Finish the Toobox and start the Practice Project - 5.0hrs

I woke up this morning and could wait to finish off the tool box. It's really bugging me that the riveting did not turn out as nice as I wanted it to. I used the pneumatic squeezer on the front stiffener which turned out very nice. I think if anything I now feel quite comfortable with the squeezer. I tried to buck a few rivets and i'm a little more pleased with the results. I need more practice to set up the rivet gun pressure and get the feel of the trigger. I also need to practice holding the bucking bar more. I know one thing. I like the tungsten bar WAY more than the steel bars. I finished off the toolbox with less than desirable results. When I riveted the handle on I slipped with the gun and dented the top...doohhh!

I took a break for a while and then I went and dove into the practice project. Everything went really well until I went to drill the trailing edge. the holes in the two skins do not match up really well. I made the best of a bad situation and when I was done, I was happy with the job....Until I cleco'd the structure together and saw how crooked the trailing edge was. I've seen folks complain about this on their blogs however I see just how critical it is to lay everything out on a smooth hard edge, and go slow. Ensure that each hole is drilled precise! I'm stopping for the day! I really need to practice a lot more. I feel like i'm rushing through things way too quickly and I am making mistakes. I want to order another tool box and practice project. I really want to nail this before I start on the plane.

Tools Arrive & Toolbox construction begins - 7.0hrs

The tools came to the door!!! Yeah! Took inventory and laid everything out. Planetools.com has a very nice kit and I was really pleased with every piece. Everything came out of the plastic and had a good wipe to get the tool oil off.  I didn't waste any time. I started the toolbox project and everything was falling nicely into place. The clecos when on, the holes where lining up. The plans were a bit difficult to follow and I choose to assemble the pieces in a bit different order. By the end, I had a perfect tool box! I was feeling really confident. Then I began to rivet.....this is where everything went south. I tried the pneumatic squeezer first, things went much better when i found that i could tease the trigger and close the gap to make sure that the squeezer was on the rivets square. But then I pulled out the rivet gun....and made a real mess of the toolbox. I found it difficult to hold the gun against the work, while holding the bucking bar. then when I pull the trigger everything seemed to jump all over the place. I had to drill out about 5 or 6 rivets, a lot of rivets were not nice and square. I can see that I am going to need a lot of practice with the gun.

De-Vinyl - Day 2

It just bugs me that I came away with disappointing results with de-vinyling yesterday. I stopped by Active Electronics on the way home from work and picked up a few different solder iron tips. I looked for larger chisel tips and knife edge tips. I also decided to up the temperature of my solder iron. Playing between 750 and 800deg. I am now seeing much better results. I have slowed down the pull of the iron across the aluminum to ~1.5sec/inch. If I pull the vinyl back 180 deg back over itself it leaves a very clean edge. Any edges that I didn't melt through can be very quickly rectified with a simple touch of the iron. I'm much more pleased with the results.  Although I must say that there is still at times just a very faint line where the iron has passed over the aluminum. I would say 5% has just a hint of a line. I resolved that this is acceptable and to carry on (although I might just double check with Vans Force)

To de-vinyl or not

Well I received word yesterday that my tools where being shipped! So, while I wait for them to arrive I thought I would make myself useful. I got out my wood ruler and my solder iron and started to de-vinyl the left elevator ( the bottom). I made sure to take the solder iron out to the scotchbrite wheel and round the tip. I've read some comments that folks have pressed too hard and scratched the aluminium. So I set out to just remove the strips that are in line with the rivet holes. WHAT A PAIN. The blue vinyl is a bit tricky to take off. Its a fine line between pressing enough, and not pressing enough. I'm trying to be EXTREMELY careful not to scratch the aluminium. After about 10 strips (25% of the left elevator) I was just not pleased with how it was turning out. There were some scratches where I had used the iron, even though I was soo careful. On close inspection these scratches are so small - less than a hair, But the shiny aluminium in the bright light makes them pop! Logically they will scotchbrite out (as I plan to paint the plane) but it just doesn't sit well with me. After reading some more on the forums, i've opted just to remove the vinyl when I'm ready to work on a given piece.

Wrote the letter of intent to the MD-RA

Wrote the letter of intent to the MD-RA. In the letter of intent, I have set the Max takeoff weight (gross weight) at 1800lbs. After reading into the forums on weight and cg measurements. I see that some folks increase gross weight rating and extra 100 lbs or so. I thought about doing this....but it would mean that I have to correct and resend in my letter of intent. Also I understand that flight testing with the increased weight is a bit of a pain as you need to prove that the increase in weight is still safe. I have made up my mind that I will stick with the 1800lb rating and concentrate on building a light RV (The plane is supposed to fly much better when light).

The correct empennage arrives and inventory - 3.5hrs

The empennage kit (the proper one this time) arrived from Van's. There was some damage on the corner of one of the boxes, but after inspection everything was ok. The only item that was sitting next to that corner was the bottom rudder fibreglass piece. I started to take inventory of all parts and sorted all hardware into containers. The duct tape holding the skins is extremely sticky and it was a very difficult task to try to take it off without removing the blue plastic film. It pulled up the film on some pieces. I also noticed there was some fairly decent scratches on the VS-707 rib. They appear to have been there before the part was formed as the scratches follow the bends of the aluminum. The scratches have some depth when I use my fingernails. Considering that this is a rib in the middle of the Vertical Stabilizer, there is some structural stresses on it. I will send an email to Vans to confirm all is ok with the part. Its only an $11.00 part. Might be wise just to order a new one with some other needed tools.

Now that I have the Van's Invoice, I need to contact the MD-RA to write my Letter of Intent and pay the fee's .  I still don't have my tools yet, so I am in no rush to get started. I might as well plug away at the red tape for now.

Im trying to update the log book and add pictures but its just not working.  I think its time to dump MS Word for trying to log and document everything. Its just not easy to use.

Getting set up in the basement

Set up the basement with the table, the backplate and the practice kits. Still waiting for the tools to arrive before I can start.