Sunday, December 4, 2016

28 NOV 16: Page 43-9 step 1: 1.5 hours
Cut and fit the C-1004-L/R windows:

1/2 DEC 16: Page 43-8 step 4-8, fit overhead console, 43-9 step 1, 45-08 steps 1-2 : 8.25 hours
Match-drilled #12 the WD-1043 center cabin brace to the F-1044A forward cabin rib and the F-1044B angle.  Trimmed and fit the C-1005 windscreen:

Trimmed and fit overhead console:

Finished trimming side/rear windows.  I’m not sure what is worse plexi or fiberglass dust!

3 DEC 16: Page 45-2 steps 3-4 (L), page 45-4 steps 1-5 (L): 5 hours
Sanded the inside mating surfaces of the C-1002A/B-L cabin door shells:

Match-drilled and clecoed the C-1002A/B-L cabin door to the cabin cover.  The  plans have you tape the door to the cabin top, but like those who have done this before me, I chose to drill into the top and secure with clecos all the way around to get a better fit for final epoxying of the inner/outer door shells:

Sunday, November 27, 2016

Well, so much for keeping my blog up to date - 90 days since the last update!!  Not a whole lot of work over the past several months, but below is what has happened.  I'd like to say I will be making more regular updates, but I'm in for another build/blog delay - just like last year.  I'll explain in a separate post.

28 AUG 16: Page 43-5 step 1, fiberglass practice: 6.5 hours
No pics

29 AUG 16: Page 43-5 steps 1-4, page 41-7 steps 2-4: 5.5 hours
No pics

30 AUG 16: Page 43-5 steps 4-5, page 43-6 steps 1-4, page 43-7 steps 1-7: 4.5 hours
No pics

31 AUG 16: Page 43-7 step 8: 1 hour
No pics

7 SEP 16: Page 43-7 step 8, page 43-8 steps 1-3, tailcone VHF doubler: 3.25hours
Countersunk all the #12 and #19 holes in the cabin top:

Made a doubler for the #2 VHF comm antenna that I will be putting on the tail cone just aft of the cabin top:

11 SEP 16: VHF doubler: 3.5hours
Finished the antenna for the #2 comm antenna.  Doubler riveted to the top skin:

Antenna as it will be placed once final installed:

19 SEP 16: Page 41-7 step 1, page 45-2 step 1: 3.5hours
Fabricated the cowl attach shims.  Marked the outside perimeter and window flanges of the C-1002A-L/R cabin door outer shells in preparation for trimming.  I’ve had this tool since I started building and never got to use it…until now…  Did a good job for this purpose:

26 SEP 16: Page 45-2 step 1: 2.5 hours
Trimmed the outside perimeter and window flange of the C-1002A-L/R cabin door outer shells.  Fiberglass fun!

27 SEP 16: Page 45-2 steps 1-2, page 43-3 steps 2-4: 4.5 hours
Finished trimming the outside perimeter and window flanges of the C-1002A-L/R outer shells and the C-1002B-L/R inner shells.  Trimmed and sanded the canopy top – so much fiberglass fun!

12 OCT 16: Redo upper fuse, page 31-2 steps 4-5, page 31-3 1-3, page 31-4 1-2: 3.5 hours
I was never happy with the quality of my upper fuse – the only metal work in the entire plane that had a few blemishes.  I decided that I didn’t want to spent (hopefully) the rest of my life walking to my plane and seeing the blemishes, so I decided to replace this:

With this:

16 OCT 16: Page 31-2 step 3, debur, page 31-4 step 4: 3 hours
Fabricated the F-1003D/E panel attach flanges, deburred all the panel pieces, clecoed the panel structure together:

17 OCT 16: Tested repaired tank: 2.5 hours
I think I’ve probably had the tank off for a year now – very glad to get the repair behind me.  Did the balloon check and also sprayed the tank thoroughly with a leak detector - basically fancy soapy water.  I’ll take the tank back out to the hangar (where the wings are being stored and wait a bit (cooler weather) before installing the tank back on the spar:

18 OCT 16: Page 31-2 steps 1-2, page 31-5 steps 1-2: 2.5 hours
Fabricated the F-1044C spacer and the F-1044B angle:

7 NOV 16: Replace flanges on upper fuse L/R ribs: 2.25 hours
I had an odd alignment issue with the upper fuse – the left and right rib flanges didn’t line up with the holes in the firewall once everything was riveted together.  A call to Van’s had them scratching their heads – said they saw the same misalignment in pieces in the warehouse.  Their advice was to get some angle and make some new flanges, so that’s what I did:

13 NOV 16: New upper fuse: 1.5 hours
The culprit of the original outies are marked in red in the pic – the corner of the flanges.  I taped a steel ruler along the flanges to see how much shimming will be needed to get a nice curve:

18/19 NOV 16: New upper fuse: 3.75 hours
A bit tedious, but the shimming seems to be doing the job!  Hopefully the marks will not reappear once riveted:

20 NOV 16: Page 31-6 steps 1-4, page 31-7 step 1: 2.5 hours
Match drilling the new upper fuse assembly – no pics.

21 NOV 16: Prekote / prime upper fuse parts: 6 hours
Been quite a while since I messed with the Prekote / Akzo routine.  Guess what?  I didn’t miss it!!  All the new upper fuse parts – next step is to put it together; the fun part!

22 NOV 16: Page 31-3 steps 1-3, page 31-7 steps 1-5, page 31-8 steps 1-6: 5 hours
Putting together all the new upper fuse parts.  New flanges riveted on the L/R ribs:

23 NOV 16: Page 31-8 steps 7-15, page 31-9 steps 1-2: 8.5 hours
Continued riveting the upper fuse structure together.  Center section:

A little awkward to rivet on the bench – hard to keep it from moving – so a stuck a piece of PVC through the ribs and clamped it onto my work bench.  Worked really well – much easier to rivet when the work piece isn’t dancing all over the place.

26 NOV 16: New upper fuse: 1.5 hours
Continued work assembling the upper fuse structure – no pics.

27 NOV 16: Page 31-9 step 3, installed fans in glare shield, put cabin top back on: 12 hours
Marathon day, but got a lot done!  I riveted the upper fuse skin to the sub-structure.   I had a friend help with the last upper fuse, but shot this one by myself.  It was very slow going – lots of awkward angle to shoot and buck, but I got great results.  I then mounted two computer fans into the top skin that will serve to circulate hot air from the avionics bay and will also serve as windshield defrost – the fit was good:

I am so glad I decided to redo the upper fuse.  My results were much better this time – looks great, and now matched the very nice build quality of the rest of the airframe!

Now that the new upper fuse is complete, I can now get back to forward progress – fiberglass work!!  I ended the night by putting the cabin top back on.  Next up will be to trim the windows and window openings, fit the Aerosport overhead console, finish the inside of cabin top, and continue work on the doors:

Saturday, August 27, 2016

27 AUG 16:
Holy cow, what a delay in the build!  I have just started to get back into the project; I’ll begin regular updated and hour totals beginning in September.  Today I accomplished two big tasks that I have been dreading.  First, I completed fitting the canopy.  This took much longer than planned.  I believe I had it on and off a bazillion times and removed a ton of material to get it to fit.  Close, but no cigar.  Remove once again and more sanding!

Finally, it fits!

 Close up of the fit against the upper fuse skin:

Nice to see the plane with the canopy on – if only temporarily!

The second thing I did was to repair my left tank.  I never wrote about it, but a long time ago, when I was transporting the wings to my hangar…get ready for it…one of the wings fell off the wing stand and fell to the trailer floor!  Considering how badly it could have turned out, I got away relatively unscathed – only a dent to the inboard leading edge (tank) which also bend the rib flange and compromised the sealant.  The damage:

Made a small form block and used a c-clamp to apply pressure:

Used a hammer to tap out some of the bends and get it back close to the original shape.  Turned out better than I expected.  Damaged sealant removed, sanded, acetoned, and ready for new Proseal:

Repair complete with new Proseal.  I’ll let the sealant cure for a week or so and then do another pressure test on the tank.  Crossing fingers for no leaks!

Saturday, January 30, 2016

Been a while since my last update.  No time spent working on the plane since the last update.  As I neared my military retirement, I began to focus on spending the second half of my life as a commercial helicopter pilot.  I cleaned up the log books, polished the resume, and flew out to Texas to do a few hours training and take my ATP-Rotor check ride.  Simultaneously, this was happening:
Granted this shot was taken after getting $1 off from all the Christmas gift cards I bought at Kroger (yes, I'm a crappy holiday gift buyer), but still, $1.73/gal...  While this is great news for most consumers (although will be less great as time goes on and the OPEC shenanigans affect our global economy), it is not great news for a newly retired military helicopter pilot looking to begin his civilian career.  A large employer of helicopter pilots is the oil and gas industry.  Almost all of those companies are laying off, or, at the very least, on a hiring freeze.  Initially, I had hope that this would be a tiny, short-term blip.  That hope was dashed in the past several months.

So, one option was corporate America.  With a passion for aviation and a particular disdain for cubicles, water-cooler gossip, and meeting after meeting listening to the talking heads drone on and on, this was not a particular appealing option.  Fortunately, as poor as the civilian helicopter industry is at the moment, the civilian airplane - specifically part 121 regional air carrier - industry is the antithesis.  This is mostly due to the ATP rule that went into effect last summer which now requires airline first officers to also have an ATP rating - previously, only the captain was required to meet ATP minimums.  The regional airlines are now struggling to find pilots able (and also willing due to the horrendous - although getting slightly better - first year pay) to fill the right seats of their cockpits. While the majority of my flying time is in helicopters, I have enough airplane time - from part 91 personal flying - to meet FAR 61.129 minimums - ATP, airplane multi-engine.  The exception is that I do not (or did not I should say) have my multi-engine airplane rating.  Surprisingly, and for sure a sign of the state of the industry, I interviewed with an airline and received a conditional job offer before I even began my multi-engine training.  

December 27th was my last day in the military.  1 March is my official retirement, but I am on leave until then.  I scheduled the month of January to complete my multi-engine training at a shake and bake school in Florida.  Side bar rant --- a few days before heading to Florida, I noticed this beauty on the hood of my truck.  This is a clay packing from a firework that landed on my hood on New Year's Eve.  Thanks neighbor - whoever you were.  My truck is 10 years old, but I try to take care of it and keep it nice - hope to drive it another 10 years.  While only cosmetic, and petty to complain about, it did kind of wind me up - grrrrr....
Time to get into my newly dented truck and head down to Florida.  Someone did not want me to leave:
First flight - from the back while another student is flying (also a recent mil retiree).  Beautiful weather as can be seen:
I love flying, but would be lying if I said it is easy to get back into the studying side of it.  I better get used to it; I have a lot more of it in my future:
So more of that good Florida weather rolling through:
Gave me time to fly this instead of the real thing.  While boring, the cockpit procedures training is a good tool to save time (and money) in the aircraft - even in a simple, light twin.  Learn it here for free rather than fumbling in the airplane with the hobbs running.
Side note on the above pic.  It's funny how uncomfortable I was initially wearing the monkey suit to fly - especially the tie.  After 20 years of not wearing a tie, putting one on for longer than an hour here or there on a Sunday, etc, drove me nuts initially.  Better get used to it, as it will be the new uniform for the foreseeable future.  Hard to believe I felt more comfortable in all of this...

Setting off  on the  required long cross-country flight.  Warning: another mini rant follows.  Why on earth, as a commercial/ATP helicopter pilot do I need more CC training????  Yes, I know, because FAR 61.129 says so...  Oddly enough, even if I was a single-engine airplane commercial pilot, I would still need to complete this requirement.  Yup, flying straight and level for hours is way different in a helicopter/single/multi-engine airplane.  Nonetheless, a beautiful evening - dead calm:

On the way, I made it a point to use Jumbolair as a check point.  I had read that this is where Travolta keeps his 707.  There it is - tough life when all that is sitting in your driveway ;)
My destination was back to my home airfield.  Had to take a pic of this:
To match this:
Crazy to think that my little RV (along with my mil helo time) is what is allowing me to enter the airline industry - thanks Van!

While I had already secured a conditional job offer with an airline - beginning 1 February - there was another airline that had recently caught my eye that I was interested in.  Ironically, the second day that I was in Florida, a recruiter from that airline was at the school to talk to the students.  The recruiter grabbed myself and the other mil retiree and gave us a separate briefing on his airline.  Again this piqued my interest in that particular company.  After several days of waiting out weather, I successfully completed my check ride.  Unfortunately in my haste to hit the road back home, I neglected to take a victory pic with my DPE.  Without a doubt, he made the ride as enjoyable as a check ride can be.  Thank you for your professionalism, Pierre!

Arriving home late Sunday night, with my airline training set to begin one week later, I had a short window to interview with this other airline.  Due to the massive winter storm rolling through the NE a few days earlier, I wasn't sure if the flight would work out.  Landing in Dulles - snow, snow, and more snow.  As much  as I complain about the humidity of SE GA, give me the heat over this any day:
One successful interview later, I have secured a position with this airline and leave for training the end of next week.  As I said in previous posts, the RV-10 will have a significant delay in forward progress.  However, it is worth the delay, and I am excited to begin my new career in part 121 operations.  With the coming week off, I hope to get some time on the build and get one more build post in before leaving again.