Some may have noticed that I have put the project up for sale on VAF.
Suffice it to say that my mission has changed a bit, and I think that it would be better to sell the project and have someone else complete it.
I have spared no expense with regards to making sure the build was safe and correct, so anyone purchasing will certainly be saving themselves around 580 hours of labor which is what I am up to at this point.
If this does not sell, I will certainly consider finishing it in the future, however my preferred path right now is to sell.
While not the only factor my advice to future builders is to consider how you actually see yourself using the aircraft in the future WHEN YOU ACTUALLY COMPLETE IT rather than an imagined mission that exists right now. I could absolutely fly the 14 in the future and it would satisfy what I currently do with my aircraft and more however it is overkill for how I actually fly these days. Something more economical like an RV-12 or just continuing with a shared ownership would also work.
The listing is :
For sale:
Wings:
Complete except tips still need to be finished
Tanks leak checked - no leaks and no access panels needed
Control surfaces are straight
Wiring harnesses installed, extra wires for Pitot Heat
Gretz Pitot Tube Mount installed
Safeair Pitot, AOA, Static lines - have the remainder of the fittings for going to the panel
Tail Kit:
Vertical stabilizer complete
Rudder Complete
Elevators partially complete - Can finish for you or you can take it from where I stopped
Remainder of kit is untouched.
All hardware provided, will also throw in the specialty RV-14 tools which are needed for the remainder of the tail (special bucking bar, modified rivet dies etc).
Photos taken throughout the build, some videos as well
Good build quality, inspected by an EAA tech advisor report can be provided, very small areas which I was planning on improving during the painting phase
Used Sherwin Williams primer on inside surfaces as well as SEM
Vans price $12,140 (as of today)
Asking $8000 - like getting a free tail kit plus most of the labor completed on your wings,
Local pickup preferred - Located on Cape Cod, MA near KCQX.
Wednesday, July 19, 2017
Monday, May 15, 2017
Spring Update 2017
I am still here, plugging away!
Since the last update, I have finished the Horizontal Stabilizer, as well as the Rudder.
The rudder rolled leading edge came out less than perfect however I do believe it is acceptable. I will leave it alone, perhaps down the line I will build another rudder, however the rest of it is fine. The trailing edge also I believe is acceptable and more importantly straight.
I have started building the elevators. I am currently staring at the dreaded trim tab and also the bending of the tabs on the elevator skins themselves. It is disappointing that Van's was able to bend the tabs on the trim tabs however leaves that up to the builder on the much more expensive elevator skin. Since they have the technology I would rather pay the $1 more that it would cost for them to do the bend. Countless builders screw that step up and end up reordering elevator skins.
Baby steps towards a finished airframe.
Since the last update, I have finished the Horizontal Stabilizer, as well as the Rudder.
The rudder rolled leading edge came out less than perfect however I do believe it is acceptable. I will leave it alone, perhaps down the line I will build another rudder, however the rest of it is fine. The trailing edge also I believe is acceptable and more importantly straight.
I have started building the elevators. I am currently staring at the dreaded trim tab and also the bending of the tabs on the elevator skins themselves. It is disappointing that Van's was able to bend the tabs on the trim tabs however leaves that up to the builder on the much more expensive elevator skin. Since they have the technology I would rather pay the $1 more that it would cost for them to do the bend. Countless builders screw that step up and end up reordering elevator skins.
Baby steps towards a finished airframe.
Thursday, February 2, 2017
Rudder and project update
Vertical stabilizer is complete, there is not much to say there, that is a very simple piece to build. One comment for those who have any issues riveting the brackets on the spar, you will find that if you rivet them using the C-Frame you will have better success as they do like to lean over when you are riveting on to the steel brackets. Just take a look at this video for more details.
I have just about completed the Rudder. It is quite straightforward in it's construction.
Once you rivet the stiffeners on, you then "zip up" the two skins which hold together via shear clips that are pop riveted together. I am quite pleased so far by the way it is turning out.
The counterweight is another new area for me. I created a female dimple die using a wood block, and used the screw and a nut to enlarge the dimple to final size as I did not have the correct dimple die. I did start the dimple with a dimple die of slightly smaller size that I did have on hand. After removing a small amount of material from the weight itself, I was able to slide the weight into position among the rivets (you final install the weight after riveting on the tray to the skin. I then tightly torqued the weight down using the recommended hardware and also applied some blue Loctite.
The only remaining tasks which I will complete over the next day or two are the trailing edge and the leading edge, arguably the most difficult parts of the rudder itself. Trailing edge I have covered, the leading edge I have not done in years since an old practice kit so hopefully that goes well. I will start the bend with a 1" PVC pipe and finish by hand.
I visited a fellow builder's project down in Falmouth, MA as he was kind enough to allow a couple of my replacement parts to accompany his quickbuild from the factory so I could save the shipping. He had a beautiful shop attached to his home (a dream situation), and a brand new quickbuild 14A. I am glad I am building every part on my own, but I will have to say it would be nice to just have it done like that!!! It's just money right?
I have just about completed the Rudder. It is quite straightforward in it's construction.
Once you rivet the stiffeners on, you then "zip up" the two skins which hold together via shear clips that are pop riveted together. I am quite pleased so far by the way it is turning out.
The counterweight is another new area for me. I created a female dimple die using a wood block, and used the screw and a nut to enlarge the dimple to final size as I did not have the correct dimple die. I did start the dimple with a dimple die of slightly smaller size that I did have on hand. After removing a small amount of material from the weight itself, I was able to slide the weight into position among the rivets (you final install the weight after riveting on the tray to the skin. I then tightly torqued the weight down using the recommended hardware and also applied some blue Loctite.
The only remaining tasks which I will complete over the next day or two are the trailing edge and the leading edge, arguably the most difficult parts of the rudder itself. Trailing edge I have covered, the leading edge I have not done in years since an old practice kit so hopefully that goes well. I will start the bend with a 1" PVC pipe and finish by hand.
I visited a fellow builder's project down in Falmouth, MA as he was kind enough to allow a couple of my replacement parts to accompany his quickbuild from the factory so I could save the shipping. He had a beautiful shop attached to his home (a dream situation), and a brand new quickbuild 14A. I am glad I am building every part on my own, but I will have to say it would be nice to just have it done like that!!! It's just money right?
Sunday, December 4, 2016
Rudder - More parts needed
Progress continues on the tail. I have been trying to prepare parts ahead so that I can have one massive priming session. Unfortunately despite my experience with the wings, I ended up with oblong holes when drilling through the rudder horn. There is a sandwich of four parts as shown below comprising the spar, rudder horn, a backing plate, and the bottom rib. I had all of them clecoed together and needed to match drill. Fair enough. Unfortunately in that process when I disassembled it was clear that the parts had moved along with the drill itself and the holes were oblong. Especially on the four holes on the flange of the bottom rib.
Upsizing is not an option here, as there is not enough edge distance on the bottom rib flange for a larger hole. Another $100 mistake. What needs to happen I believe is some clamping and match drilling with a very sharp drill bit on this part. I will be much more careful on the next piece. It is quite disappointing given the experience level I thought I was building. Two major parts ruined now just in the first few assembles.
Upsizing is not an option here, as there is not enough edge distance on the bottom rib flange for a larger hole. Another $100 mistake. What needs to happen I believe is some clamping and match drilling with a very sharp drill bit on this part. I will be much more careful on the next piece. It is quite disappointing given the experience level I thought I was building. Two major parts ruined now just in the first few assembles.
Sunday, November 13, 2016
Chapter 6,7,8 Part Prep continued. Ruined Front spar
I have been prepping the parts for Chapters 6,7,8 so that I can prime before the weather gets too cold.
Things have been going along well, except for tonight. It never ceases to amaze me the stupid mistakes I can make despite reading closely.
On 08-04 Step #2, you clamp the spar cap onto the front spar and then you are supposed to match drill the #30 holes from the spar into the cap. The cap is supplied undrilled.
The flange of the spar has #40 holes as you would expect because of course the skin will mate up against it and all of those rivets are AD3 Rivets. I drilled the first four holes as #30 on the FLANGE rather than the web of the spar. I did this even though the predrilled holes in the flange are #40 and I even stopped to think about it as I drilled those up to #30 and right into the spar cap.
Nothing that $60 worth of parts + I am guessing another $30 of shipping won't solve...
Sigh.....
I am not even going to bother contacting Vans on this one because I think that the edge distance for a #30 AD4 rivet is more than the 3/16" that is available.
For now I will just finish the prep on the Rudder and Vertical Stabilizer and prime and assemble those. I will wait on the reorder to see if any other parts get messed up while I put the Rudder together.
Edit: I actually went ahead and ordered the part.... I was quite wrong on the shipping.. For the $60 in parts it will be $110 shipping. Contemplating my options including waiting for the fuse kit and having it shipped with that. I would complete the Horizontal Stab prior to working on the fuse. Very disappointing and a really silly mistake to make on my part.
Things have been going along well, except for tonight. It never ceases to amaze me the stupid mistakes I can make despite reading closely.
On 08-04 Step #2, you clamp the spar cap onto the front spar and then you are supposed to match drill the #30 holes from the spar into the cap. The cap is supplied undrilled.
The flange of the spar has #40 holes as you would expect because of course the skin will mate up against it and all of those rivets are AD3 Rivets. I drilled the first four holes as #30 on the FLANGE rather than the web of the spar. I did this even though the predrilled holes in the flange are #40 and I even stopped to think about it as I drilled those up to #30 and right into the spar cap.
Nothing that $60 worth of parts + I am guessing another $30 of shipping won't solve...
Sigh.....
I am not even going to bother contacting Vans on this one because I think that the edge distance for a #30 AD4 rivet is more than the 3/16" that is available.
For now I will just finish the prep on the Rudder and Vertical Stabilizer and prime and assemble those. I will wait on the reorder to see if any other parts get messed up while I put the Rudder together.
Edit: I actually went ahead and ordered the part.... I was quite wrong on the shipping.. For the $60 in parts it will be $110 shipping. Contemplating my options including waiting for the fuse kit and having it shipped with that. I would complete the Horizontal Stab prior to working on the fuse. Very disappointing and a really silly mistake to make on my part.
Wednesday, November 9, 2016
Tail Kit part prep - Sections 6-8
The wings are now in storage, and I have re-arranged my workspace and am working on the tail.
I am back to prepping parts, deburring, match drilling, and generally getting ready for primer. Since it is getting colder and some of these assemblies appear to go together quickly I am prepping the Vertical Stabilizer, Rudder, and Horizontal stabilizer together.
Unlike the wings where I lacked familiarity I can literally see the parts and envision the path to success on the tail kit. The tail cone is the uncertain piece however all of the other surfaces I think will come together in a straightforward fashion.
I did read on VAF that some Horizontal stabilizer rear spars had holes which were mispunched so I quickly clecoed the spar to the skins without all the other pieces and from what I can tell all the holes line up. Here is a quick photo of that.
And one of the vertical stab.
Thursday, October 6, 2016
Wings - 95% complete, moving out of the garage!
It has been a long time since the last update.
The short update here is that not much building has occurred over the last several months. I am making a big step tomorrow however. I am moving the wings out of my garage into another one that I have access to in order to make room for the start of the tail section. I have in the past built portions of the RV-9 tail so I do know that this will move along a lot quicker than the wings did. Honestly there is a lot of monotony with the wings, and if I had it to do all over again I would consider a quick build for this portion.
Because of the advice of a fellow builder I chose not to finish the wingtips and wait until the aircraft is assembled to do that. I did attach one of them before making this decision. He said that when the wings are on the aircraft things tend to line up in a different fashion.
I have been also looking a lot at costs as well, as now that there are around 13 RV-14 completions it is interesting to see where people end up. The goal here is to have a safe aircraft, IFR equipped without replicating a jet fighter cockpit or worse. I will come up around that neighborhood though ;)
Update 10/10/2016:
Move has been completed to the new garage/storage for the wings. While I still stick to my opinion that the wings can be monotonous at times, it gives me a great feeling of pride to look at them mostly completed sitting there in the new space. And as a bonus for better or worse, I know exactly how they were put together.
The short update here is that not much building has occurred over the last several months. I am making a big step tomorrow however. I am moving the wings out of my garage into another one that I have access to in order to make room for the start of the tail section. I have in the past built portions of the RV-9 tail so I do know that this will move along a lot quicker than the wings did. Honestly there is a lot of monotony with the wings, and if I had it to do all over again I would consider a quick build for this portion.
Because of the advice of a fellow builder I chose not to finish the wingtips and wait until the aircraft is assembled to do that. I did attach one of them before making this decision. He said that when the wings are on the aircraft things tend to line up in a different fashion.
I have been also looking a lot at costs as well, as now that there are around 13 RV-14 completions it is interesting to see where people end up. The goal here is to have a safe aircraft, IFR equipped without replicating a jet fighter cockpit or worse. I will come up around that neighborhood though ;)
Update 10/10/2016:
Move has been completed to the new garage/storage for the wings. While I still stick to my opinion that the wings can be monotonous at times, it gives me a great feeling of pride to look at them mostly completed sitting there in the new space. And as a bonus for better or worse, I know exactly how they were put together.
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