This is milestone posting with 100 hours of work accomplished. At this point, the wings are ready for their inboard and outboard top skins to be riveted.

According to Vans, with a 600 to 900 hour assembly time, I am now either 1/6th or 1/9th of my way to completion.

A few mistakes have been made and three rivets will have to be drilled out and replaced but removal of the pulled rivets is very easy.

I have a recurrence of carpel tunnel irritation so I purchased a pneumatic cleco gun. I would recommend it to anyone simply because it is so much faster to install and remove clecos. I also purchased a Ryobi 4 Volt nut driver and turned an adaptor for the deburring of holes. That also relieves excessive wrist motion. The nut driver turns at 150 rpm and has Li-ion batteries and holds a charge for a long time.

After installing the hinge brackets for the flaperons, one of my fellow EAA members asked how would I know if they are aligned properly. I came up with a laser mounted on a camera tripod and focused the laser beam through the holes in the hinge brackets. I figured that if the laser beam goes through all of the brackets and shows up on the far garage door, then the bracket holes are in line. I gauged both wings and they seemed to be aligned properly.

Currently I am at a build time of 113 hours. It just took me this long to update the blog.

Wing Construction

Now at 73 hours of construction time.

This accumulated time does not include workshop or tool modifications. I made some errors with the ribs which resulted in re-doing some work. I didn't realize that the terminology used to identify the parts was different than I was assuming. There are two sets of ribs, main and nose and within those sets is the label "L" and "R". For example W1208-L is a nose rib which I mistakenly assumed was for the left wing. The identification for each spar is given as W1206R and W1206L for left wing and right wing. I continued with this logic which caused my confusion and a total of four ribs across the two wings had to be corrected. What the "L" and "R" actually means for the ribs is simply the direction of the flange bend related to the forward longitudinal axis of the plane. (Vision of smacking forehead with hand).

I tried to proceed very cautiously to avoid these kinds of errors but my naivete catches up with me every so often. But as time passes and I complete more actions like rivet squeezing, dimpling and match drilling, I am becoming more aware of the process.

I must compliment Vans on the clarity of the assembly instructions. I found that if you study a complicated assembly procedure enough, it becomes more clear and doable.

I have called Vans builders assistance on occasion and always received a polite and comprehensive solution to my question.

One issue that was their fault cropped up when I was attaching the nose ribs to the left spar. The nose rib #12 (from outboard) rear flange did not seat flush (0.100" gap) with the spar when the attach bracket holes were clecoed. This in turn resulted in the nose rib protruding beyond the the line of the other nose ribs. I first thought this was an improperly made rib - too long. But that seems to be unlikely since all of the nose ribs are probably made with the same die. The problem actually was an improperly positioned attach bracket. The bracket had too much depth and was used at a different location on the spar. Someone must have picked out of the wrong bin. Since the attach bracket was already riveted to the spar with large rivets, replacing it was not an option. Calling Vans and speaking to Ken Scott, he suggested to cleco to the spar and re-drill the six holes in between the original holes. He also said that these extra holes will make the plane lighter. Gee, I hope it doesn't go faster than the FAA maximum allowed now.

I have finished the structure for both wings and am currently installing the stall warning switch.

One photo shows a modified engine crane I bought to enable me to move these awkward wing structures around the shop.

Next is the skinning process.

The wing kit has arrived!

October 24, 2008 the ABF truck pulled up with two very heavy and awkward boxes. Now I have to get to work as the reality of what I have done hits me.

I have decided to log every event in a notebook along with digital photos. This might be useful when applying for an airworthiness permit from the FAA when I (dare I say it?) am done.

In the intervening time since the delivery, other life events have occurred, as in every one's life but I have accumulated about 25 hours of build time.

I did have to drill out an errant rivet and availed myself of the excellent how-to videos on the EAA home builders website before attempting same. It was successful and I felt a little pride.

Looking ahead in the plans book reveals a complicated (to a novice) but very well thought out sequence of procedures that will result in a structurally sound and aerodynamically straight wing that will carry me safely into the sky. Pretty poetic, huh?

A lot of small parts had to be assembled and it seems that the bulk of the time will be spent on deburring the metal. All of the holes are pierced except those that are drilled during assembly and all of the panels and parts are sheared. These operations leave sharp edges that must be removed to avoid stress concentration concerns and to insure proper rivet bonding requirements. The deburring tools purchased from Avery Tools are excellent for the task.

The following photos show an angle device I milled to allow riveting close to brackets, some miscellaneous parts and rivet squeezing.

Based upon the recommendation of Vans plans book, I ordered a boat load of tools necessary to build my airplane. I started with a spreadsheet and listed all of the tools supplied by three vendors. I was looking for quality, application and cost comparisons. The results indicated that Avery Tools was the best choice with Cleaveland Tools a close second. I ordered everything except the rivet squeezer from Avery. Cleavland supplied the squeezer. Why? I thought it looked the coolest.

I always appreciated tools and it was only later in life that I was able to purchase quality tools rather than affordable ones.

A good craftsman can make a good product with an inferior tool but a poor craftsman will make inferior parts with good tools.

I hope to improve my skills to be worthy of my tools and to build a most excellent airplane.

Why choose a RV 12?

During my first series of flying lessons in early 1993, the concept of building my own airplane seemed very appealing. I was looking in depth at a Kitfox. My training plane was a Cessna 152 and the association was natural. When I reconvened my flying lessons last year and finished in a Piper Warrior with a private pilot license, a low wing, all metal airplane seemed like a better choice. Reverting to the Light Sport Catagory and attending the Sebring LSA show, the Sun and Fun show and multiple Oshkosh conventions caused me to select the Zenith CH601 with a quickbuild option. I attended the Zenith rudder workshop in Mexico, MO last year and built the rudder seen in the photograph. With my desire to build a Experimental-Light Sport Aircraft (E-LSA) rather than a Experimental-Amateur Built (E-AB), the Vans' RV 12 fit the requirements. Rans' S-19 and Zenith's CH601 now CH650 are not E-LSA buildable. After talking with a number of RV builders (and there are vast numbers of them) I felt a trip to Aurora, OR was in order. Seeing Van's factory and flying the prototype was all of the convincing I needed. The order was placed and the wing kit should arrive in about two months.

Initial Post.

Hello. My name is Frank and I am an enthusiastic latecomer to aviation. I recently passed my private pilot checkride and am flying now in the light sport catagory. I took my flight training in the Cessna 150, 152 and Piper Warrior airplanes. I currently fly a CTsw at LPR. I purchased a Van's RV 12 airplane kit and will be using this blog to share my experiences during the construction. I've read other blog sites doing a similar thing and have gained knowledge and information about the techniques, tools and travails in airplane construction.