New (Used) Compressor

Finally, a quiet, powerful air compressor. Here's my newest addition to the aircraft factory tool crib. I found it on craigslist late Wednesday night. It was in San Antonio and very close to my Dad so I asked him to go by and look at it Thursday. It was owned by an older gentleman who appeared to have only used it a couple of times. The oil is still a golden color. I gladly paid $160 (sells new for around $500-$600 plus tax and shipping) for a belt driven, oil fed, cast iron twin cylinder, 5.5cfm @90psi, 115v, 20 gallon air compressor. That's about the biggest you can get and still run off household current. Any bigger and you'll need 220v. Now, I need some wings to drill and rivet to really put the compressor to the test.

Elevators Hung

I hung the elevators on the horizontal stabilizer to check for fit while I'm waiting on the replacement trim tab. There was a little trimming to fit required per the plans on the stab where the elevator horns swing. Also, I wanted to see a big airplane part. With the fiberglass tips, it's almost 9 feet wide. Cool, something that's starting to look like an airplane.

Ad for Van's RV-7 from Kitplanes Magazine

Here's an ad I saw in the most recent Kitplanes magazine. I liked the headline. Blazing trails is exciting but maybe not when it comes to answering the question, "will it fly?".

Elevator Riveting Help

I had some help today riveting the leading edges of the elevators. Here are nephews Spencer and Cameron with sister-in-law Jamie inspecting Cameron's riveting expertise. Looks great. Too bad it isn't cold as Cameron could wear his new letter jacket he got for varsity wrestling AS A FRESHMAN!

Here's Spencer pulling a cleco as he rivets the leading edge. Shelby and I got to watch him play in a select basketball tournament today. His Texas Tar Heels placed 3rd in Texas in the MAYB state tournament.

Ordered New Elevator Trim Tab

Dang...Dang...Dang. I said I wouldn't let perfect get in the way of very good and I've gone and done it. I've ordered a new elevator trim tab. I bent the elevator tabs and I let the edge hang over my workbench just slightly. When I clamped it down with my Bessey KR3 woodworking clamp (very high clamping pressure), I put a very slight bend near the edge. I can't measure it and can only see it in the right reflection but it really bothers me. I won't make that mistake again.

Bandsaw Part II

Help, I'm addicted to bandsaws. Or so you would believe if you listened to Paula and Austin. I just bought a used bandsaw off craigslist on Friday when I happened upon this one at Sears on Saturday. Returned but never used. Heavily marked down. I went out to the car where Paula and Austin were waiting and told them about the bargain. When I went back in to buy it, it had just been marked down further. I returned to the car with my bounty and told them about the extra markdown and they started laughing uncontrollably. Apparently, they had been making up stories about me being addicted to bandsaws and other such nonsense.

Well, I got the last laugh. I just sold the first bandsaw on craigslist today for more than I bought it. I showed them...ha..ha...ha. Wait, is that another bandsaw. I gotta' go!

Finished the Left Elevator

I finished the left elevator this morning. Sure was nice to get up early and not have to sweat through another 100+ degree evening in the garage. If you look closely in the reflection on the elevator, you can see Austin holding my laptop taking this picture. Next, the trim tab and I'll be through with the empennage except for the fiberglass tips.

New (Used) Bandsaw

Here's the latest addition to the aircraft factory tool crib. It's a used Delta 28-180 bandsaw I bought through craigslist from some nice people in Austin. I needed a bandsaw to cut the jig that's used to make the trim tab. I'll also use it to trim the lead counterweights in the elevators plus probably a thousand other uses. I'm going to San Antonio today to visit my Dad and we'll go to Woodcraft to get some ceramic blade guide blocks for the bandsaw. I'll also need to order a new blade or two. Otherwise, it's in pretty good shape and I like that it's not made in China.

Bent the Left Elevator Trim Tab Cutout

One of the harder things to do on the empennage is bending the side tabs on the trim tab. The first tabs to be bent are on the elevator cutout where the trim tab goes. I'm happy with the bend but even more so with the flush rivets. The plans call for pop-rivets which aren't flush and then caution about interference with the trim tab. Binding flight controls = bad. I thought, why not make them flush. I searched my main reference, vansairforce.com, and couldn't find anything except countersunk pop-rivets or cutting off the tabs and using riblets. After sleeping on it and checking all the angles, I couldn't see why it couldn't be done so I just did it. Turned out nice.

Yes, that's my reflection. My face is red because it's 100 degrees in the garage. I'm still using the camera in my laptop so I have to contort myself to get a good picture. It is nice, though, having the pictures easy to post plus I get good wireless reception in the garage so I can post immediately. I'd like to have a live webcam going when I wanted. That would be nerdy but cool.

Left Elevator Deburred, Dimpled and Primed

I got the left elevator deburred, dimpled and primed with a little help. Here's Shelby helping me deburr as my delayed Father's day present. She did a really good job deburring the inside of the skin. Much better than me.

Yes, we're inside. It has been too hot to do much in the garage so we carried one of the workbenches right into the living room. After Shelby and Paula left to go shopping, I brought my small pancake compressor inside and dimpled with the pneumatic squeezer while watching the movie Aliens. Don't tell the girls that I had much more fun than them! Later, Austin cleaned parts with MEK and primed them for his part of my delayed Father's day present. He was proud of his painting and for good reason. Loved all the help today.

Final Drilling Left Elevator Skin

All clecoed together and ready to final drill the left elevator skin. I got up early this morning to beat the heat. It's been over a hundred degrees almost every day for the last several weeks. The big odd shaped hole in the skin is for the inspection plate for the electric trim motor.

Happy Fourth of July

Happy fourth of July! I got my flag out early this morning. I feel very blessed to live in such a wonderful country. In the paper this morning, there is a full page ad paid for by Hobby Lobby. The title at the top is "In God We Trust". It's a collection of quotes about how America is a Christian nation. The sources for the quotes include presidents, founding fathers, Supreme Court Justices, congressional reports, Harvard and Yale, Supreme Court rulings and others. Here's a copy of the page from the Hobby Lobby website. I'm going to make sure I buy from Hobby Lobby.

Finished the Right Elevator

Here's the right elevator all finished except for rolling the leading edge which I'll do when I do the left elevator. I have been making good progress despite the lack of posting and the 100+ degree heat. My old laptop died which had the Sony software for easily importing pictures. This picture is from the webcam on my new HP laptop. Shelby held the laptop and clicked the picture capture. The skin from the left elevator is behind me on the workbench and I've already started on the understructure. Oh, and that's not a wrinkle in the skin, just a reflection of Paula's car.