Van's Aircraft RV-9A experimental aircraft kitplane

Mike Hoover's Van's RV-9A
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KCUB 120553Z AUTO 28015G19KT 10SM CLR 17/06 A2960 RMK AO2 SLP022 T01670056 10256 20167 53012

Official building time: 1556.09 hours.


Category

Total Records

Total Hours

Empennage

79

193.7

Wing

274

607.5

Fuselage

279

698.2

Firewall Forward

0

0.0

Finish

24

37.0

Supplies

0

0.0

Tools

4

0.0

Journal

34

14.8

Reference Materials

0

0.0

Flight Instruments

4

0.0

Miscellaneous

0

0.0

Workshop

0

0.0

Electrical

1

5.0

TOTALS:

699

1556.1

Van's Aircraft RV-9A experimental aircraft kitplane

5 most recent log entries:

2007-09-12 Hours: 0 Category: Fuselage Manual Ref: ID#: 956
Seats arrived!
Got my seats in from ClassicAero Designs. Love the smell of leather! I installed the seat backs in the fuse and test fitted the seats. Of course I had to sit in them to see how it will feel. Now if I can just get back to working on the canopy!
Photos:
My new seats test fitted in the airplane.
View from above of the seats in the airplane.
[Top]
2007-07-11 Hours: 1.5 Category: Finish Manual Ref: 9-10 ID#: 955
Trudging further with the slider canopy frame
Got busy on my slider canopy frame. Been taking too much time off lately. Bent the forward left canopy bow forward some using 2x4s covered with rags to pad the frame; I isolated the forward bow at the center weld and the left side rail welds with the wood blocks. Worked really well and I got most of the gap out so that it more closely matches the right side bow when in place against the roll bar. Not perfect but I've got to move on. Also removed some bend in the forward bow to try and get the right sides skin-to-slider rail 1/16" distance...will continue this tomorrow.
Photos:
Bending the forward left bow using wood blocks/rags to pad the frame.
"Un-bending" the frame a bit to get the width right. Trial and error, & etc...
[Top]
2007-07-10 Hours: 0 Category: Flight Instruments Manual Ref: ID#: 954
Trutrak auto pilot arrived!
My Trutrak ADI Pilot II arrived today! I saved $200 by ordering it now with the Young Eagles discount. Now I need to start working on my panel layout again.
Photos:
The Trutrak ADI Pilot II unit fresh out of the box.
[Top]
2007-07-03 Hours: 2 Category: Fuselage Manual Ref: 9-9 ID#: 953
Assembled slider rail/spacer parts
Got the slider rail bent properly and drilled to the slider spacer. Deburred, cleaned, and primed. I did not prime the slider rail so the slider will slide easily. I riveted the slider rail to the slider spacer and re-installed on the fuse with tape to hold it in place.
Photos:
New slider rail assembly taped in place on the fuse.
[Top]
2007-07-02 Hours: 1 Category: Fuselage Manual Ref: 9-9 ID#: 948
More work on canopy slider rail
I decided to redo my canopy slider rail so I ordered new parts. This time I will wait to drill the screw holes so I can make sure they are positioned so as not to fall on a rivet on the fuse top rib.
Photos:
Drilled the rivet holes in the slider rail parts. Will drill screw holes later.
[Top]

This time three years ago:

2005-05-12 Hours: 0 Category: Journal Manual Ref: ID#: 685
Update on my new garage
Talked with Jim at Hoover Buildings a couple of days ago. Inquired about the cost difference between the 24x24 we contracted for and 24x30. The cost is not that much more, so I decided to upgrade to the bigger garage. The added 25% more space will be well worth the extra cost. The larger garage costs about $2 per sq ft less.
[Top]

This time four years ago:

2004-05-12 Hours: 2 Category: Wing Helper: Robert Manual Ref: 7-10 ID#: 200
Started riveting top skin
Got some help from my good friend Robert today. We started riveting on the inboard top skin. He held the round head bucking bar while I riveted from the bottom with the extra long back rivet set I bought from Averys. For our session today, we did three ribs in the center of the inboard skin. To me this method was not as easy as I had heard others suggest. Controlling the extra long rivet set was difficult and often resulted in flatter than desired and offset shop heads. Overall, they are okay but I done a better riveting job. Having never riveted before, Robert did an excellent job with the bucking bar.
Photos:
Here's Robert holding the bucking bar ready to rivet.
[Top]

This time five years ago:

2003-05-12 Hours: 2 Category: Empennage Manual Ref: 6-4 ID#: 301
Primed the rudder frame parts
Got the rudder frame parts all primed and ready for final assembly.
Photos:
All the rudder frame parts primed and ready to rivet.
[Top]

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