Left Rib #4 - 3.5 hours

Not much to report. Riveted in the left rib #4. Same process as before, but things just clicked. The entire assembly went to together really well. Pictures are just after riveting just before cleanup.


At this point, I found it extremely difficult to clean up the flanges on the ribs of proseal. Since I have not yet encapsulated the rivet heads I decided to slather proseal on the top of flanges. I had never liked the look of it on other builds but in the end, I decided it was better to go slightly heavy rather than try to get cute with the proseal. I'm awfully terrified of having a leak and this is one way that I will sleep better at night about it. Proseal cleanliness and quality is really tough to do in tight spaces.

Camrose Fly-in 2016

I had made arrangements to catch a ride out to the Camrose Fly-in with Darin (a local RV14 Builder). Mike (who is building an F1 Rocket and an Stewart S51) had also joined along. Camrose is about an hours drive away, but is a fairly large fly-in event. It attracts quite a number of planes and a good portion of the little towns population.

I was extremely keen on looking at all the RV's to compare my work with what others have done. Well...the very first RV7 made my knees a little week. What a beautiful example. C-GVCB was a beautiful plane. I admired the paint job, with its sharp lines and pin striping. Its build quality is exceptional. My heart sank a little as I think mine didn't measure up. I took a million pictures as I love the paint job!!!

Quite a selection of other planes...Of note I really like the Christian Eagles.


I then was back on scrutinizing all of the RV's. Taking note of how folks have finished certain items like the empennage tips. Some have feathered with fiberglass, some haven't. Either looks just fine to me.

Another beautiful example we C-FMWX which was stunning. I took note of how well built it was
Interestingly the builder has used camlock studs for much of the fiberglass attachments. I looks quite professional.


So it turns out that ALL RV's have bent tabs in lieu of riblets on the elevator and trim tabs. Most have screwed the wingtips on, one or two have riveted them on. In the end...it appears all have had some riveting troubles that I am experiencing on the wing tanks. You have to look really close as the paint hides much of the concern, but there where some examples of rivets that where canted just a bit on every planes tanks. I get the impression that I am not lonely with trying to get the riveting perfect on the tanks. Its tough to do!!