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RV-3 Build Sites.

islandmonkey

Well Known Member
As some of you know, I am building an RV-3B. I have researched this project over the last eight to ten months and I looked at various builders web sites to get as much information as possible. I bit the bullet a few weeks ago and ordered the emp kit which quickly turned up on my doorstep two weeks later. I have had the emp kit for about a week now and I am slowly going through the plans and the instructions in order to get a mental picture of how things go together and how the different spars are constructed. A recent thread started by Ironflight commented on getting the build picture by study and reference to the plans plus the additional experience of having built another pre drilled RV in the past. I must admit, that this is my first home built project and I have seen Randy Levold's recommendation that the RV-3 is best built by someone with previous experience. However, I am starting to get that mental picture and a feeling for how this thing is put together. I have had previous experience in working in metal and I owned a Super Cub for a few years. Owning an aeroplane opens up your eyes to the mechanics of aeroplanes For example, I replaced the brakes on the Cub with Grove discs, (what a difference!). I replaced the original tail wheel with an Alaskan Bushwheel and the tail wheel spring carrier that also mounted a Töst tow hook. I changed the oil and the cleaned and gapped the plugs numerous times.

The purpose of this post is to put something back into the VAF archive and make it easier for future would be 3 builders to research sites. Here is a list of builders sites and photo albums that have made my life easier:

RV-3

Steve Johnston's photo album.

Randy Levold's RV-3 Headquarters.

Rob Holmes's MyRV3.com.

Fred Bauer Jr's photo album.

http://www.rv-3b.com/ (Added at Gasman's request)

RV-4

Steve Sampson's RV-4.

I have included Steve Sampson's RV-4 site, because the 4 is very like the 3 in that the kit is not match drilled like the rest of the current RV fleet.

As you can see there are not many sites out there on the Internet. If I have missed yours, then I apologise now. If you know of any other sites then please let us know. Maybe Doug will make this thread a sticky as he is starting to build his 3.
 
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Consider it "Stuck"! I always have to go to Randy's site to find the links to others when I am on different computers - now I can just go here.

I am thinking of building a Picasa album that is nothing but our RV-3 pictures....when I get the time...

Paul
 
We've posted "Junior's" empennage photos

We didn't build our RV-3B's empennage but the builder (Russell Duffy of Pensacola, FL) took lots of photos of his excellent work and has given us permission to post all 126 of them. They are now included at our Picasa site: http://picasaweb.google.com/DrKarst/JUNIOR#, at the beginning of the file.
 
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Yay!

Thanks Louise! Now I WILL bookmark your album on my toolbar... :D


For anyone interested, my RV-3 build site is tiny but growing, as I try and follow the old adage to get out in the shop at least for a little while every day. It's pretty mundane now but is bound to get interesting sooner or later...

http://katiesrv3.blogspot.com

http://picasaweb.google.com/katie.bosman/KatieSRV3BuildLog#

The photos aren't an any particular order yet, but when I put a photo into the build log it's automatically uploaded to the Picasa album.
 
Consider it "Stuck"! I always have to go to Randy's site to find the links to others when I am on different computers - now I can just go here.

I am thinking of building a Picasa album that is nothing but our RV-3 pictures....when I get the time...

Paul

So.... Paul, how do we use a "sticky".............:eek:(
 
RV-3A Build Photos?

I'm a ways from having to worry about my wings, but thought I'd put this out there.

I noticed the links posted on this thread are all for -3Bs. Does anyone have access to or have posted online photos of building or modifying Type II wings?

My plane has Type I (pre-1983) spar webs, with a "short" kit that didn't include any bar stock or angle. I have plans for Type II wings (1984 vintage), which incorporate the same spar webs but use thicker bar stock for the caps. So, I'm planning to buy the bar stock to make Type II spars.

This means I"ll have to integrate the appropriate Change Notices into the original build of the Type II wings, so I can be roly-poly & do things an RV was meant to do.

So... some nice color photos of Type II wing upgrading or building (And the F-303 bulkhead and center section) would help ALOT!!

Oh yeah-- and wing tanks. :D Go ahead, call me nutty. (I have plans & instructions for them!)

Thanks for any help--
 
Hey Louise and Paul!

Just wanted to let you know that I bookmarked Junior's album on my new phone. Now I have a pocket sized photo manual at my fingertips in the shop with me. Wow! Thanks for all your continuing hard work posting photos of your build. It really helps. :D
 
47 more photos posted tonight

Just wanted to let you know that I bookmarked Junior's album on my new phone. Now I have a pocket sized photo manual at my fingertips in the shop with me. Wow! Thanks for all your continuing hard work posting photos of your build. It really helps. :D

Thanks for the kind words, Katie. We've been getting barn-fever and tend to drop behind on posting photos so your note prompted me to catch up and post 47 more photos. Deep into fiberglass now!

BTW, congratulations on passing a milestone by finishing the horizontal stab. Onward!
 
New sites for Junior's build

The former site has become very burdensome to load with about 1000 photos and growing so we've taken a little time from the build to establish some new sites for the different parts of the build. This effort is very much a work-in-progress and you'll have to hunt for the photo you want to find, but chances are it is there somewhere. We've also added a lot of photos from the last few months. I will keep the old site up for awhile if anyone has bookmarked specific photos and wants to save them.

The new sites are:

Empennage: https://picasaweb.google.com/103028187447722913049/JuniorEmpennage# and https://picasaweb.google.com/103028187447722913049/JuniorEmpennageRussellDuffy#

Panel and avionics: https://picasaweb.google.com/103028187447722913049/JuniorPanelAndAvionics#

Wheel assemblies: https://picasaweb.google.com/103028187447722913049/JuniorPanelAndAvionics#

Canopy: https://picasaweb.google.com/103028187447722913049/JuniorPanelAndAvionics#

Cockpit: https://picasaweb.google.com/103028187447722913049/JuniorCockpit#

Firewall forward: https://picasaweb.google.com/103028187447722913049/JuniorFWF# and https://picasaweb.google.com/103028187447722913049/JuniorFWF02#

Wings: https://picasaweb.google.com/103028187447722913049/JuniorWings#

Louise and Paul
 
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CN-2-1 support photos, drawings, etc

Hi KatieB,

I have the "Mandatory Wing Spar Modification for Aerobatic Flight". I too am hoping to find the support documents and illustrations for the CN 301 2-1. I have not yet built the wings, but have a substancial portion of the materials available, including the spar webs and the .125 X 1.25" spar strips. I wish to use the spar caps I have. I plan to do both the CN-1 and CN-2 modification against my Type 1 spar parts, as possible. I would also like to use the "B" fuel tanks, if possible. Has anyone done this?

Thanks!

Stan
 
KatieB

After I sent you the previous post, I did a bit more searching for the elusive CN-301 documents, I came up with a site that had a parts list at: http://www.vansaircraft.com/public/parts.txt.

I did a search of that text file and came up with the following:

DOC CN-301 TYPE I INSTRUCTIONS & PLANS $10.00
DOC CN-301 TYPE II INSTRUCTIONS & PLANS $10.00

I called Van's and asked for PARTS Dept. The folks there found the titles and are sending me both of them. Anxiously awaiting their arrival to see exactly what is being sent. This may be the mother lode!

Cheers!

Stan
 
Hi Anthony,
Yes, we noticed the first link you posted but in my ignorance in using Picasa I think I "lost" the link you posted.
We were trying to re-establish it.
 
Hi Anthony,
Yes, we noticed the first link you posted but in my ignorance in using Picasa I think I "lost" the link you posted.
We were trying to re-establish it.

Because you did such a good job building that lovely RV-3 with the open cockpit conversion. I sited your link on my web page as well. Looks as if this link is broken now so I will reroute the link on my page to the one that works.

Happy Christmas Fred and safe landings.
 
Dave's In Colorado

This blog is right here on VAF, in the "My Build Project" section. But in case you missed it, here's the link:

RV-3B Dave's in Colorado

I've got more photos than I'm presenting, so if you need something in particular, let me know.

Dave
 
We didn't build our RV-3B's empennage but the builder (Russell Duffy of Pensacola, FL) took lots of photos of his excellent work and has given us permission to post all 126 of them. They are now included at our Picasa site: http://picasaweb.google.com/DrKarst/JUNIOR#, at the beginning of the file.

So "Russell Duffy" built your tail, and then sold the kit? I'm pretty sure there was a "Rusty Duffy" who built and flew a "rotary" powered RV-3 in the mid-late 90's our of Pensacola area...

Doug

RV-3A sold
RV-9A 13B FWF
 
Rv3 sites

Does anyone know what happened to Randy Levold RV3B site or how I can get access to it?
 
Does anyone know what happened to Randy Levold RV3B site or how I can get access to it?
I was doing some domain manament a couple of months ago and it changed the URLs. Here are the new more direct links...

www.rv3works.com for my own build, and...
www.rv-3.com for all the general RV-3 info I collected and posted for the benefit of the community and the fleet.

Sorry about orphaning any links you might have!

While I'm here among the RV-3 faithful let me give you all an update. I've been away from the RV-3 world now since 2009. As many of you know I actually went to work in the aviation world at CubCrafters and sort of left the RV world behind. I still love RVs, and learned so much in building both my planes and being part of the community that I can't even begin to describe it. But my day job in leading CubCrafters has been all-consuming and just doesn't leave enough time or mindshare to stay active and current with RVs.

Both of my RV-3 sites (links above) have not been updated for quite a while now. Further, after teaching myself web development originally in Microsoft FrontPage, which was discontinued, then learning Adobe Dreamweaver, which I did both RV-3 sites with, I see the html and css code is not playing well with modern browsers. I started the process of learning Wordpress and plan to re-write the sites with that platform, but I've just starting the learning curve and something always seems to be a higher priority. I therefore can't/won't predict when that might be finished.

So, that leads me to the Registry. When I was in the middle of my "RV-3 phase" I took on the labor intensive task of assembling a registry of these fine aircraft on the general RV-3 site for the benefit of all. I just don't have the time or interest any longer to maintain that. So, here is my plan for my RV-3 sites...

  1. Pass off the Registry to some other RV-3 fan who will be a good custodian for the benefit of the fleet, newly interested users, and Van's Aircraft.
  2. Re-code both my RV-3 sites as well as my really old RV-8 site with Wordpress.
  3. Likely merge both my own build site (rv3works.com) and the general RV-3 info site into one site under the rv-3.com domain.

So, that's where I am with regard to my sites. Please spread the word, let's try to find someone willing to take on the Registry so we can all keep track of these unique, and most enjoyable, aircraft.
 
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Uh, while I appreciate the vote of confidence, I've gotta say that I'm not the right person for the job, and therefore decline.

Thanks, though!

Dave
 
This is a treasure that needs to be preserved and fostered. While
specific to the RV3 series, much of the content can be applied to many types of RV's and experimental aircraft. With Randy's permission, many years ago, I stole his CI check list and used it as the starting point for my RV6, as an example.
I would volunteer to help, but my experience in web development is zilch and my RV3 experience is limited to having built a RV3 empennage and to flying only one RV3 loaned to me for preparation to fly the RV1. I am simply not qualified.

Randy - short hop over the mountain. Bucker has been restored and still waiting for you to take your turn.
 
So, that's where I am with regard to my sites. Please spread the word, let's try to find someone willing to take on the Registry so we can all keep track of these unique, and most enjoyable, aircraft.[/QUOTE]

Randy I can take on the websites. I own an it firm that includes hosting and this would cost me practically $0. I also can convert the data to a modern platform. Would love to help. Hope you still have the data

Mike
 
Randy I can take on the websites. I own an it firm that includes hosting and this would cost me practically $0. I also can convert the data to a modern platform. Would love to help. Hope you still have the data

Mike
Mike (and all),
Well, I'm back in the RV world after over 9 years. Long story short, I've now joined Dynon and moved to the Seattle area. Since I now work in the avionics space, and no longer have company aircraft to fly, the move has motivated me to do two things: get my instrument rating so fully understand all the avionics functionality, and build another airplane both because I miss it and I need something to fly now.

Mike, let's connect separately and I'll pass the Registry off to you, but I think I'll keep the RV-3 site. Since I'm building again I plan to put up a site for my new RV-12iS project, and teach myself Wordpress in the process. I plan to go back in and get my RV-3 and RV-8 sites running again (lots of broken links) and eventually port them over to Wordpress. If that can't happen for any reason then I'd be happy to pass the RV-3 site over to you as well.

The url for my new -12 site will be www.rv12driver.com and I expect that to be up in another few weeks (fingers crossed). Meanwhile the older sites can be found here...
www.romeolima.com/rv3/
www.romeolima.com/rv8/

More as it develops.
 
Are you a flyer or builder ?

FWIW, if you build a -3, you will look back and think of all the little things you learn about and wish you did. I am enjoying the build of my -4 immensely as a result of the -3B build experience. Anything other than a B restricts your instrument options for panel space and legroom behind the panel. You can buy a -3 for about 1/2 what it will cost you to build one. That said, if you are like me, as soon as you bought one you would embark on the mods to make it like YOU want it :(.
Bottom line, flying a -3 is like a ball bearing with wings, it rivals sex.
 
wing spars

HI, My name is Mark and I live in Davenport Washington west of Spokane d outin the sticks....I am looking at buying a very early RV-3 that has not flown in years. IT is CN#161, a 1971 kit that was finished in 1994 but never flew much, passed around a lot....the wings are off, the current owner is installing leading edge wing tanks....my concern is the wing spars. I dont plan on acro in it at all and I also hope to make it light as possible, just to fly around in . I have read there is a CN-1 and a CN-2 that must be done...I dont understand what the CN-2 is. I guess I Could buy the dwg. from Vans and maybe understand it then again maybe not... I dont what the big blocks are for??????they look attached to the lower and upper spar caps.....
Thanks, Mark Smith ([email protected])
 
Panel space

FWIW, if you build a -3, you will look back and think of all the little things you learn about and wish you did. I am enjoying the build of my -4 immensely as a result of the -3B build experience. Anything other than a B restricts your instrument options for panel space and legroom behind the panel. You can buy a -3 for about 1/2 what it will cost you to build one. That said, if you are like me, as soon as you bought one you would embark on the mods to make it like YOU want it :(.
Bottom line, flying a -3 is like a ball bearing with wings, it rivals sex.

I bought a 3 in November and flew it home. It has some work that was needed, found some during the prebuy, but not all.

I decided to go ahead and do the things I wanted before flying it.

One of my big item was to figure out panel sapce. After looking at several options, I moved the center of the panel about 8 inched forward and put wings on the side of it. It allowed a lot more room.

I’ve got about another month of work and should be flying soon.
 

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HI, My name is Mark and I live in Davenport Washington west of Spokane d outin the sticks....I am looking at buying a very early RV-3 that has not flown in years. IT is CN#161, a 1971 kit that was finished in 1994 but never flew much, passed around a lot....the wings are off, the current owner is installing leading edge wing tanks....my concern is the wing spars. I dont plan on acro in it at all and I also hope to make it light as possible, just to fly around in . I have read there is a CN-1 and a CN-2 that must be done...I dont understand what the CN-2 is. I guess I Could buy the dwg. from Vans and maybe understand it then again maybe not... I dont what the big blocks are for??????they look attached to the lower and upper spar caps.....
Thanks, Mark Smith ([email protected])

Read this thread... https://vansairforce.net/community/showthread.php?t=211998
 
Which is a shame, really....

I checked it fairly regularly, and I am sure I am not the only one who did.

Is there any way we could persuade you to get it out of retirement? Or host it for you?
 
Which is a shame, really....

I checked it fairly regularly, and I am sure I am not the only one who did.

Is there any way we could persuade you to get it out of retirement? Or host it for you?

+1. Especially the very well done historical information section on the RV-3 and its various wing mods that Randy researched and documented. That information is important and should be preserved. That was the one site where the historical information could be trusted, unlike responses based on imperfect memories when a question is asked about the RV-3's history on the forum.

If Randy is willing, make the RV-3's historical section from his website a permanent part of VAF or Van's Aircraft website.
 
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Guys, it's great to hear that so many people found the site worthwhile! I know Greg and others at Van's never wanted me to take it down either as the internal RV-3 knowledgebase at Van's has waned over the years too.

I of course still have all the page files, images, and related support files so it could be resurrected. Please understand though that I sold that plane in 2009 which is nearly 15 years ago now. I answered questions and provided support to RV-3 builders for quite a few years after that, but over that much time the memory fades and frankly my interests were also drifting elsewhere, both professionally and personally.

A bit of history: I started with my RV-8 site in 1998 which I built in Microsoft Frontpage. MS discontinued that a few years later at which point I rebuilt the RV-8 site and the RV-3 site in Adobe Dreamweaver and continued updating. Then a decade or so later the world converted to WordPress and I no longer worked anywhere that would pay my Adobe Creative Suite annual subscription fee (which are considerable!). By that point I had sold both planes years earlier and did manage to develop a cursory bit of skill with WordPress, and intended for many years to rebuild both sites in WP, but just didn't have the need to spend enough time in it to get fluent.

Over time many of the links have now gone invalid, and I just got tired of paying the various fees to keep the site up (hosting & domains) and GoDaddy went from great service years earlier to **** service (they've been sold a couple of times). So with my hosting renewal this year I just decided to tell them to f-off and retire the sites and give up the domains.

Part of me would like to see the information stay available to the community, but I didn't know anyone with the right set of interests, resources, and capabilities to take it over.

Hope this backstory helps everyone understand. I know a lot of builders gave me help along the way, both of these build sites were my way of paying it forward. But, when does that end?
 
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Hi Randy. I looked at your website when I was building my 8 and I enjoyed following along when you did your 3. Glad to ‘see you back’. Why wouldn’t you just try to put all the really good and salient parts of the RV-3 and 8 web-site’s stuff you still have here on VAF? There’s a ‘my build’ forum so open a thread for each but start with the 3! Might be klunky but hopefully mostly copy and paste but after the effort you know it will be around long after we’re gone.


Guys, it's great to hear that so many people found the site worthwhile! I know Greg and others at Van's never wanted me to take it down either as the internal RV-3 knowledgebase at Van's has waned over the years too.

I of course still have all the page files, images, and related support files so it could be resurrected. Please understand though that I sold that plane in 2009 which is nearly 15 years ago now. I answered questions and provided support to RV-3 builders for quite a few years after that, but over that much time the memory fades and frankly my interests were also drifting elsewhere, both professionally and personally.

A bit of history: I started with my RV-8 site in 1998 which I built in Microsoft Frontpage. MS discontinued that a few years later at which point I rebuilt the RV-8 site and the RV-3 site in Adobe Dreamweaver and continued updating. Then a decade or so later the world converted to WordPress and I no longer worked anywhere that would pay my Adobe Creative Suite annual subscription fee (which are considerable!). By that point I had sold both planes years earlier and did manage to develop a cursory bit of skill with WordPress, and intended for many years to rebuild both sites in WP, but just didn't have the need to spend enough time in it to get fluent.

Over time many of the links have now gone invalid, and I just got tired of paying the various fees to keep the site up (hosting & domains) and GoDaddy went from great service years earlier to **** service (they've been sold a couple of times). So with my hosting renewal this year I just decided to tell them to f-off and retire the sites and give up the domains.

Part of me would like to see the information stay available to the community, but I didn't know anyone with the right set of interests, resources, and capabilities to take it over.

Hope this backstory helps everyone understand. I know a lot of builders gave me help along the way, both of these build sites was my way of paying it forward. But, when does that end?
 
Guys, it's great to hear that so many people found the site worthwhile! I know But, when does that end?

It’s over, Randy. You clearly gave more than you got which is why you have near celebrity status in the RV world. Interests change and life marches on, good luck in your future endeavors and I’m sure you will excel once again!
Cheers
 
Guys, it's great to hear that so many people found the site worthwhile! I know Greg and others at Van's never wanted me to take it down either as the internal RV-3 knowledgebase at Van's has waned over the years too.

I of course still have all the page files, images, and related support files so it could be resurrected. Please understand though that I sold that plane in 2009 which is nearly 15 years ago now. I answered questions and provided support to RV-3 builders for quite a few years after that, but over that much time the memory fades and frankly my interests were also drifting elsewhere, both professionally and personally.

A bit of history: I started with my RV-8 site in 1998 which I built in Microsoft Frontpage. MS discontinued that a few years later at which point I rebuilt the RV-8 site and the RV-3 site in Adobe Dreamweaver and continued updating. Then a decade or so later the world converted to WordPress and I no longer worked anywhere that would pay my Adobe Creative Suite annual subscription fee (which are considerable!). By that point I had sold both planes years earlier and did manage to develop a cursory bit of skill with WordPress, and intended for many years to rebuild both sites in WP, but just didn't have the need to spend enough time in it to get fluent.

Over time many of the links have now gone invalid, and I just got tired of paying the various fees to keep the site up (hosting & domains) and GoDaddy went from great service years earlier to **** service (they've been sold a couple of times). So with my hosting renewal this year I just decided to tell them to f-off and retire the sites and give up the domains.

Part of me would like to see the information stay available to the community, but I didn't know anyone with the right set of interests, resources, and capabilities to take it over.

Hope this backstory helps everyone understand. I know a lot of builders gave me help along the way, both of these build sites were my way of paying it forward. But, when does that end?

We completely understand of course. And thank you for the time you've put into the pages!

From 1996 until around 2010, I used to run a significant web site on the French Jodel aircraft. Many at the time considered it to be THE website on the brand. And eventually, I found myself in the same spot that you did. When eventually some German company offered good money for the domain name (jodel.com), I grabbed it. Somehow though, someone had kept the files and copied them to jodelpassion.org. To this day I don't know who's behind this, but it is good to see the pages still being used.

No fancy domain names or any maintenance on it, but if you've got the html files and photos and would like me to host them, I'd be very happy to do so. With reference to you obviously, and all the required caveats.

Let me know if you're interested.

(and if not, we'd totally understand, of course)

Hans
 
There is a site on Facebook called "RV enthusiasts". While not really a build site, it does offer information and inspiration to those of us who build and fly this wonderful machine. Plus you can always post a question on the forums, and get more help and answers than you could possibly imagine.
 
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