Page 14-02 Build Time: 299 hrs

Found the finished RV 12 at AirVenture and met Richard. I spent quite a bit of time looking over the plane. The paint is awesome. I went back early in the morning the next day and crawled around it. Sat in it for a while and laid under it just looking around. My first impression was how big it was. I'm so use to seeing bits and pieces that the finished product looked huge. I also love this color. I was planning on the current Toyota blue but a little darker looks very nice. Can't say enough about the lines on this paint job. I'd hate to just copy it but it looks fantastic. There was another finished 12 at the show that was built by the high school kids. I compared the edges of each to see if I'm obsessing over deburing - I'm not. The SLSA was what I expected given what I've seen from the finished parts in the kit. The school version was a bit over done as I would have expected. I'm somewhere in the middle and on track I believe.

Nearly complete with section 14. Just have to finish out riveting the rear spar. I noticed that one of the berrings is binding a bit on the aileron bracket so I'll take that apart and redo it. Shouldn't be too big a deal since it uses #4 rivets and they come out pretty nicely. The bind came from trying to get the 426 shop head to sit flush in it's counter sink. I should have taken a bit off the rivet before setting it and I'll do that when I reassemble it. The rivets on the front sub spar were also too short by one size but I had the correct ones so the parts turned out nice.

Decided to make them a mirror from the rivets perspective since they'll go on each side.

The correct shop head. Can't say enough about the EZ Squeezer - perfect shop heads.

I also worked on the servo motor tray since I hadn't got to that before and wanted to prime the parts. The tray came out fine but the arm gave me trouble. The rivets are 3-9 and when they swell in the insert the shop head is a little under spec. I took two shots at it drilling the rivets out and replacing them but wasn't happy. I'm sure it was physically OK but I didn't like the way it looked and it's a critical part so I ordered a new arm and insert and the new one came out as good as can be done per the drawing. A 3-10 or 3-11 would have been a better rivet to use to get the correct shop head diameter but the 3-9 is the longest in the kit. In any case, it's built as it should be per the drawing. Of the 4 main things I like about the RV kits is the access and cost of parts. These were $32 total but if that were a FAA/PMA part it would have easily been close to $100. I believe the gaps in getting time to build are causing some of the problems but you can't tell if it's going to work out until you actually do it.

The old and the new. 

Much happier with the new part (no primer).

You can see that using the 3-9 rivet the shop head is a little small. But it's built by the book so it's good enough.

Next weekend I'll redo the aileron berring in the hinge bracket and complete section 14. Then it's on to the ribs.

Page 14-02 Build Time: 279 hrs

     Got through enough parts to have a primer session this coming weekend. Everything is ready to go for section 14 as well as the servo tray and trim parts that I didn't get to from the empanage kit. I haven't posted too much about the problems I've run into on this blog (I haven't run into any significant problems other than what I had hoped for better results on the empanage - Vans says build it and fly it so that's the plan). Reading through other post though there are tricks and gotchas that are a great source of info. So going forward if I run into anything I'll post it.
     The parts below are the typical lot. Working through debut, counter sink, match drill and final drill then through scuff, clean and prime really does get you very familiar with each part and you can see how it comes together. I won't be able to assemble this lot until August since I'll be off on vacation next week making my way to AirVenture on the motorcycle. Next year I'll fly there but I don't expect to be able to do that in this plane.
     I did buy the buffer motor and a stand for my debur wheel. It's a great addition since the motor has a smaller diameter than the wheel (for now at least) and a longer shaft. You can work parts much easier with this setup. I also have the stand on wheels so it's mobile and it seems to be working out well.
     Eventually I may buy a second wheel for the other side. I put the buffer pad on there looking for balance and also so I wouldn't loose the attachment parts. One of the great aspects of building a project like this is buying tools. I suspect at some point I'll get involved with the local EAA chapter and help others.

All cleaned up and ready to prime

The old setup - a grinder with the debur wheel hanging off the side of a table.

The new setup - stand alone - longer shaft and smaller diameter motor.

Page 14-02 Build Time: 272 hrs

Back to turning aluminum into art. I've finally finished school and have my weekends back to work on the plane. I finished section 13 in June and it wasn't that big of a deal. There are only a handful of rib clips to debur and attach and I didn't prime them since the half of them are already on the spar and I see no point in trying to prime those. The spars are hung in the rafters for now while I work though section 14. Those parts will be primed as well as the rest of the wing assembly Section 14 is pretty straight forward and I was very carful not to take any more material off the stub spars where they will mate with the fuselage. I've read where others have found the wing rocking due to a bad fit and I think I read where there are over sized stubs but that would be a nightmare trying to dig those out of the assembly. I should have the parts for section 14 ready to prime next weekend and will have a primer day the following weekend. After that I'm off to OSK on the motorcycle. A long ride to the midwest. I've done it a couple times and it's always an adventure. Next year the plan is to take the mighty Cessna to OSK with the Hayward Air Rally.

This turned out to be a nice way to gage the countersink. Make a template and size the hole. 

Getting a nice group of parts ready for prime. Most of the deburring was done on the scotchbrit wheel. While I was in Harbor Tools the other day I saw a nice polishing motor. It has a longer shaft and a lower profile. They didn't have any in the box but I'll grab one next time I'm there. It was only $35 and doing this on the wheel is so much faster.

Not sure if the photo depicts the difference but the parts are pretty rough before debur. On the right are finished parts.

Aluminum to Art!

Page 13-02 Build Time: 254 hrs
Debur Wing Rib clips

Found some time this weekend to work on section 13. Deburred the wing rib clips and did all the match drilling called out. Noticed that many of the holes in the main spar needed to be drilled out since there wasn't perfect alignment. Also, for anyone just starting out this is a great piece to see how Van's deburrs the parts. It's pretty rough compared to what I started out with and I still cleaned up what I though wasn't to my standards but it's clear they just run the parts down the scotch brite wheel and radius the edges. I haven't been able to put the time in I want to due to taking some programming courses and the homework involved. I did manage to get a work table built. I was working off saw horses and a folding table up to now but the spars are heavy and long and I needed something I could roll around when needed. So a couple weeks ago I bought some wood and spent the afternoon building out a bench. I had hesitated on a bench since it becomes a permanent fixture in the garage unless you cut it up and haul it off. I plan on getting a hanger so it will have value there. The spars should go quickly and I intend to be into section 14 next weekend.

I found it interesting that they have you tapping the top and bottom of the tie down brackets. Not sure why though. I skimmed ahead and I don't see anywhere that you would access the top of the bracket but perhaps there is and I missed it. I guess if it's accessible it could be used to help handle the wings but I wouldn't fly with it as everything has a drag penalty and round things are pretty significant. In any case, I just follow the directions.

I do miss working on this. I filled reservations for a N number. Still says the one I filled for is available so I don't know what that's about but I've settled on what I want.

Page 13-01 Build Time: 249 hrs
Moving on to the wings

Made the decision to move onto the wings. There's still sections 11 (servo) and section 12 (the fairing) to complete but I didn't want to go through the trouble of assembling the rudder and stabalator and then taking it all apart again for storage. I'm pretty sure you would still take it all apart for attachment to the fuselage in any case (I believe I read that). In any case I pulled the wing kit down and put the empanage up in it's place - see ya next year mr. fuse.

I've been eyeing the wing ribs and all that deburring but once I pulled them down and started examining them they should be pretty quick on the scotch bright wheel. They only have a shallow scallop to them and I can generally just run them down the edge of the wheel then catch the burr. They are pretty rough so it will take some time. Those parts are a couple sections away. First thing is to get the spars down from the rafters. That was a pretty big job getting them up there by myself and I'll find some help to get them down. 

Page 10-12 Build Time: 249 hrs
Section 10 Complete!

Well this section started at the end of January per my log book. Finally finished it up yesterday. It's been a long haul and I inventoried the last parts for section 11 (assembly) and 12 (fairings) thinking that I was done looking at this for a while and it's time to move onto the wings. I still may do that as it will all have to come apart for storage but their is quite a bit of work in those two sections. Everything turned out pretty nice. There are a couple sections at the frames where you can tell the skin is under compression and not tension. I called Van's and the response was don't worry about it. While I was making my way up the sides I noticed an area near the aft frame that felt soft. I could pick the empenage up by the rear bulkhead and put a little twist in it and see it go away. So I decided to cleco the top skin on and see if that helped and it did. That area looks fine now (still a bit soft) but I'm good with it. I tried to take out the rivets on the frame to unload it a bit but it quickly became apparent that removing the rivets would cause more problems than there were to solve. The area that is the worst offender now is at the front frame and from Vans and the websites everyone says that will come out when you attach. I do believe the frame is short and a shim would push it out but I'll decide that another day. I'm happy to have this much airplane in the shop and it's starting to attract the neighbors wanting to know if I'm really building an airplane at the house.

Building up the skins after righting the frames

A shot everyone seems to want to post - down the tunnel.

Every cleco I own - bought another hundred before assembly

You can see some of the ripple at the forward frame. Most of it came out after riveting it together.

Time to sit back and admire this for a couple weeks.

Page 10-04 Build Time: 228 hrs

This weekend I managed to get the tail cone skins through primer. It was every bit the PIA I expected it to be. Getting seven foot skins in a five foot booth was a lot of work in flipping wet skins, turning them around, trying to handle them without touching the paint and hanging them up to dry. I must say, if I didn't live near the coast I would not prime. But I do and after an eight hour day in a respirator, a couple beers and a nap the skins look awesome.

I've been weighing each part pre / post primer to try to assess the overall gain but these were too big to put on the scale. Also there's quite a bit of overspray on the plastic that will come off and not count in total weight. Total paint used in this session was 24 oz. This is the most I've used so far. I mix 8 oz at a time and clean the gun after 8 oz. It takes a couple hours to get through one cycle.

With the parts dry enough to work with the next day I couldn't resist some assembly. I had planned on flying but thunder storms were predidted and there's no way I'm going out in that. As it turned out there was a area warning for hail which is rare here in CA. Better to be on the ground wishing you were flying as they say.

I was pretty surprised by how much the sides of the bottom had to be pulled in with clecos. I checked and double checked but they were the right parts in the right direction so I let the clecos do the work. You really want to work this slowly and not stress any one section. Once Aluminum stretches  it's pretty hard to shrink it back but it all came out very nice. I also noticed that placing the saw horses where the plans tell you to loaded the center section of the skin. This caused some small allignment issues but once I move the saw horse behind the forward frame everything relaxed and the fit was fine.

I'm watching this area closely since a couple of 12's have had wrinkling in this section. One of them was at Vans when I picked up my kits. I'm hoping it's just assembly loading and I can avoid it by keeping the skins well supported without any stress.

Bottom tail cone coming together

 While setting up for scuff I loosely assembled the skins so I could mask off the areas beyond the overlap. In one section I noticed the holes weren't lining up. The error is only 1/32 but it sets about a dozen holes off by that much. I have it flagged and will contact Vans if it's still a problem during final assembly.

Glad to see some big parts coming together... Finally.