area. I fashioned all of the seat back angles and am in the middle of drilling them to the seat backs.
March 19, 2006 - I havn't made much progress the last two weeks. Last week I was in California on business. The previous week I worked on the baggage area. This weekend -- once again -- it was too windy and cold to fly the Citabria. Instead I worked on the aft seat floors. I cut a rectangular opening in the right baggage floor to have a little storage area. (After much deliberation, I decided to mount the ELT and strobe power supply just behind the right seat. The storage area will have a hinged door and some kind of quick release fasteners. I need to get that done before I can rivet the baggage area floors and side panels. And I need to do that before I can start working on the aft baggage panels. Finally I primed all the baggage and seat area covers and side panels.
March 5, 2006 - The finish kit is in the house! It arrived in town on Wednesday. I've got the routine down pat now. ABF Freight calls and the next day Bruce and I drive over in his big truck for a dock pickup (less expensive than having home delivery). I broke the box open and inventoried over the weekend. As with the empennage, wing and fuselage kits, everything was there. Given the hundreds of items, that's pretty amazing. Vans Aircraft Company is, as we used to say at the Naval Academy, "squared away". I finished riveting the baggage ribs to the F-707 bulkhead. I started work on the baggage covers.
I finally did some actual flying on Saturday. It took going up in 15+ mph winds to do it but it was nice to get back in the air. Bruce and I flew the Citabria over to Easton and had breakfast.
February 26, 2006 - It's been cold and windy in Maryland but I had a productive week on the RV-7. I built a wood stand to support the fuselage, riveted the forward fuselage gussets and canopy decks, and clecoed and drilled the rear and aft upper fuselage skins. Havn't flown the Citabria since early November, but I'm hoping to fly to the 3rd annual Valentine's Day Citabria Luncheon in Lancaster, PA this coming Saturday.
February 19, 2006 - The last five days have been busy aviation days. I went to my EAA chapter meeting Thursday and listened to David Wartofsky, Potomac Airport manager, talk about the ADIZ. Anything could happen but I am cautiously optimistic that reason will prevail and the ADIZ will be abolished while something that will actually enhance security of the DC area will be implemented. Friday evening Bruce and I drove out to Essex Skypark and worked on our Citabria. Saturday Bruce and I were back at Essex Skypark for the Pilots Association meeting. Again, anything could happen, but it does seem like there will be a commitment to keep Essex Skypark open and the runway will be repaved this year. We would have flown the Citabria but it was too windy and cold. I worked on the RV the rest of the weekend. This last week I finished the aft and forward canopy decks, the F-757 gussets, the F-695 forward fuselage gussets, the F-656 gusset plates and the shoulder harness anchors. I started building a wooden mini-sawhorse for the fuselage so I can get into it and do some riveting. February 11, 2006 - I riveted the aft deck to the fuselage. It ended up taking twice as long as it should have because of a mistake I made with the F-711D angle way back when I built the F-711 bulkhead.
This web page just went over 10,000 hits. That's a lot of people with waaaayyyy too much time on their hands!
February 6, 2006 - The Canoe Is Flipped! Bruce and I finished riveting the forward fuselage, admired our work for a few minutes, then with Lynnette's help, the three of us flipped the canoe right-side-up. It actually looks like an airplane. All right!
I spent most of the weekend de-vinyling and edge-smoothing top skins and covers while I watched Super Bowl hype.
February 2, 2006 - Bruce and I riveted Monday night but it didn't go very well and we didn't finish the riveting. Bruce is skiing this week and won't be back until Saturday. But there's no shortage of things I can be doing while I wait for him to get back. I have spent this weeks evenings prepping things for post-canoe-tip. January was a productive month: 87 hours. That follows 93 hours in December. At this rate, I might even finish this airplane someday! I'm at about 1,050 hours after two years on the project.
January 28, 2006 - Friday night and this morning I got things ready for riveting together the forward fuselage. I also squeezed any rivets I could get to with the Main Squeeze. Bruce came over this afternoon and we riveted for about four hours. I was hoping to finish the fuse but we ran out of time. All we have left are the 1/8" rivets; we'll get those done Monday night and tip the canoe!
January 24, 2006 - I spent last week doing such odds and ends as riveting nutplates to gussets and bulkheads, prepping the armrests, and some more priming. Then I went wild over the weekend. Saturday I bolted together the F-704 bulkhead and clecoed the center fuse section to the aft fuse section. Sunday I did all the pre-riveting that has to be done before the entire thing goes together. And then I did cleco it all together. Monday night Bruce came over and we riveted for a solid four hours, riveting everything aft of the F-704 bulkhead!
January 15, 2006: The prep work and priming is done. I devinyled, deburred, edge-smoothed, drilled, countersunk, dimpled, scotch-brited, cleaned and primed for the last week and a half to get to this point. The plan for the this weekend was to prime everything today Saturday and rivet Sunday, but it rained all day yesterday and today there were gale force winds outside. I usually prime with a rattle can outside but today I had to do it inside the garage (with the garage door half open and a fan going, for ventilation). Tomorrow night I start riveting. By the way, I went over 1000 hours on the project on January 5.
January 3, 2006: Well, the fuselage is scattered all over the basement, and the prep work is underway. I figure it will take at least a week to get everything ready to put back together and rivet. December was my most product building month yet - 94 hours. The Finish Kit has been ordered and should arrive late February.
January 1, 2006: With all of the Christmas and New Year Holiday's, I've really been working hard on the RV. I've pretty much finished the lower fuselage. Today I will take it all apart and begin the laborious process of prepping all the components and then riveting them together. When that is done, I'll have reached the major milestone of "tipping over the canoe"!
December 22, 2005: I've been working on the forward fuselage: auxiliary longerons, fwd fuse stiffener and lower longeron. Nothing particularly difficult, just cutting and trimming, drilling and twisting aluminum angle. All the while thinking, man, it's going to take forever to prep and rivet all this together! I have four company holiday days in the next two weeks so I should be able to get a lot done on the RV.
Bruce and I are taking care of some cosmetic things on the Citabria so I won't be flying for a month. I finally got around to buying 23 years of the RVator. I hadn't realized what a great resource it is; it's organized in order of the building sequence so it's easy to find things.
December 14, 2005: Finished drilling the firewall to the side skins and longerons. I was nervous about it, but I was very careful and it came out fine.
December 13, 2005: The firewall is attached! Yes, the firewall and forward bottom skin are clamped and clecoed to the fuselage respectively and ready for drilling. The fuselage has really grown over the two weeks. It's really starting to look like an airplane!
December 11, 2005: Maximum effort over the weekend: 18 hours from Friday to Sunday. It has been a cold December in Maryland this year so I'm not flying the Citabria but I am getting a lot of RV building done. I joined the center and aft fuselage components together, clecoed on the side skins and drilled the longerons.
December 7, 2005: The Longerons are complete! I reorganized the shop so I can work on the fuselage in its entirety.
December 4, 2005: I could put it off no longer; it was time to bend the longerons. I killed most of the weekend on it and am still not done. It's like the instructions warns, you bend it one way, it pops out another. Just a lot of bend, measure, bend, measure, ... The only thing you can do is persevere...
December 2, 2005: I spent an hour or so almost every night this week riveting the center fuse bottom skin to the assembly. It came out fine; just seemed to take forever.
November 27, 2005: It was nasty and cold most of the Thanksgiving weekend so I got a lot done on the RV in my nice, warm basement. I'm definitely more productive in the winter months when it's too cold to fly the Citabria. I riveted together the center fuselage skeleton and clecoed on the bottom skin. I'm close to joining the center and aft fuselage sections. I just have to rivet on the bottom skin, then fashion the main longerons.
November 21, 2005: Mike Bullock, who just started an RV-7, came over and we spent a couple of hours talking about RV building.
November 20, 2005: I lost another week due to work travel but got my first balloon ride out of it.
Went to my second meeting of the local EAA chapter. It was good; definitely a builders chapter. The President just finished an RV-8. Two other members are working on RVs.
I worked hard this last weekend and got most of the prep work done on the center fuselage components: devinyling, deburring, dimpling and priming. I had hoped to have the fuselage done by the end of the year but it's pretty obvious that isn't going to happen. I am going to order the finish kit this week though in order to lock in the 2005 prices.
November 9, 2005: Lynnette and I finished riveting the aft fuse. I probably spent ten hours riveting that thing together. On to preparing the center fuselage for riveting.
November 7, 2005: Almost done riveting the aft fuselage. Lots and lots of rivets to pound. Next items on the agenda are to prepare the center fuselage components for riveting and bend the main longerons. The weather was perfect this weekend and I got some good flying in.
November 2, 2005: Well, I was going great guns but then had to leave home for business travel and it really derailed me for awhile. Then I flew the Citabria to Maine for a couple of days. But I'm back on track and have started riveting the aft fuselage together. I also disassembled the center fuselage and have started deburring, devinyling, edge-smoothing and dimpling it.
October 16 2005: Hit it hard this last week. Worked every night, averaging over two hours a night. The weekend had looked promising for flying weather, and in fact the skies did clear up, but it was too windy for good flying. So I worked on the RV for another 7.5 hours this weekend. The center fuselage is almost finished as far as drilling. The next step is to disassemble and prep for riveting. I've worked 843 hours on the RV so far. We had a party at the house last night; the guest were awed by the airplane construction project in the basement!
October 11: Clecoed together the center fuselage assembly: bulkheads, ribs and skin.
October 9: I was in Northern California the last two weeks for work. Very little aviation involved. Unfortunately I missed a weekend of fabulous flying weather and two big flying events, the South Jersey All Grass All Day tour and the Virginia EAA fly-in. Oh well, the job pays for the hobby so I can't complain too much. It rained all this weekend which was bad for flying but good for RV building. I put in an hour Friday night, five hours yesterday and six hours today. Most of that time was spent edge-smoothing, seaming and fluting center fuselage ribs. Not very exciting but good to have out of the way.
Sep 21: The aft fuselage is drilled, de-vinyled, deburred, dimpled and ready for reassembly, then riveting.
Sep 8: We had fabulous flying weather over the Labor Day weekend and I took full advantage: an airshow featuring the Blue Angels on Saturday, flying the Citabria to a fly-in on Sunday, and soaring on Monday. That meant, of course, less production on the RV. I'm still battling with the tailcone, getting it ready to cleco to the aft fuselage assembly.
August 30: A repeat offender stopped by and looked over the project. He was very complimentary of the workmanship which made me feel good! I started on the aft fuselage and right away, ran into trouble with the tailcone piece. It requires bending to conform to the F-711 and F-712 bulkheads but is difficult to bend because of its thickness. While I was figuring how to bend it, I cut and prepped the J-stringers, then clecoed the aft fuselage together. It's nice to put together something substantial.
We were able to get the 1st Annual Maryland-Delaware All Grass All Day Citabria tour in on July 23rd. It was a little hazy in the morning but then it magically cleared up into one of the best flying days of the summer. We had a great time. Some of the Citabria drivers experienced good Eastern Shore flying for the first time.
August 24: Rearranged the shop. Started on the aft fuselage.
August 22 & 23: Riveted the bulkheads. Bulkheads are complete!
August 21: Maximum effort today -- eight hours. All the bulkheads aft of F-705 are primed and ready for riveting.
August 18: Sorry, I haven't been too good about keeping the page updated. But I have been working steadily away at the bulkheads. The Firewall, F-704 and F-705 are done. The F-705 bulkhead (the one behind the seats) was a bear. I probably spent 20+ hours on it. But it's done, and I'm rapidly moving through the remaining bulkheads. I should be done with them in a week. After I bend the main longerons, it's time to start putting on skins! This August has been horrible as far as flying weather. Hot, muggy, humid, five mile hazy visibility -- it doesn't make for good flying.
July 19: I had organized a Citabria All Grass All Day Tour of Delaware-Maryland Eastern Shore but had to postpone it for weather. Bruce and I were able to do some preventive maintenance on the Citabria. Then I spent the rest of the weekend painting the house. I started working on the F705 bulkhead this week. Most of the time was spent sawing and filing aluminum.
July 13: I flew the Citabria every day from Saturday to Tuesday, including an overnight trip to Tangier Island, in the lower middle of the Chesapeake Bay. Not much work on the RV, other than edge-smoothing some bulkhead parts.
July 9: I updated my Design Decisions page. It’s kind of interesting to see how my thoughts have changed from the beginning of the project over a year ago as I’ve learned more and new products have come on the market.
July 7: I updated the site a few days ago but couldn't upload them to my web server. Turns out they did a no-notice server change on me!
July 4: Almost done with the F704 bulkhead which mainly consists of the main spar, center section. It's fairly straight-forward to do. Just the same old drilling, edge-smoothing, deburring, countersinking, priming and riveting. It took me longer than it should have, for some reason. Maybe because I'm having to study the plans more now, since the instructions don't go into much detail anymore. Also, I havn't put in any 6-8 hour sessions on the weekend in awhile. On the other hands, I've been averaging two hours a weeknight for the past couple of weeks.
I have a hangar! Yes, I am now the proud owner of a hangar at Essex Skypark. The RV-7 will have a nice roof over its head when the time comes. Now, I'll just keep my fingers crossed that Essex Skypark doesn't get closed -- a real possibility -- or the Transportation Security Agency doesn't shut down all General Aviation within 60NM of Washington D.C. -- another real possibility.
I havn't done much flying the last 3 weeks. Maryland weather has been hot, humid and hazy. Not to mention the occasional thunderstorms. I've been out to the glider field twice recently and both times there was little to no lift.
19 June 2005 - I finished the firewall during the week and started on the F-704 bulkhead. Flew the Citabria a couple of hours Saturday.
13 June 2005 - It was really hot and humid this weekend so I decided to stay in my cool basement do some serious RV building. I logged 17 hours Friday night, Saturday and Sunday. All on the firewall. I got a lot done but still have the priming and riveting to do.
A fellow Citabria driver named Diana out in Missouri posted this great video of her doing acro. Makes me want to leap in my Citabria and go ballistic.
http://www.tailwindfoundation.org/videos/spins.wmv
http://www.tailwindfoundation.org/videos/dr_take_off.wmv
http://www.tailwindfoundation.org/videos/dr_summer_breeze.wmv
8 June 05 - Making progress on the firewall. Flew the Citabria 5.7 hours Sunday on the Shenandoah Valley Poker run organized by an EAA Chapter.
3 June 05 - Finished inventorying the Fuselage kit. All parts present and accounted for. Started working on the firewall.
1 June 05 - It took me two hours to unpack the fuselage kit. I've spent about 4 hours inventorying the contents so far. One of the reasons it's taking so long is that I'm merging all the rivets with the ones from the wing kit in my organizer bins. Having the rivets and bolts organized has been a big time saver.
27 May 05 - The Fuselage Kit is in the house! Yes, ABF Freight called me on Tuesday, and today Lynnette and I took the seats out of the minivan, went over, picked it up, and brought it home. It's so heavy that we just left it in the garage instead of trying to get the crate into the basement. I'll just unpack it where it is and carry the individual components into the basement.
I started riveting nutplates onto the left wingtip.
Enjoyed a great aviation weekend on May 21-22. Finally flew the First Annual All Grass All Day Central Pennsylvania Spring tour on Saturday. On Sunday, Maggie and I went to the annual Joint Services Open House at Andrews Air Force Base. Watched some serious military hardware do some awesome flying: F18 Super Hornet, F15, C17, A10, F117 and the Thunderbirds.
Yesterday I took the Citabria up after work and did loops and rolls. My loops were a lot better than my rolls.
10 May 05 - Since returning from Sun 'N Fun I've been working on the fiberglass tips. The fuselage kit should arrive any day now. The empennage tips are all done except that I haven't riveted them yet. I want an EAA Technical Adviser to look at my empennage components before I rivet the tips on. I've started working on the right wingtip. I've fitted it to the wing and epoxied the aluminum reinforcement strips on the inside of the tip edge. Tonight I'll start installing the nutplates. I ended up buying the wingtip nutplate kit from Cleaveland Tools. I also have an Archer wingtip antenna on order for the left wingtip. It'll be my Nav antenna. I'm going with the bentwhip Com antenna for the belly.
A bunch of us Citabria drivers were going to do an All Grass, All Day flight around Pennsylvania, landing at about ten different grass fields. Should be a great time. It's been cancelled the last two Saturdays for weather; hopefully we'll get out this week.
I've started working on the Kitfox in earnest, putting in about five hours on Sunday. I attached all the tailfeathers, and started working on the firewall forward.
24 April 05 - This has been a light month for the RV. The wings are mostly done and the Fuselage kit doesn't arrive until mid-May. I've started working on the empennage fiberglass tips. I'd like to get them and the wing tips done before the fuselage kit arrives. Had a great time at Sun 'N Fun. Took off in the Citabria on a Tuesday morning and returned home around noon the following Monday. 23 flight hours! Before leaving, I worked on the Kitfox, mostly research concerning its' Rotax 582.
4 April 05 - Hung the flap to the right wing. The Flap hinges and braces are final-drilled and prepped. Conduit is in the the right wing. With the exception of the wing tips, I'm pretty much done with the wings for now. I don't want to rivet the bottom skins until I have installed the pitot tube and autopilot. And I want to wait to the last possible moment before ordering the autopilot, given the constant improvements being made on them. If I were buying right now, it would be the TruTrak Pictorial Pilot. I'm still up in the air on heated pitot tube or not. I wouldn't mind having one but I don't want to spend a lot of money on it.
I fitted, drilled and countersunk the rudder top fiberglass tip. I don't want to rivet it on until after I have an EAA Technical Adviser look at the RV, which I want to arrange after Sun 'N Fun.
Which, oh by the way, I am attending a week from tomorrow! I am stoked! I'm planning on flying the Citabria down Tuesday and flying back Sunday.
I've also started working on the Kitfox. Yesterday I discovered that I have a Rotax 582 hanging on the nose instead of the 503 I had thought. The 582 puts out 65 horses as opposed to 50 for the 503. It also has dual ignition and liquid cooling. Translation: more reliability. Talk about a pleasant surprise! I even discovered a radiator bolted to the Kitfox underbelly.
The weather has generally been really crummy lately but we did have one sunny, warm day last week during which I had a nice flight in the Citabria.
23 March 05 - Finished riveting the top skins to the right wing structure, riveted the aileron hinge brackets to the rear spar, and riveted the aileron and flap braces to the rear spar. Bolted on the aileron bellcrank and hung the aileron. I also started messing around with the rudder fiberglass tips. The weather has been mostly crummy but I was able to go flying Saturday in the Citabria which was fun.
14 March 05 - Tonight we started riveting the top skins to the right wing structure, getting a little over a fourth of it done. The rivets came out great; but it's time consuming. I can really relate to the statement "keep pounding those rivets". In the past week or so I riveted together the leading edge, installed the landing light in it, riveted the leading edge to the wing spar, mounted the fuel tank to the wing spar, and prepped the wing and skins. My parents visited and my Dad really helped me out with the project. The weather has been generally cold and windy so I havn't been flying the Citabria much. Weather permitting, I'm going to fly the Citabria to Sun 'N Fun in Lakeland, Florida in less than a month so I'm getting excited about that.
9 March 05 - The leading edge is riveted together and the landing light is installed.
27 Feb 05 - The right wing leading edge skin, ribs and join plate are all prepped, clecoed together and ready for riveting. I had a nice flight in the Citabria Saturday.
February 20 - Things are moving right along. The right wing is on the wing jig. Top and bottom skins are drilled. I'm working on the leading edge.
I ordered the Fuselage Kit on February 3rd. I probably should have ordered it sooner as the right wing is going faster than expected.
I've been doing a lot of reading about powerplants, avionics and the amateur-built airplane registration process. It's unbelievable how much you learn on a project like this. It truly is a life-changing experience.
Just received Richard Bach's A Gift of Wings from Amazon. If the first two stories are any indication, it's going to be on my list of great flying books.
February 6 - In the past week, I finished the right flap and right aileron. I started the right wing by clecoing the ribs to the front and rear spar. Yesterday I flew the Citabria down to the Norfolk area to take a look at two Kitfoxes.
January 29 - Although I havn't been keeping the web page updated, I have been working very hard on the RV. Over 81 hours this month and it's not over. I've completed most of the right flap the last two weeks and back-riveted the right aileron stiffeners to the skin. I think I've been putting a lot of hours in because January has been very cold in Maryland so there's not much else to do.
January 16 - Hung the left flap.
January 15 - My first flight in an RV! Attended a Formation Flying Day hosted by the Mid-Atlantic RV Vultures Formation Team.
January 14, 2005 - Attached the Left Wing bellcrank and control rods, hung the aileron and aligned it.
It's been a little over a year since I decided to build a plane in my basement and started building the RV-7. I thought it was a good time to add up all my builder hours in a spreadsheet and came up with the following stats:
| Horizontal Stab |
58 |
| Vertical Stab |
20 |
| Rudder |
44 |
| Elevator - Right |
35 |
| Elevator - Left |
34 |
| Wing - Left |
218 |
| Aileron - Left |
26 |
| Flap - Left |
31 |
| Other (jigs and stands) |
27 |
| Flap - Right |
20 |
| Aileron - Right |
7 |
| Total |
513 |
| Jan 04 |
6 |
| Feb |
49 |
| Mar |
35 |
| Apr |
37 |
| May |
39 |
| Jun |
45 |
| Jul |
28 |
| Aug |
33 |
| Sep |
38 |
| Oct |
52 |
| Nov |
24 |
| Dec |
46 |
| Jan 05 |
81 |
| Total |
513 |
The good news is that I worked on the RV over 450 hours in a year. Which surprised me. That's a lot of time, especially for a couch potato like me. The bad news -- given that I only have the empennage and left wing done -- is that I have a long way to go. My numbers for the empennage and one wing are close to Dan Checkoway's. So I'm going to use his numbers as a yardstick for the entire airplane. The airframe took him 1200 hours and the powerplant, avionics and miscellaneous items took another 800. I doubt if it will take me any less time than he. Probably more, since I know he worked more efficiently than I do or will. Even so, figure about 2000 hours total, which means at my current rate, I have another three years at least to go. That's OK. I enjoy the building process, I'm learning every step of the way, and I have a plane I can fly -- the Citabria. That said, I can't wait to fly my RV!
Speaking of flying, I flew 100 hours in 2004, my highest annual total ever. I flew 85 hours in the Citabria, including a cross-country to the Aviation Disneyland, Oshkosh, 13 hours in gliders and 1.5 hours in the Corben Baby Ace. I now have 480 official flight hours, 513 unofficially (includes my Ultralight time, which believe me, should count!) I have 287 tailwheel hours, 382 hours under power, and 99 hours without power (glider).
January 7, 2005 - I visited the Canada Aviation Museum in Ottawa. Nice museum. The left flap is complete. The wing stand is built and now contains the left wing. I fashioned the aileron control rods. The aileron hinge brackets are riveted on the left wing along with the aileron and flap gap seals.
December 9, 2004 - The left aileron is complete. All the flap matchdrilling, deburring, dimpling and priming is complete and the flap is ready for rivetings. Logged 5 hours on the Citabria Saturday.
December 9, 2004 - I apologize for not keeping the page up to date. Rest assured, the RV-7 project is alive and well. The top skins are riveted to the left wing. The left aileron is ready for the leading edge and trailing edge to be riveted to the spar and rib assembly. And I have started working on the left flap.
Still, I havn't got as much done on the RV as I would have liked. I was out of town on business for eight days. Then, of course, there was the Thanksgiving Holiday, getting the Christmas Tree, etc. And, I had to fly the Citabria when the weather was good, obviously. In fact, I looped and rolled it solo for the first time this last Sunday. What a rush!
Then, I lost most of the files on the home computer. It was either a hacker, a virus or my ten-year old. I think it was the former, because they really did a job on my data files. I finally got most of it back up after at least ten hours of work.