Frank's RV 12 kitplane

2011-05-04T16:38:00.000-07:00

The plane is essentially completed. The paint job is Sherwin-Williams Skyscape, a catalyst base coat - clear coat application. And it came out beautifully!

The shine is deep and the dark blue has metal flake and is gorgeous in the sunlight.

Of course, being Northern Ohio, we haven't seen much of it this spring.

The wheel pants and the cowling and tail fairings are fiberglass.

They were well made as supplied from Van's but they were loaded with pin holes and required much effort to fill and seal. The fellows at Sherwin-Williams were up to the task and did a

perfect job. They are masters at this business.

She looks great with the pants.

I purchased an iPad2 for the numerous aviation apps available. Right now my favorite app is ForeFlight. The iPad mounts well in the cockpit. I have an alternate attachment point down on the center tunnel if the high mount gets in the way.

One hiccup has been the failure of the artificial horizon on the glass panel. It required removal and shipping it back to the Washington state company. I hope to get it back within a week from now. No flying until then.

I have 23 hours on the plane now and am anxious to fly it with the new paint job. The weight increased by 40 pounds and the C.G. moved back 2.5 inches. I assume the trim requirements will now be different.

Next is concentrated flying to many airports for practice and experience prior to my hoped for Odyssey to Petaluma California.

Thanks for reading my blog. I have enjoyed building this airplane as much as anything I have done it my life. The only thing better are my three wonderful children...and my S.O....and my puppy.

Frank

2011-01-02T16:01:00.000-08:00

I'm going to go back to August 27, 2010 when I had a flat tire while doing my taxi tests.

I was completing the third pass down the taxiway and wanted to turn 180 degrees to the right when the plane would not turn. It would turn to the left but not right. I thought I might have fallen in a pot hole. Stopping the engine and deplaning, I saw the flat tire. I had to be ignominiously towed back to the FBO repair hanger to have the tire repaired. Inspection of the tube revealed this diagonal slice.

The A&P couldn't come up with a cause, even rubbing the inside of the tire didn't reveal anything interesting. All I could surmise was that at one point in the travels of the tube from manufacturer to me, someone must have inadvertently sliced it with a box cutter while unwrapping it. Needless to say, I was very grateful that it didn't happen while landing. Two years ago a Cirrus had a flat and after going off of the runway and through a sign, the insurance company had to write a check for $60,000. I then took the other two tires off and thoroughly inspected them for any damage, found none.

On November 8, on my 24th landing, the plane vibrated severely at touchdown and started to pull strongly to the left. Quick application of right rudder and right toe brake kept the plane on the runway and allowed me to let it coast to the left edge. Guess what? Another flat tire.

You can see the black squiggly line from the center of the runway to the tire.

Well, I survived a flat tire upon landing now.

The same A&P crew towed me again to the FBO repair hanger. Disassembly showed an unusual result.

The second tube had a remarkably similar slice as the first tube, in fact the slices were identical.

The A&P mechanic had never seen anything like this in his 30 years of experience.

This pointed to the tire and a very close visual inspection under a bright light showed a ply flaw that you couldn't feel and could barely see.

It looks like an errant ply thread had laid across the tire and caused the cut. I assume under pressure, the soft rubber becomes much stiffer and is tightly pressed between the internal air pressure and the inside surface of the tire.

I ordered a new tire and tube and contacted the tire vendor and supplier. They said that it was a defect covered under warranty.

After that I continued with the Production Acceptance Procedures and the plane passed all tests perfectly.

The plane is a joy to fly. I now have 20 hours on it and have completed the testing and am now able to take a passenger and go where I want to.

Note, the altimeter reads 10,000 feet MSL, the legal limit for a sport pilot.

I have installed wheel pants...

...and next week she goes in the shop for her paint job.

I'll post her new look.

Thanks for viewing my blog.

Frank

2010-10-11T11:11:00.000-07:00

On Saturday, 10-9-10, RV12 N399FP had her maiden flight!

She flew very well. I transitioned using a high-wing CTLS S-LSA and the RV12 is easier to land and takeoff. The plane feels solid and controlling it requires just fingertips on the joy stick.

I have 12 takeoffs and landings so far. The next task is flying off the required FAA test hours and filling out the production acceptance procedures that Van's requests. This will require a lot of flying incorporating all of the maneuvers that the aircraft is safely capable of.

After the conclusion of that, I will be free to travel anywhere and carry another person. Now some have asked me if I would take my little dog, Loocie, with me but she means too much to me to risk it. I'll take anyone else though.

My other goal is to paint it in time for Oshkosh next summer.

This photo is known as the "RV Grin".

Thanks for viewing my blog.

Frank

2010-09-08T16:00:00.000-07:00

Wow folks, it has been five months since I have updated my blog. That is pitiful and I have no excuse. But I have been busy since then.

The next step in the airplane construction is the engine and avionics. This was the event where I wrote the two largest personal checks ever. Talk about being choked up. But the engine and avionics packages came complete, intact and undamaged.

I first installed the servos for the two-axis auto pilot option. That required the installation of additional structural bracketry which was difficult to install at this stage of construction but was accomplished none the less.

Then attaching and wiring the servos, one for roll control (flaperons) and one for pitch control (stabilator). The wonderful thing about this Van's RV12 kit is that all of the parts are included - all nuts, bolts, washers, fittings, clamps, etc. This means no shopping trips to Home Depot (airplane people don't really buy hardware there, do they?) or Spruce aviation hardware on the web. It also means that all of the parts and pieces and bits are exactly right for the intended application. It offers a lot of confidence to me, the builder and eventual flier.

The instrument panel was prewired with all of the switches and fuses and connectors and was a simple matter to connect computer style db cables between the radio, transponder, GPS and Dynon180 EFIS.
(Electronic Flight Information System). This glass panel replaces the six common round, mechanical gauges previously found in airplanes.

I had to mill a rectangular slot in the panel to install the auto pilot control head and that fit perfectly. The next task was the getting the airframe on it's gear.

Then came the installation of the fire wall forward equipment or FWF as those in the know call it. This included all of the wiring and relays and starter solenoid and battery and 12 volt connectors and so on. Then the engine. The single largest cost item had as it's first instruction, "take a hacksaw and saw a lug off of the starter motor". Gulp! It was not needed in this application and would interfere with the engine mount anyway.

Then the entire top of the engine had to be stripped to allow the precise fitting of a cooling shroud for the cylinders.

This engine is unlike other aviation piston engines in that it has air-cooled cylinders but water-cooled cylinder heads. That will necessitate a water radiator. The engine was re-assembled and then mounted to the aircraft. Gee, I thought that maybe this airplane thing will work out after all. Then came the fitting of the engine cowling, the glassing of the radiator cooling duct, the fitting of the oil radiator, attaching the propeller and the spinner with the little pitot tube sticking out of the center looking like a miniature machine gun.
This test was determining the cylindricity of the pitot tube.

At this stage, two small lower fuselage close-out pieces were riveted and that was that!
Now things were coming together really fast.

At this point, pretty much everything was done that I could do in my garage. The vertical stabilizer, horizontal stabilator and wings had to be attached to continue. Out to the airport. My two crew, Terry the neph and Dan the friend since 1964. On the trailer.

Now in the hanger after all the remaining stuff is attached. Now control cable tensions had to be set and clearances set for all moving parts. Nothing can stick or jam

A fuel system integrity and fuel pump performance test was done. The engine, having a dry sump, has to have the oil system purged to insure oil is where it is supposed to be prior to the first start.

Then came the first start. My crew was there with fire extinguishers and my S.O.was there for support and picture taking. Wow! she is ALIVE!

Following that was calibration of the static system and pitot system. Then an software update for the Dynon was done using a laptop with downloaded programs and a computer port in the airplane. Everything has worked well so far.

Taxi tests were performed and on the third one, my left tire went instantly flat. This occurred on the main taxiway and I had to have the plane ignominiously towed to the repair hanger. The inner tube had a slice in it, not from being pinched but more like being cut with a box cutter.

All I can imagine is that during this tube's transit from it's origin to Oregon, perhaps someone wrapping or unwrapping caused the cut. The scary thing though is it held air since I originally inflated it in May and there were two previous taxi tests. I am glad it failed now instead of during my first landing. Yikes! Somebody up there likes me.

All that remains is a fuel system calibration and a compass calibration. I am still waiting on the FAA for my registration so I can hire a DAR for the airworthiness inspection. I've been told that when the weight of the paperwork equals the weight of the plane, then the FAA will be satisfied. After that inspection - first flight.

I'll post the results.

Thanks for reading my blog.

2010-04-03T15:08:00.000-07:00

775 hours have been put into this project and one year and five months have elapsed since I received the first kit.

It has been a very interesting and rewarding experience.

This is the wooden jig that Van's recommends constructing from the packing crates to place the rudder pedals correctly for setting the cable length. These guys are so very clever.

I have finished the rudder cables which required placing the fuselage on the bottom level of my work dolly to clear the low ceiling in my garage. This also enabled me to work on the canopy which is almost complete.

I also had an opportunity to sit in the cockpit, grab the joystick and make all sorts of airplane noises.

One part of the project that was unexpected required the construction of a fiberglass fairing at the base of the canopy aft of the front cowling. After some expert tutelage from Jeff Shutic, a master at resins and fiberglass, I came up with a pretty good result.

Another task is the assembly and sealing of the fuel tank. It is a smelly, sticky and unpredictable task. I would prefer to pay a couple of hundred bucks for a poly or welded aluminum tank. But it is what it is. So far I have everything but the top, vent tube, sight glass and sending unit plate sealed. That will take place soon.
Even the gas filler cap is slick!

The day came when I had to bring the wings back from storage and fit them to the fuselage. This goes without saying that it is pretty important that the wings fit.

My helpful nephew, Terry, assisted me. The wings weigh about 88 pounds but they are impossible to move by oneself. I rented the stake truck that Home Depot has available and with a jury-rigged tailgate extender, we were able to to transfer the two wings, flaperons and wing cart in three trips. Luckily my storage facility is only about a mile away.

The wings do fit, the flaperons flap and ailerate too. The Jesus pins go in, sometimes with some force but having someone jiggle the wings helps.

All that remains of the finishing kit is installing the landing gear and brakes and tires.

The engine and avionics will arrive next week but the Rotax engine sensors are on back order.

As of Easter Sunday, there are sixteen weeks until Oshkosh.

2010-01-24T16:55:00.000-08:00

Well here I am again. To those of you who are patiently awaiting my updates, I am a dunce and a slow one at that.

The hardware in the picture is the Fiberglas tail cone material. It looks like this .. And this when completed...

I finished the engine cowling. Nothing very difficult but very tedious to sand-install-fit-remove-sand-install-fit-remove...you get the picture. I am pleased now that my airplane has a face

Even the little trapdoor for oil access came out well

It took 48 hours to finish the tail cone and engine cowling.
I then started on the fuel tank, preparing the metal but had to order the sealant. I switched instead to the electrical wiring. There seem to be a lot of wires in this plane. I will order the two-axis autopilot tomorrow when I place the order for the avionics kit. I included all of the optional wiring during the assembly

I tipped the fuselage on it's side and left off the turtle back and side skins. Good move on my part, suggested by both Jerry and Marty. Thanks guys. These guys really know how to blog.

I had a lot of trouble with the spar pins and the magnetic reed switches. This item should be improved to meet the elegance of design that the rest of the plane has. It is finicky and seems mickey mouse. I would have incorporated a micro switch. Anyway, after finally realizing that a reed switch was inoperative and a new one was received from Van's, I got that part completed.

I strung the rest of the wiring and installed the connectors for the autopilot. The bushings are full of wire. I don't think I can pass another strand of 22 gauge wire through some of them

Finally I wanted to install the joysticks. I passed the PTT switch wire through the joysticks.

But trouble arose when I tried to install them. The brass bushing used has an internal diameter of 0.245" on the print and the AN6 bolt has an external diameter of 0.247". This would be an interference fit of -0.002". Measuring the ID of the bushing shows it to be 0.241". This makes an interference fit of -0.006". Not going to work. A call to Van's is next.

At this point, I have 647 hours invested.

A wonderful coincidence occurred. At the suggestion of some of my fellow EAA chapter 127 members, I surfed the EAA website for technical counselors. I wanted a documentation trail of my build. Looking in the local Ohio section, I found a counselor in Oberlin Ohio. His name is Walter Edling. The first college I went to in 1965-66 was the Lorain County Community College and I received a degree in Mechanical Engineering Technology. One of my favorite professors was a Dr. Walter Edling. I figured this might be his son. When he answered the phone and I identified myself and asked him if he ever taught at LCCC he said "I remember you". So my old prof came over and was very supportive and complimentary about my build ethic and work shop. Dr. Edling is on the left. The other two are members of the EAA 255 chapter who wanted to see a RV 12.

2009-09-17T12:29:00.000-07:00

Time for another blog update. It's obvious that I am not a good blogger but I hope I am a better airplane maker. I have made good progress these last ten weeks. Here are some photos of construction of the empennage.The bird finally has tail feathers and is starting to look like an airplane.

This photo of the anti-servo tab used for trim on the stabilator indicates the quality of the design of this plane. I've flown two other planes with this design, a Piper Warrior and a CT and I always wondered how they worked. Now I know.

The tail cone is being joined to the fuselage. This looks exactly like a photo taken in the Boing plant when they join the fuselage together for the 747, except a little smaller. My workforce is smaller too.

This is my total crew. Having a "sky hook" makes a lot of tasks much easier.

The fitting of the polycarbonate turtle deck back light. This started out to be very difficult until I remembered other bloggers stating that working with the canopy is safer and easier if the environment was warm. I inserted an electrical resistance heater in the baggage compartment and let the temperature stabilize around 99 F and over a three hour period, gradually inserted the clecoes until all of the holes lined up. Then match-drilled the roll bar, removed the polycarbonate and tapped the numerous holes to a 6-32 thread. My consummate skill as a lay machinist was at it's peak until I broke the tap off with only three holes to go. Luckily I was able to break the tap out and salvage the threaded hole. The bloggers also expressed concern about drilling holes in the polycarbonate. It has a tendency to fracture if the correct drill bit or technique is not used. I did purchase a special drill bit for drilling plastics and also brought an old hand powered drill at an antique show last month. The combination of those allowed a successful completion of enlarging the holes in the polycarbonate.

There she is, empennage kit complete. The wings, fuselage and empennage kits basically complete the structure of the airplane. The finishing kit has been ordered with expected arrival about 4-6 weeks. Then there is the avionics kit and the engine kit. Total build time to date has been 542 hours. Van's indicates about 600-900 hours to build sans paint. I won't make the 600 mark but might make the 900 mark.

It would be sweet to fly to Oshkosh next July...

2009-06-29T17:06:00.000-07:00

Now at 391 total hours.

I just returned from a two week jaunt to Alaska and California visiting my two sons. Not a good excuse for being slow on updating this blog but it is the best I can come up with..

The fuselage kit needs only interior painting, some additional rivets, the 1/4" return fuel line and the fitment of the turtle deck backlight. This sounds like "just a few" items but I'm sure they will be demanding.

I intend to turn the fuselage on it's side which should then allow me to complete the fuel lines and commence interior painting while standing comfortably. Otherwise its like working over a deep bathtub.

No major problems have occurred to date, thanks to Marty's and Jerry's blogs and Van's most excellent plans. I've read their blogs prior to starting various sections and they have saved me much time and re-do work.

This section was much more complicated than the wing section - many more and different pieces. When the shipping box first arrived, it didn't seem like there was that much to it

Once the pieces and parts started to come out of it, the parts count grew tremendously.

I received a notice from Van's that kit#3, the empennage and tailcone was shipped three days ago. Perhaps it will be here by the Fourth of July. Gotta get busy.

I am looking forward to Oshkosh this year, especially if any pioneering RV12s might make it. I sure hope so.

I am intending to ride my Valkyrie to Wisconsin and spend three days and four nights (Wednesday - Friday).

I was able to sell my Zodiac rudder that I built at the Zenith rudder workshop through Barnstormers. The fellow who bought it says he has built a number of planes and flies an AT6.

I hope to meet Marty and Jerry and the rudder buyer in Oshkosh and any other interested aviation enthusiast. I'll be staying at Boelters adjacent to the ultralight area.

See you in Oshkosh.

2009-04-12T07:36:00.000-07:00

Fuselage work continues. Three hundred and five hours have gone into the project. The lower fuselage from the firewall back to the end of the baggage/fuel tank floor area has been completed.

No major mistakes have been made to date but availing myself of the knowledgeable builder assist services at Vans has made my progress steady and uneventful.

I also am following Marty's and Jerry's builder blogs (very detailed and informative), intending to use their experiences to supplant my lack of knowledge. Of course, one of the times that I skipped reading their blogs prior to a major assembly point, I realized I should have.

I had already attached the lower front fuselage to the middle section and then I read Marty's blog. He stated that it would be much better to attach the F1207 E&L vertical supports to the front of the middle section before attaching the front section to it.

Oops!

The problem is that there is minimal room to get a rivet puller in the tight area after the front section is attached. There are four rivets for each vertical support. The rivets can be inserted but due to the curvature of the belly skin, there is no room for a straight pull.

I had already made an angle plate to allow pulling rivets when they are too close to a bulkhead to permit a straight pull. I made a much smaller version and used a small, 40-year old Montgomery Ward rivet puller to successfully pull all eight rivets flush and square. Hooray!

The next step is bending the aluminum angle longerons to fit the curvature of the mid-fuselage.

Fuselage work continues...

2009-03-01T17:33:00.000-08:00

At this point, I am at 245 hours of build time and just finished attaching the seat assembly ribs to the center section bulkhead.

This section of assembly is more detailed and varied from the wings portion. There are many more parts, fasteners and hardware pieces that have to be identified and used.

I did a thorough inventory of all parts short of counting the quantity of different rivets and then listed the location of each bag of hardware and miscellaneous parts as I secreted them throughout the house. The spare bath tub is an excellent repository for big pieces and buckets of little parts. Under the bed has space for large panels and long pieces.

There are two other RV12 bloggers (Marty's RV 12 and Jerry Greenburg's RV12) who have created blogs that are terrific for their detail and content. They are far ahead of me and I often read over what they have done in the section I am working on. In fact, if I would have read Marty's blog yesterday before I cut the hinge sections for the seat backs, I wouldn't have messed it up and might now have to buy more hinge material.

2009-02-10T13:05:00.000-08:00

At 191 hours the flaperons are completed. It took longer then I thought it should but then again, I never did anything like this before. The error I made with the pivot attach brackets was corrected by ordering a new piece of AEX and building new brackets. The comparison photos showing the offset original bracket position to the now corrected bracket makes it worth it. It took about 11 hours total to repair.

The only other problem occurred when riveting the A1207 actuation brackets. The rivet squeezer was too large to allow the manufactured head to sit in the die pocket and the shop head to be formed correctly. The holes were too close to the angle of the bracket. I fabricated a shop head die holder from a piece of 1/2 thick steel and clamped it in a vise. This allowed me to form the shop head with a punch making it flat and square.

The fuselage is next.

The wings is done, the wings is done!

2009-01-25T07:26:00.000-08:00

The wings have been completed and mounted on a rack and put into storage.

The next task is the completion of the flaperons.

This is where the I made my first major mistake.

I jumped at the chance of making the four pivot attach brackets out of the AEX aluminum

extrusion because I could use my layout and machining skills.

Well, the parts came out very well and I was justifiably proud.

Keep in mind the saying "pride goeth before a fall".

The plans require a reference hole to be drilled in the upper left-hand corner. This hole will serve to locate the pivot bracket on the flaperon spar. Then the remaining seven holes are to be match drilled to the spar.

I mounted the pivot bracket, drilled the seven holes for each of the four pivot brackets and then noticed that the two rows of holes in each pivot bracket were not symmetrical with the part centerline.

As you can see, the left row of holes is closer to the centerline then the right row. The position of the heim joint that will attach to the wing is not in the center of the hole in the flaperon nose skin.

Where did I make my mistake?

I marked the location of the first reference hole and then set up a jig in my drill press to drill all four pivot brackets exactly the same.

I wasn't careful enough with the jig and introduced a 0.075" lateral position error that then transferred to all four brackets.

I will do better next time.

The design work and the manufacturing of this kit plane continues to amaze me. The fit and quality of parts used is the best it can be.

I did not want to contribute my part if it was not up the the already delivered standards from Vans.

I might have been able to make this work but the two holes don't line up like Van intended.

I ordered new AEX from Vans and will redo the parts correctly.

While waiting, I started to inventory the fuselage kit which arrived three weeks ago. I thought the wings were complex and had many parts.

Well, I ain't seen nothin' yet.

Many different kinds of squeeze rivets and pull rivets and AN nuts and bolts and washers and brackets and levers and buckets of different parts and pieces are coming out of the box.

The people who count the parts, bag them and wrap and package them are masters at their trade. If I were asked to get everything back into the box and close the lid, I would need a steamroller to make everything fit.

2008-12-28T16:03:00.000-08:00

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

2008-12-06T09:52:00.000-08:00

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.

2008-11-11T10:03:00.000-08:00

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.

2008-09-23T08:20:00.000-07:00

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?

2008-09-04T09:00:00.000-07:00

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.

2008-09-03T07:33:00.000-07:00

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.