Current status:
- Working on my third aileron, this will be a re-do of the right aileron which suffered from trailing edge problems. When I riveted the left aileron everything worked out fine, however the right one had a gap. I tried carefully to drill out the rivets however it is a difficult process to drill out the double flush rivets without either damage or enlarging the hole.
Right after that will be the wingtips and then I need to remove the wings from the garage and start the tail kit / tail cone.
Like many builders there has been a bit of a stall as life's other priorities sneak in. I do agree with most, that if you can keep to at least 30 minutes or more a day things move on. I fell into the trap of waiting until I had large amounts of time to work on the project which caused the momentum to slow down. Back to it!
Saturday, May 7, 2016
Tuesday, March 29, 2016
March 2016 update
Here is the March 2016 update just to keep the blog from aging.
The bottom skins were completed, and the left aileron is rigged. I had some difficulty in getting the bellcrank to turn smoothly in all directions. Some of this was the inside of the bellcrank itself and some of it was the amount you need to file away from the edges of the bellcrank so that it has clearance from the mount when it is mounted in the brackets and torque is applied.
I am rebuilding the right aileron. I wasn't happy with the trailing edge. There was more of a gap than I wanted, and some of this I believe is due to needing to countersink even more the wedge as well as also break the edge a bit more so that it lays down. I am trying to avoid blaming some of this on the use of the sticky tape instead of proseal however now that I have some experience with it I think proseal would help in keeping things well adhered during the riveting. Despite all of this I may just use the tape again.
After this, I am only left with wingtips, and then storage of the wings. There are a few things I would like to improve upon, namely the proud rivets on the wing walk area but at this point it is unclear that I will be able to get enough access to all of them to buck. I may leave them as is. Early in the plans it is mentioned that it is preferable to leave them a bit high however I think that is advice I would ignore if I were to do it all over again.
There are several threads on mice damage for wings that have been stored, and I am thinking about where I will store these wings moving forward. I have no space for this in our garage so I am going to move it to another garage and will just have to check frequently to make sure there are no critters at home there.
The bottom skins were completed, and the left aileron is rigged. I had some difficulty in getting the bellcrank to turn smoothly in all directions. Some of this was the inside of the bellcrank itself and some of it was the amount you need to file away from the edges of the bellcrank so that it has clearance from the mount when it is mounted in the brackets and torque is applied.
I am rebuilding the right aileron. I wasn't happy with the trailing edge. There was more of a gap than I wanted, and some of this I believe is due to needing to countersink even more the wedge as well as also break the edge a bit more so that it lays down. I am trying to avoid blaming some of this on the use of the sticky tape instead of proseal however now that I have some experience with it I think proseal would help in keeping things well adhered during the riveting. Despite all of this I may just use the tape again.
After this, I am only left with wingtips, and then storage of the wings. There are a few things I would like to improve upon, namely the proud rivets on the wing walk area but at this point it is unclear that I will be able to get enough access to all of them to buck. I may leave them as is. Early in the plans it is mentioned that it is preferable to leave them a bit high however I think that is advice I would ignore if I were to do it all over again.
There are several threads on mice damage for wings that have been stored, and I am thinking about where I will store these wings moving forward. I have no space for this in our garage so I am going to move it to another garage and will just have to check frequently to make sure there are no critters at home there.
Wednesday, January 20, 2016
Winter update / Doldrums
I think it is fair to say that progress has slowed down, however it has not stopped. This post is mainly a discussion with myself and others out there.
Current status:
- Finishing the bottom skin on the left wing, right wing has been complete for a while now
- Botched the Aileron tube so ordered a new one and am carefully drilling that one.
- Aileron Pushrods are complete. I do agree with others that it seems like a strange design to rely on those blind rivets mated with an aluminum tube for such a critical part, however thousands of RV's have shown it works fine. I would pay a bit more to have a formed part for this purpose.
While reading other RV-14 blogs, I have seen at least one builder let the scope of the large project get in the way of moving forward. What I mean is looking at the cost specifically of the rest of the build and realizing that it will indeed cost most likely $120 - 130K+ to build the plane. I will admit to falling into this same trap. It is well known up front but often in the build you find yourself thinking about how long this takes, how much this costs, etc, etc and start to realize that it is a major commitment. Not to mention the final (year?) time where you need a hangar and need to go there to work on the aircraft rather than in your garage. I personally will delay that as much as possible.
Seasoned builders will already understand how this happens, and certainly there are hundreds of abandoned projects that fall victim to this same line of thinking.
My version of this is the "How much plane do I need?" line of thinking. I own a Cherokee 180 with a partner although I used to own it myself. So at this point I am quite familiar with what it takes to own. I also have a fully functioning aircraft that does the job. Do I need a much faster plane that costs a lot more? What trips would I take with this, that I have not already with the one I have? etc etc. You can see how the questioning leads you down a path. Where it usually leads me is: Why didn't I just continue building that RV-9A, or why not just sell the whole thing and build an RV-12 since that is less $, the same speed more or less of what I fly today, and much more fuel efficient. Engine overhaul is less, etc. Ughhhhh.....
Then I realize that I am already into the project, and once the other 14s start flying I know I will be happy with my choice.
I absolutely can see though how projects get sold and/or abandoned. Thanks for listening :) Back to building.
Current status:
- Finishing the bottom skin on the left wing, right wing has been complete for a while now
- Botched the Aileron tube so ordered a new one and am carefully drilling that one.
- Aileron Pushrods are complete. I do agree with others that it seems like a strange design to rely on those blind rivets mated with an aluminum tube for such a critical part, however thousands of RV's have shown it works fine. I would pay a bit more to have a formed part for this purpose.
While reading other RV-14 blogs, I have seen at least one builder let the scope of the large project get in the way of moving forward. What I mean is looking at the cost specifically of the rest of the build and realizing that it will indeed cost most likely $120 - 130K+ to build the plane. I will admit to falling into this same trap. It is well known up front but often in the build you find yourself thinking about how long this takes, how much this costs, etc, etc and start to realize that it is a major commitment. Not to mention the final (year?) time where you need a hangar and need to go there to work on the aircraft rather than in your garage. I personally will delay that as much as possible.
Seasoned builders will already understand how this happens, and certainly there are hundreds of abandoned projects that fall victim to this same line of thinking.
My version of this is the "How much plane do I need?" line of thinking. I own a Cherokee 180 with a partner although I used to own it myself. So at this point I am quite familiar with what it takes to own. I also have a fully functioning aircraft that does the job. Do I need a much faster plane that costs a lot more? What trips would I take with this, that I have not already with the one I have? etc etc. You can see how the questioning leads you down a path. Where it usually leads me is: Why didn't I just continue building that RV-9A, or why not just sell the whole thing and build an RV-12 since that is less $, the same speed more or less of what I fly today, and much more fuel efficient. Engine overhaul is less, etc. Ughhhhh.....
Then I realize that I am already into the project, and once the other 14s start flying I know I will be happy with my choice.
I absolutely can see though how projects get sold and/or abandoned. Thanks for listening :) Back to building.
Friday, October 16, 2015
Monthly update - Started working on Bottom Skins
Project status for now:
- Control surfaces are complete - I do have the parts to build another aileron and most likely will do so later in the project. I may be able to salvage the one I have, I just wasn't happy with the trailing edge. EDIT: I did end up building another aileron I was happy with later on
- Tanks are complete and have been mounted
I did run into an issue on the left wing where the skin mating between the tank and the leading edge is quite tight. I am going to remove the left tank and file down the skin a bit to create a little more of a gap. The scotchbrite wheel on a die grinder will come in handy for that
- Wing wiring is complete. That section appeared more difficult than it actually is. Once you get started and understand what they are asking you to do (Insert molex pins into connectors, etc) then things move quickly. One thing to note is that there are a few wires which are different colors than the plans show however I believe I got the correct wires in the correct connectors :)
- I am fairly certain I will be going with Garmin Avionics for this plane, and there has been quite a bit of discussion about the use of the ADAHRS mount that comes with the plane and it's suitability for Garmin vs the original design which fits the Dynon. I am going to build and install it anyways assuming things will work out.
- Had a scare on the j channel for the bottom wings. One of the first steps in Chapter 13 for the wing kit is to match drill the j channel by using the wing spar as a drill guide. I remember originally messing up which was right and left and sure enough much later in the project this came back to bite me. It appeared to me that the holes were not lining up correctly. I even wrote vans support, however I realized after the fact that I had reversed which was which. I clecoed them on the skins and things did line up.
This weekend hopefully will include lots of deburring (Edge and hole), priming, and dimpling. Once that is complete it will be on to the actual riveting of the skins. I have multiple helpers lined up unlike what happened on the top skins.
- Control surfaces are complete - I do have the parts to build another aileron and most likely will do so later in the project. I may be able to salvage the one I have, I just wasn't happy with the trailing edge. EDIT: I did end up building another aileron I was happy with later on
- Tanks are complete and have been mounted
I did run into an issue on the left wing where the skin mating between the tank and the leading edge is quite tight. I am going to remove the left tank and file down the skin a bit to create a little more of a gap. The scotchbrite wheel on a die grinder will come in handy for that
- Wing wiring is complete. That section appeared more difficult than it actually is. Once you get started and understand what they are asking you to do (Insert molex pins into connectors, etc) then things move quickly. One thing to note is that there are a few wires which are different colors than the plans show however I believe I got the correct wires in the correct connectors :)
- I am fairly certain I will be going with Garmin Avionics for this plane, and there has been quite a bit of discussion about the use of the ADAHRS mount that comes with the plane and it's suitability for Garmin vs the original design which fits the Dynon. I am going to build and install it anyways assuming things will work out.
- Had a scare on the j channel for the bottom wings. One of the first steps in Chapter 13 for the wing kit is to match drill the j channel by using the wing spar as a drill guide. I remember originally messing up which was right and left and sure enough much later in the project this came back to bite me. It appeared to me that the holes were not lining up correctly. I even wrote vans support, however I realized after the fact that I had reversed which was which. I clecoed them on the skins and things did line up.
This weekend hopefully will include lots of deburring (Edge and hole), priming, and dimpling. Once that is complete it will be on to the actual riveting of the skins. I have multiple helpers lined up unlike what happened on the top skins.
Thursday, September 10, 2015
Tanks complete
The excitement got the better of me, but I do believe my tanks are leak free. The true test will be with fuel some time down the road (a long time) but I am proud that I was able to produce leak free tanks without the need for opening up the baffle.
One thing I attribute this to besides absolute dumb luck (there is some of that as well) is that I did not spare the proseal, and did not make an attempt to do the prettiest job. While I was building I often would go on VAF and see the photos of people's tanks that looked pristine and think to myself that I somehow was doing an inferior job. Because I was liberal with the proseal, and did not try to thin out the sealant on every seam to look nice, the results were very pleasing here.
Monday, August 31, 2015
Still here, still plugging away
This summer has been filled with family trips and house projects so the building slowed down unfortunately.
I finally have the tanks in the driveway, and am starting to leak test. So far the results are quite positive but I am having the same difficulties that most people have sealing the filler cap, as well as some of the fittings on the inboard side. Once I fix that, I believe (hope) I will be home free.
I tried to use a bubble leak detector solution that I found at Home Depot, and it works however it is like pouring dish soap on your project. The cleanup is quite large and it has a color to it. I bought two containers of Snoop and I will say it is worth the investment. Much better substance.
More to follow when I make more progress. I have had the aileron on the bench now for two months staring at me waiting for the trailing edge. That is what caused issues for me the last time, specifically drilling out bad rivets enlarged holes. So this time I will spend time reading about better technique. I also invested at Sun and Fun this year in an old small mushroom set, which was some sort of surplus and it seems that it will do just the trick here without denting the trailing edge.
I finally have the tanks in the driveway, and am starting to leak test. So far the results are quite positive but I am having the same difficulties that most people have sealing the filler cap, as well as some of the fittings on the inboard side. Once I fix that, I believe (hope) I will be home free.
I tried to use a bubble leak detector solution that I found at Home Depot, and it works however it is like pouring dish soap on your project. The cleanup is quite large and it has a color to it. I bought two containers of Snoop and I will say it is worth the investment. Much better substance.
More to follow when I make more progress. I have had the aileron on the bench now for two months staring at me waiting for the trailing edge. That is what caused issues for me the last time, specifically drilling out bad rivets enlarged holes. So this time I will spend time reading about better technique. I also invested at Sun and Fun this year in an old small mushroom set, which was some sort of surplus and it seems that it will do just the trick here without denting the trailing edge.
Thursday, July 9, 2015
Tanks are sitting complete, Ailerons again
It does feel good to be done with the tanks for now. In the back of my mind though is the thought that I still am yet to leak test, and I have the potential to have to cut access panels and more proseal. But for now let's put those thoughts to rest :)
Before deciding to move on to the tanks I made the decision to build a new right aileron as I was not happy with the way the trailing edge rivets came out. In my attempt to remove them the holes began to enlarge and I realized this was a losing battle. The left aileron was 50% complete before putting things away.
So I am back at it, and am starting with the left aileron. I should have a positive future update.
Before deciding to move on to the tanks I made the decision to build a new right aileron as I was not happy with the way the trailing edge rivets came out. In my attempt to remove them the holes began to enlarge and I realized this was a losing battle. The left aileron was 50% complete before putting things away.
So I am back at it, and am starting with the left aileron. I should have a positive future update.
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