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RV7 in SoDak

cpfeifer

Member
Hi my name is Chris, I have been lurking around here for 5 or 6 years now. I have wanted to build a plane for as long as I can remember, but when I discovered Vans planes I knew I had to build one of them. I recently found a untouched 2008 rv7 empennage kit locally and got a good deal on it, so I am going to be building a rv7! I have rounded up pretty much all the tools I'm going to need for now anyway. I did order the practice kits from vans and I will start with them first. I plan to keep this thread updated but I don't know how often that will be, I have a very busy life right now. I'm thinking the build is going to be a slow one for now, but that will give me time to save money for the next kit! Anyway I decided to build drdt-2 rather than buy the whole thing. I am not much of a welder so don't beat me up to bad when you see the pics.;)
Here I have all the pieces cut ready to weld.
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Got the frame welded together.
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test fitting the ram before welding the plate on
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The finished product! It really wasn't hard to build at all.
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I am really looking forward to this project and am so glad I have this site to help me on my journey!


[ed. Good morning Chris! Until you figure out how to imbed images, here is the link for folks to see them. https://sdrvbuilder.smugmug.com/Drdt-2/. v/r,dr]
 
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Well I finally figured out how to post pictures! I am still super excited about building this plane, I have a ton of projects to finish before I can really get into it. Me and my son are completely rebuilding a jeep to be his first vehicle, so I need to get that finished and out of my shop before I can get going on the plane. I did build van's practice kit and tool box so more to come on that. Thanks
 
Chris, Looks like you definitely have the homebuilder spirit! Regarding your welds; "perfection is the enemy of good enough". You'll probably hear that phrase more than once around here. Another one is "build on", and keep on posting your progress.



Doug
Seattle area
 
horizontal stabilizer

Here I have completed the HS rear spar assembly.
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And here are my first rivets on this plane. I know there are many more to go!
What do you think are they acceptable? To me it looks like they are too short, but the manual even says the 4-5 are the correct length.
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So since my kit was purchased before the service buletin that requires the hs-00001 spar doublers, and the hs-00005 and hs-00006 ribs I had to put in an order for them, so on to the vertical stabilizer. Pretty fun stuff, I got to do my first dimpling and countersinking. I think it turned out great. It is now disassembled and ready for priming. On that note what is everyone doing to transfer the position marks for the parts after they have been sprayed? You know so they go back in the correct position is what i'm saying I guess. I'm thinking about laying the all parts out and taking a picture, then when the primer is dry using the pic to remark all the parts. Any way i'm having a great time and I think it is more fun that I thought it was going to be!

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Isn't it a thing of beauty!
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Labels

I always label so they are hidden after assembly. If there are more than one part with the same number, they get a numerical ID such as ribs. I use a set 90° set of arrows to indicate location. One arrow always points up or forward, the other always inboard. Label is written so it's right side up when the part is in place. I usually pick the same spot on every part like the aft flange on ribs. I scuff the area and label before first assembly so it never gets mixed up. If cleaning removes it, I relabel immediately after it's dried. P60G2 is pretty thin so the labels are visible after priming. Long winded but basically find a process that works and stay with it.
There's a Kitplanes tip on my blog.
https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B7hyZ-sKQmtrc1NtRnE3WWNwNVE
 
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I always label so they are hidden after assembly. If there are more than one part with the same number, they get a numerical ID such as ribs. I use a set 90? set of arrows to indicate location. One arrow always points up or forward, the other always inboard. Label is written so it's right side up when the part is in place. I usually pick the same spot on every part like the aft flange on ribs. I scuff the area and label before first assembly so it never gets mixed up. If cleaning removes it, I relabel immediately after it's dried. P60G2 is pretty thin so the labels are visible after priming. Long winded but basically find a process that works and stay with it.
There's a Kitplanes tip on my blog.
https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B7hyZ-sKQmtrc1NtRnE3WWNwNVE

Thanks for that Larry I will give it a try when I finally get all set up for priming.
 
Logging work

I purchased Kitlog to keep track of the build, how detailed should I be getting on the logs? Do I need to included part numbers and all that, or is just saying I worked on the rudder skin stiffners and rudder spar enough? Thanks
 
rudder brace

Ok guys I have a question on the rudder, I trimmed the R-710 rudder brace and clecoed it in place. In the plans it says to match drill the forward and aft ends to the R-904 and the R-405 PD, I can not find what I am supposed to do on the sides with the skins and the spar. I'm thinking it needs to be drilled to #40 and countersunk. I circled the 4 that i'm questioning. Am I on the right track? Thanks
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I'm back!

Well guys I'm back, after almost 3 years! Life just happened and I put the project on hold. I have been working on the horizontal stabilizer. I ran into a problem where the hs-00005 forward most rib flange did not extend far enough hit the skin rivet. I talked to Vans and they told me to just remove some of the flange and that it would be ok put a -3 rivet in the skin.

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Right now i have the left side of the HS all mocked up and ready to be duburred and dimpled.

I put my order in today for the wing kit and am excited to get started on them. Vans says its about a 4 month lead time right now so fingers crossed they should be here by Christmas.

More to come!
 
empannage work

While I have been waiting for the rib to come from Van's I worked on the elevators. I got the stiffeners match drilled, and the 615PP trim access reinforcement plate match drilled, and the nut plates riveted on. I then got them primed and back riveted on the stiffeners. I have decided to use Stewards System Ekoprime for my primer.
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I also put the VS and rudder back together since it's been a few years just to make sure I had them totally ready to be primed. I did find a few holes that needed to be countersunk on the VS so I got that done and now they are disassembled and waiting to be primed. I'm out of town working for a couple weeks so they will just have to wait. The rib should be in before I get back so I can continue on the HS also when I get back.
 
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HS question

I have a question on the HS, I see on the plans it says to trim the HS for the elevator control horns. Is this something I do now before I prime and rivet it all together, or do I wait till I install the elevators and only trim what is need?

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Later

Yes, trim that later that way you know how much you need to remove. I believe I used a nibbler on that and it worked great.

Doug
RV-7
Flying!
 
Later

Same advice as per Doug - do it later when setting the travel. I needed to remove about 1/8" only and used a Dremel sanding drum.
 
lots of work

So the last few days have consisted of scuffing, cleaning, and priming the vertical stabilizer and rudder.
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After they dried overnight, I started putting the vertical stabilizer together for the final time. It went pretty well, but I did have to drill out quite a few rivets and reset them. I am still getting used to my squeezer and all the different yokes a guy has to use.
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After I finished the VS I started on the rudder, I have it to the point of just the leading and trailing edges are left. Oh, and a couple rivets I have to figure out how I'm going to rivet yet.

That will be it for a few weeks again, I have to get ready for a hunting trip later this week and when I get back, I have to go out of town again for a couple weeks. More to come.
 
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