The Waiting Game

I know, I know, I said I'd be making more regular posts. However, it's been a waiting game for the Feds to give my refund to me and then paying off bills to enable me to make all the purchases I need; tools, equipment, EMPENNAGE! So, I expect that I will definitely be ordering all my goods in April. I apologize for my tardiness yet again.

In the meantime, I've done a few things to prepare. I've been doing a lot of research on air compressors. So, how much should I spend? Single- or two-stage compressor? 60 gallons? 80 gallons? I've seen the gammut for everything from 20 gallon to 80 gallon compressors. I usually don't like buying my "quality" equipment from Harbor Freight but in this case, I'm considering a two-stage, 60 gallon, 5 hp for their current sale price of $799. It's made by U.S. General. I was considering an Ingersoll-Rand for $400 more but can I justify the price? I've seen reviews go all over the page, high and low with both. If anyone has any weigh-in on this subject, please, indulge me. I've been vacilating for a while on this decision. I can afford the $400 but again, is it justified? I could certainly put those clam$ towards something else.

Ok, I've mentioned before that I'm going with Plane Tools' RV tool kit. Hey, how can you go wrong with a kit from a company that gives 100% lifetime warranty on 95% of the items in the kit?! No, the drill bits and Scotch Brite wheel and pads are NOT warranted! I'll be getting a few extra goodies as well, such as: accordian fan, 0-600 in lb torque wrench, sheet metal nibbler, flush swivel rivet set, longeron yoke, 4" thin nose yoke, 37° tubing flare tool, tubing bender, tight fit dril kit, tungsten bar and the RV-10 option which includes more Clecos so I can avoid having to get more later. I'll probably call Plane Tools before I order to make sure I'm not doubling something inadvertently and ask about a couple other things. I've been looking around for rivet backing plates and I can't see spending what is asked (typically about $65 for a 3/8"x4"x15") for these smaller plates that some merchants offer. I stopped into a local steel supplier and they quoted roughly $100 for a 1/2"x12"x24" piece of cold rolled steel plate. It's still cheaper in the long run. Still, I'll be checking a few other places to see what I can find. If you're wondering about the cold rolled steel, it's supposed to have a smoother finish over all compared to hot rolled. I'd prefer that especially when laying skins against the surface. I'll probably tape the surface anyway for protection but still...

A month ago or so I bought the amateur builder kit from EAA for about $13. It has everything you need to get started. It lets you know all about the certification process. It has a step-by-step certification guide, all the forms you'll eventually need and information about reserving your N number. It also includes an EXPERIMENTAL sticker as well as panel and other stickers you can use for labeling. It also has a MFR plate. If you're a member it's $13 and about 20 bucks for non-members.


I'm also enrolled in a private pilot ground school. I don't have much stick time as a pilot and could always use a refresher. "A Good pilot is always learning". The cool thing is they're doing this through my employer FREE! I already have the books so I'm just going to sit in and listen to several instructors cover everything from A-Z through a 9-week couse, 1 night a week for 3 hours. I'm looking forward to it! At the kickoff meeting we went around the room and introduced ourselves and I mentioned that I'm going to build an RV-7A and got razzed for not going with a tail-wheel by a couple of the instructors. Geez! We'll see. Right now, I'm set on an A but who knows.

That's it for now folks. Thanks for your patience and comments. Stay tuned. I'll get this thing going soon! I can't wait! In the meantime, more research and looking for inexpensive goods and continue setting up shop. :) KPR! Take Care and Thanks For Reading!

Tenacity & Determination

Where do I begin? Okay, I know it's been awhile since my last post. Shame on me. I dislike watching someone's post religiously and all of a sudden, they stop or something happens where there are no more posts, like SELLING THEIR PROJECT MID-BUILD!!! It's irritating. My apologies. I like to try to keep the posts regular and fresh.

Nothing has been happening lately with the empennage procurement process. I've been feeling a financial pinch for a while and had considered planning to get the empennage before the kit price goes up February 1st, "High Noon". That said, I have plans to use tax money for the emp kit as well as an RV tool kit from Isham. I've done a little searching and see by the comments that the pricing goes up about 3% each year and Van's has been consistent in the past few years. However, the economy being what it is may have an affect on that. We'll see. My math tells me to expect a $50 increase or so. I can handle that. This is all the tenacity part.

Now, determination. I talk to my friends and family now and then about the endeavor. I get a lot of questions like "Why don't you just put your money towards something already built?" or "Why don't you do a partnership or co-ownership or co-op?". Any builder will maybe tell you that it's the endeavor itself. The building of your own aircraft that you can say you built all by yourself. Well, with a little help from your friends, right? On top of that, for the price you put into an RV and what you get out of it compared to a manufactured, light plane are light years apart. Not to mention the speed and performance differences. Some like to fly low and slow and others like to get there yesterday. An RV is somewhere in between. And, in some cases, you can do both! There are a lot of other issues to consider as well, like the maintenance aspects and what you have to put in cost-wise to a manufactured plane and if you don't have an A&P, how much of that work you have to have someone else perform? Now, don't get me wrong, I firmly believe that, in the major cases, work performed by you then go flying is like proofreading your own work.  There may be a mistake or two. I plan to have others either check my work or in the case of engine maintenance, have a reputable person or business do the work. You can't just park at a "sky-curb" to check out what that funny sound is under the hood or call AAA for a tow. I value my life as well as the lives of anyone flying with me. *Stepping off of soapbox*

So, it is with some of those questions that I start vacillating and wondering if I should continue forth and build my own and fly when I can while building or focus in a different direction and consider buying into a partnership or get an old-as-dirt, economical bird. I still have a little time to weigh my options and give it more thought. I recently painted my living room and a very long hallway and put up rain gutters on my house in addition to a few other things done during my holiday vacation (partly why I'm a tardy poster). I'm a pretty mechanically minded, hands-on guy and I believe that is a driving factor as to why I want to build. It's something I can really call my own and be very proud of and enjoy the process of learning new things, things I can add to my bag of tricks, continue to evolve as a Jack-of-all-trades. I'm kind of like that. If I want to work on something I've never done before, I'll research and get all the information I can on the subject and attack it. Piano tuning, rain gutter installation, pool equipment repair, vehicle maintenance & repair, major window shutter installation in addition to home maintenance and repair, just to name a few. My wife will tell you all about it. I think she gets a kick out of it. It's not that I'm cheap and want to save a buck. No, I just like to take care of things myself if I'm able. Why not!?

I'll let you know soon how things are going. As always, I appreciate all commentary and words of support and encouragement. Take care and Thanks For Reading and I'll try to be more frequent with posting. ;o)

Chapter 1 - Ohm's Law

Confused? Don't be. This past weekend, I had the great experience of attending EAA's SportAir Workshop - "Electrical Systems, Wiring & Avionics". On top of that, the workshop was held at Flabob Airport (RIR), home of EAA Chapter 1!

EAA Chapter 1 at the Flabob (RIR) Airport
in Riverside, CA

A Cool Model Displayed Next to the Restaurant
Ahh, Brings Back Memories - LOL!

There were a number of workshops held at the same time during this weekend. In addition, there was a "What's Involved In Kit Building" session held Saturday evening with a pizza dinner. Quite a bit of information was given out regarding all aspects of planning, selecting, building, completion, flight testing, operating and references for your own amateur-built aircraft. One big thing I took away is that when you're interested in building your own aircraft, you should seriously consider ordering the $13 (for members) "Amateur Built Certification Kit" from EAA. The kit includes everything you need to register and certificate a new experimental amateur-built aircraft. I'll have my check in the mail very soon for this little gem. It'll save a lot of time and headache!

Our Speaker for the Kit Building Information Session
(I didn't get his name)

The Electrical Systems workshop was a lot of fun, very educational and quite informative. Our instructor was EAA's Kas Osterbuhr. He's a very knowledgeable guy with a lot of wiring experience. I've seen a number of his "Hints for the Homebuilder" videos on the EAA website. I highly recommend all of the Hombuilder videos as they are chock full of information. Check 'em out!

Our Instructor, Kas Osterbuhr

There was a huge amount of information covered. There are a lot of things to consider when designing the electrical system on your plane. You need to think of how everything will be connected and how things will work without having any problems or issues and something that will last for the life of your plane. Are you going to build for VFR day or night? IFR day or night? What kind of panel will you have and how will it all be connected? I learned you should take some butcher paper and layout your design. Take your time when laying things out. Well, that's a given in ALL aspects of your build. A good layout will help you a great deal and save you a lot of time down the road. Kas also reconstructs aviation accidents. Some of his information from accident reconstruction makes you stop and think more carefully of how NOT to put yourself in a situation that could go bad. Be smart!  Document and diagram all of your build very meticulously. It will be of great importance should you ever need to go back to something for a fix, repair or change later down the road.

I've never really learned much about electricity or its theories. Kas mentioned, and I agree that this course should be divided into two courses, a beginners and an advanced course. That said, I was able to muddle through and learned about electricity from the "physical" perspective, volts, amps, ohms, watts, capacitors, switches, diodes and what they all are and how to work with them, hence, Ohm's Law (Volts = Amps * Ohms (V=IR)).

I won't go into details here because I'm still trying to wrap my head around a lot if it. Good thing I received some valuable reference material to get me started! I plan to get a "Dummies" book to have on hand to fill in the blanks (wow are there are a lot blanks right now...).

We learned soldering, wire termination, installing various types of connectors and understanding when and where to install the right types of connectors. In addition, we received a ton (well, a bunch anyway) of reference material and all the tools you can expect to need/use when it comes time to start electrical installation. Oh Boy! Here is some of my handiwork:

First Major Project - Intercom Wiring
with a D-Sub Connector

Wire Stripping by HAND! Satisfying When Done Right :D

The Same Antenna Cable From Above Terminated with a BNC Connector

And the Final Project - A Panel With 2 Lights, One Dimmable.
The Instructors Model Shown on Bottom, Mine on Top. It Worked!

 After constructing the "Instrument Panel", you need to go through measuring various information such as dissipation with various power settings, voltage, resistance with various settings, how much current draw, etc. There is a lot of information to consider when building your own panel and plane.

Well, I can't wait to get started! Turns out that the person interested in my '72 bug declined to make the purchase. That said, it looks like my empennage purchase may be a bit delayed. No worries! All in time. I was merely looking to save a few bucks before Van's pricing goes up next year. I've heard that prices go up early in the year but not sure. If anyone can confirm that, it would be very appreciated.

Well, that's my story for now and I'm sticking with it! Take care and Thanks For Reading!

Status, Workshop, Patience

Hi Gang! First, status. I've been chomping at the bit to get the empennage kit ordered. I've also been over anxious to get my tool kit ordered. The emp kit is currently pending as I'm waiting to get my VW Bug sold. I'm driving it in to work this Wednesday for a potential buyer to take a look. When it's sold, cha-ching! It'll go to the purchase of the tail kit. As far as the tool kit goes, I was very tempted to put it on a credit card last weekend. I slammed the brakes on that  decision as I don't want to have any major debt starting to pile up on this build. That said, I've made the decision that if I can't purchase with cash, I'll wait, hence the Patience. So, saving up is the right thing to do and peace of mind at the same time. It's not a race, no rush, take my time, etc. After all, I'm still young... right? Right! 

Now, EAA Workshop. I've signed up for the "Electrical Systems and Avionics" workshop that will be held in Riverside, CA., 11/19-20. In addition, there will be a "What's Involved in Kit Building" session Saturday evening. I don't think I got all I really expected at the Van's Assembly workshop I recently attended and this presentation promises to deliver all the information that I missed. "The goal of this seminar is to take you through the entire building process, discuss the relevant FAA rules (in plain English) and to dispel some of the common misconceptions involved in building your own aircraft. This seminar is invaluable for anyone desiring to build an airplane, either kit or plans-built". Other things that will be discussed are insurance, regulations, the build process, timeframe, and other things one should know before embarking on such a huge project. I work with a friend that owns her own RV-6 and is very interested in going to the 2-day seminar so she can become more familiar with electrical systems and avionics of her airplane for the benefit of inspection, repair and possibly replacing components. If she does sign up, I may fly down with her which ought to be fun. Maybe I can even get some stick time in an RV which I've yet to experience.

Patience is a virtue. At least that's what my Mom has been telling me for years! Some people have it, others wish they possessed it. I'm a little of both. I have patience but it sometimes takes me a while to pause and reflect then go out and make the right decision. It's taken most of my 48 years to learn this but I think getting better at it. You'd have to ask my family and my wife about that! Creative Financing is also something I've been learning for a long time. I believe I've come up with a plan that will help get more of my project launched sooner than I had expected so we'll see how things go.

That's about it for now so thanks for tuning in and Thanks for Reading!

RV Assembly Workshop Weekend

Hi Gang! So I'm back from D.C. I had a great weekend in Virginia visiting my brother and his family. We carved pumpkins and such. A nice time was had by all.

I attended the EAA SportAir, Van's Assembly Workshop in Frederick, MD, which is about an hour from my brother's place so it worked out pretty well to visit and attend the workshop. It was held at the Frederick airport (FDK), in the EAA Chapter 524 Aviation Education Center hanger.

Our Host Location for the Weekend - EAA Chapter 524

Yep, I've never driven a rivet or even pulled a pop rivet, aka, blind rivet in my life. Yeah, I've done minor sheet metal and aluminum repair around the house here and there but never had or required the need to rivet anything.

Rivets Guys & Gals! It's Just the Beginning

This workshop comes highly recommended by many in the airplane kit building community. The Van's Assembly one is more focused on the Van's line of aircraft. This course was taught by Jack Dueck. What a fantastic instructor. He is a wealth of knowledge when it comes to Van's airplanes and sheet metal in general. He owns his own business and knows this stuff up, down, left & right!

Jack Dueck - Van's Assembly Instructor

All aspects of building a Van's plane are covered from the introduction of RV Aircraft building, learning the required information and steps involved, gaining the necessary hands-on skills with the tools and materials and building one's confidence level for a Van's project. Everything is discussed and nothing is missed. A Powerpoint show is presented to familiarize you with what to expect during the course.

Let's Get to Work!

You then start work on a personal project to get you acquainted with the tools, drilling, deburring, riveting and even drilling out those bad rivets and fixing the errors. After a little work on that, you'll be teamed up with a partner and work on a wing section project. This is pretty exticing, building an actual representation of what you'll be building when you order your first kit, the empennage. I had a great partner and we did really well overall. Our project got an EXCELLENT signoff by Jack. What a great feeling. Yeah, we could've done a little better but for first-timers, WAHOO!! I only injured myself a little bit. Well, some might say it was major but it did not require any stitches. I accidentally missed the wood backing block when drilling through the aluminum and went straight into my left index finger. No pictures here kids. Not for the squeamish. OUCH! I bled like a stuck pig! Fortunately, one of the attendees (John) was previously a medic so he assisted with the cleanup on aisle 5, LOL! Quick clean, gauze and a little duct tape go along way! Back to the project.

Simple Yes, But I Can't Wait to Get Started

My building partner, Tony, owns his own RV-7A but is very interested in building his own. He bought his -7A back in April and has about 300 hours in it but he really wants to build. He'll sell his -7A after he finishes his build. His bird is really put together well, very clean.

Build Partner Tony Climbing in his RV-7A

All in all, I had a fantastic experience with the workshop. I plan to take the Electronics & Avaionics workshop in November out here in Riverside. I won't fly across the country ,if I can help it, to attend a seminar/workshop again. As others do, I highly recommend this course if you are interested in building your own kit airplane. Here are a few more pics from the weekend.

Frederick's Municipal Airport Building - FDK

Larry (left) & Wally - EAA Chapter 524 Members

EAA Chapter 524 Members Wally (left) & Doug
Watching Tony Prepare to Depart in his RV-7A

The Workshop Classroom

Our Not Yet Finished Wing Project, Rivet Tape &
Our Personal Projects Staked Waiting for Us

Thanks for Reading!

EAA SportAir Workshop

Howdy all! Short post this time. Just thought I'd catch you up with what's going on. I'm on a flight to D.C. tomorrow to attend the Van's RV Assembly workshop in Frederick, Maryland. I'll be visiting my brother as well and staying with him and his family while there. The workshop is about an hour away, not too bad in the grand scheme of things. I'm real anxious to start gathering more information on RV building, the ins and outs of FAA regs and requirements, etc.

In November, they are having additional workshops at the Riverside, CA airport, Flabob (RIR). They are planning to have an Electrical Systems and Avionics workshop which is recommended. I plan to attend that one.

That's about it for now. Oh, I think I found a buyer for my '72 bug so that means I'll become an official builder soon, hopefully before end of year. I'll get the empennage kit with that money, then a tool kit very soon after then start the process. I know, I should already have the tool kit but I'm trying to beat the increase of pricing on the Van's kits which usually happen in January. Either way, I'll be busy. I'll need to construct the EAA Tables as well and that will certainly keep me busy for a couple days.

Have a great weekend and I'll let you know next week how things went. Thanks for Reading!

The Workspace

Ok, so I'll tell you about the workspace. I have a 3-car garage that has, amazingly, 3 cars parked in there. Most people use a garage for anything BUT cars, like storage, a game room, or, heaven forbid, an actual workshop. Well, I recently bought a MINI Cooper and didn't want to keep it out in the elements so I cleared about 70 sqare feet for it. Yeah, it doesn't take up much space. So, I plan to start off working in the 1-car space for the interim. I'll slowly spread out and use more space and kick somone out of the 2nd part of the garage in addition to myself being kicked out for the space. Maybe I'll just park the Coop in the living room. Wife ought to love that! Love you Wifey!



Preview of Things to come - The "Before"

There is a cool plan set for a pair of workbenches that can be found here at the EAA website. The plans will make 2 benchs about 2' deep x5' wide x 34" high. They've been built by many builders and seem to be just the ticket for the workspace. If you look around, you can find various mods for them. One site I like has you attaching a couple casters on one end for easier portability. You can find one idea here at the EAA videos site. I did the math on this little project and the cost at my local Lowes is approximately $175. I followed the bill of materials for the pricing. I could go with cheaper materials to save a few bucks but I'm going to be building on these tables for a few years so I'd like them to last. I've seen others out there add drawers to benefit keeping tools closer to the work area. I'm considering doing this as well. Drawer slides go for about $25 a set for the size of drawer that'll fit these benches.

EAA's Workbench Design

That's the update for now. I'll be going to the EAA RV Builders Workshop in D.C. next Saturday, 10/22. I'm really stoked about that! I'll be visiting my brother when there as well. Good times! Take care for now and Thanks for Reading!

The Process

Ok, for those who don't know the process of building a kit plane, I'll explain. In the case of Van's aircraft, there are 4 kits to purchase. The 4 kits are the empannage ("tail feathers": rudder and the vertical stabilizer), wings, fuselage and finishing kit (canopy and it's frame, landing gear, cowling, engine mount, brake lines and hoses). The builder needs to supply avionics, instruments, interior, engine and propeller.

The cool thing is you don't have to purchase them altogether. One drawback is that kit prices go up every year, this is typical. Of course there are pros and cons to everything. When you purchase a kit, upon arrival, you have a limited amount of time to check the inventory for correctness. If you were to purchase all kits at the same time, you'd have a bazillion parts to comb through in a short amount of time which can be a pretty daunting task.  By ordering the kits separately, you won't have space/storage problems, and you don't have to lay a wad of cash out all at once. Pricing typically goes up on kits the beginning of the year. I hope to purchase my empennage before the end of December. I can wait on the tool kit needed for assembly of my airplane as the prices are usually pretty consistent. I've got a VW Bug I'm planning to sell soon and apply the proceeds to my first purchase. We'll see how that goes.

There are two types of kits available: quick build and standard build. The quick build has parts pre-assembled and cost  a ibt more. The standard build kit allows the builder to assemble from the ground up, or top of the rudder down, however you want to look at it and they can save you a few bucks. I plan to build the standard kit. An advantage to building a quick build kit, one can get in the air sooner. I'm not in that big a rush. The exciting part of building the standard kit is that you'll know every square inch of your plane, in and out!

Van's also supplies Lycoming engines to the builders at a discounted rate, so long as they've ordered a kit from them. They supply propellers as well and do carry an assortment of instuments and avionics.

What makes an RV plane, as well as other kit planes, fall into the Experimental category is that less than 50% is fabricated by the kit manufacturer and 51% or greater is built/fabricated by the builder. Van's kits come from Aurora, Oregon. Some folks who live closer to the mfr., choose to pick up their kits personally. I did the math and I would end up spending more in fuel than it would cost to ship so I'll go that route. I'm just a little too far away. I hear a factory tour is is a must. I plan on taking the tour and taking a ride in one of their demonstrators.

There is your crash course in the initial ordering of a Van's RV. There are a lot more elements to ordering parts and accessories for your Van's RV than what I've covered here. All can be found at the Van's website.

Catch ya later and Thanks for Reading!

Stick Time

As you may or may not know, the plane I'm going to build is a low-wing plane. I've been flying nothing but high-wing planes since the beginning of my training. My trusty steed for the day was a Piper Warrior II. I flew for a total of 1.4 hours doing the typical slow flight, stalls, steep turns and landings, both full stop and touch-and-goes. This served two purposes. First, it'll start getting me used to flying low-wing planes and b) this accomplishment adds another vehicle to my arsenal of avilable planes. The typical planes (C-152s & C-172s) at my FBO are usually out for training flights and it's hard to count on having a plane when you want to fly.  The Piper is rarely rented so that'll give me a chance to fly more, WooHoo!

My Ride for the Day - Piper Warrior II N6313C

I also got an e-mail today from EAA SportAir announcing that there are going to be more seminars added to a location near me in Riverside, CA, RIR. The seminar is called "What's involved in kit building?". It's a fact-filled discussion of regulations and paperwork, the workspace required, the time commitment needed, and the financial investment and insurance considerations of building your own aircraft. I've gotten information online with some of this information but think I'll attend to get all my ducks in a row. For $25 you can take a couple of family members with you to make it a family affair. For your 25 clams you even get a pizza dinner! Not a bad evening.

So all-around, it was a pretty good day. It was a beautiful day for flying, mid 80s, light winds and clear skies. Winter is nearing which will yield better flying weather and more flying time. Take care, KPR and Thanks for Reading!

Flying In to Work

No, flying to work is not a regular occurance. My company has an event once a year called Bring Your Wheels/Wings to Work. I've wanted to fly in and have a plane on display for several years now. I so look forward to doing this one day. Just to say I did it, I've thought of renting a plane and flying in but don't see much point to it. I'll wait to fly my own. :) Folks fly and drive in and put their vehicles and planes on display. Like going to a car show and a fly-in at the same time. Quite exciting to see all the RVs there. I believe there were about 5 on display last year. They're a great source of inspiration and ideas. I've posted a picture of me in one of the owner's planes. You might have heard of him, Paul "Rosie" Rosles. Very nice guy. He was nice enough to let me jump in and get a picture. Thanks Paul!

Me Sitting in Owner Paul "Rosie" Rosales' RV-6A - 2010
It Fits Nicely & has a Great Feel!

This year's event will be near the end of October. I can't wait to start more networking with other pilots.  That's it for now. Thanks for Reading!