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Show us a picture of your RV-10 progress.

Painting underway!

She's got her white base coat -- on to color!

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Looking sharp!

That's got to be really encouraging to reach that stage, Todd. Glad to see it happening; looking forward to the day on mine (and remembering my 6A at that exact stage 19 years ago). :)
 
Update #2

So with the white base on, the stripes and N-number shadowing has been applied. After that's all dried, the color for the cabin, top cowl, and wing/emp flashes will get sprayed.

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The rule at my house when I was building was that my wife's car had to be in the garage every night!

I have a similar rule but is temperature dependent. If the overnight low is below 45 F, then her car must be able to park back into the garage. ... basically all winter.
 
There are some points in the build process when various assemblies start to look like an actual airplane. This is one :)

Cabin top trimmed to fit after lots of cutting and sanding - ready for attaching holes to be drilled.

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There are some points in the build process when various assemblies start to look like an actual airplane. This is one :)

Cabin top trimmed to fit after lots of cutting and sanding - ready for attaching holes to be drilled.

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Often times, a guest at our house that sees the garage door open asks if I am building a canoe?
 
Its like taking photos of models. They look good in pictures, but when you wake up next to them.... woah - look out. The pax door sits about 3/16" higher in one spot. Have lots of fiberglassing to do :)
 
Looks great Igor. Curious what the box is that says “air” on it? Also didn’t notice any circuit breakers or fuses?

Take care
Bill
 
Looks great Igor. Curious what the box is that says ?air? on it? Also didn?t notice any circuit breakers or fuses?

Take care
Bill

Thanks William! The 'air' box is a European Traffic Warning System including ADS B, TXPD & Flarm. The circuit breakers will be positioned on the right panel -the electrical planing is not finished yet..
 
New Titan Engine Hung

Just received new Titan IO540 clone. Neighbor with the tractor with forks took it around to basement door this morning and later today it was hung!, Great milestone. Engine looks great, very pleased with overall experience Jame Ball at Titan was great to work with. Only issue is the Oil filter is hitting top brace of engine mount. I think it is a .75" extension on the oil filter adaptor but needs to be a bit longer. Will dig into that issue tomorrow.

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It has been a while since I posted something about my 10 build. Here is a pic of the project in it's current state. Sprayed the wings today and have only one more painting session for wingtips and cowl. Thank goodness the painting is almost done. A LOT of work for a project this size.

Just need to re-hang engine and finish off baffling and some misc FF work. Should be flying by November.

Larry

In this pic, the plane has been wet sanded, but not buffed yet. Also, need to re-spray the doors at some point. Had a problem with color matching.



a
 
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Tail dragging dreaming

My first thought looking at this picture -
?Wow somebody made a tail dragger -10?

Looking really great Larry!
 
My first thought looking at this picture -
“Wow somebody made a tail dragger -10”

Looking really great Larry!

With the engine and nose gear on, I only have about 1" of clearance in the front and back in the garage. Not enough room to maneuver for painting.

Larry
 
Hi Larry your RV10 looks great! Do you happen to have any pictures of the paint booth you built? I?m about to paint my rv10 project in my 3 car garage but still thinking on how to setup a booth.

Thanks
Bill
 
I used a 10 x 20 plastic car shelter from Pep Boys. Filters on one end and a fan at the other end. Sealed along floors and corners with gorilla tape, put florescent lights at all four corners. This was for an RV-7. Might be a little tighter for a 10.
 
Hi Larry your RV10 looks great! Do you happen to have any pictures of the paint booth you built? I’m about to paint my rv10 project in my 3 car garage but still thinking on how to setup a booth.

Thanks
Bill

No paint booth. I almost made one, but was concerned about the fan pulling in the plastic, as well as the static issues related to plastic, not to mention building a door. I just put tarps over the floor and tools in the 2 car section of my garage. Left the door open 2' with a fan Having other garage door open helps some.

I had very little dust issues. I learned some time ago that most of the dust comes from the painter and not the booth. I wear a tyvek suit and it works. I would sweat several gallons, but its the cost of DIY. A nice side benefit is not having crunchy hair for 2 days from the clear coat. Some parts needed a wet sand and some were passable without it. I have learned that cut and buff is just a cost of painting something in your garage. Unless you're good enough to lay slick clear consistently, you're probably going to do it anyways. Grounding any aluminum parts also helps, as the high pressure spray creates static electricity, which attracts dust. I also spray water on the ground before spraying, though in the summer temps it doesn't stay there long.

a 10 x 20 booth will be very limiting, especially if the plastic is getting sucked in by a fan. Don't forget that you will also need a ladder to spray the top of the cabin top, plus a creeper for underneath. I would not have enjoyed spraying the fuse while constrained within a 10' booth. That leaves only 3' per side (before accounting for the plastic being sucked inward) and nothing at the front or back. You also need a door and if that isn't sealed, what's the point. Without a constraining booth, I was able to shoot the entire lot of empennage parts in one session.

PM me if you want to discuss details.

Larry

This weekend's effort. Top sides are wet sanded and don't care about a bit of orange peel or a few dust nibs on the bottom side Don't know how you would do this with a 10' wide booth. I have decided to do the buffing once in Phase I. Will give me something to do on days I can't fly.

 
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I painted my aircraft myself and I think I did a pretty good job.
I painted totally outside, early in the morning as the sun gave me enough light.
I first thought bugs and dust would be a problem. To my surprise, no problems little to no bugs nor dust. Usually the wind is nil, there is usually a light dampness in the air at that time of the day, that keeps the dust down. Of course you have to be ready to move the object outside quickly and have your paint ready as well. Time is not on your side if it takes more than 2-3 hours.

On the first plane I painted, I built a booth, fans, filters lights and all. I have found that this works as well, with less work.

I cannot say that in the outside there has not been a bug, if you leave it alone, after the paint drys, you can just scrape it off with little noticeable smear.
Happy painting
 
Was so glad to have the final paint on cabin top done that I had to post it! Still lots of fiberglass work to do, but this feels like a milestone! Getting the top smooth enough to paint (VS headliner) was a challenge!

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Taken just prior to first flight

Keep workin'

Like getting old, one day you look up from the work bench and realize you are done!

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I have 15 1/2 hours on the plane. It would be more if the weather would cooperate :D
 
Move to hangar day....

Today was a major milestone for the RV-10! It moved to a hangar for wing and tail feather attachment!

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The best part of the move was the VERY small stack of parts left from the Van's kits. It's hard to believe that this is the only sheet metal left from all the kits. Those huge boxes / crates and all the shelving to store them is now down to this!!!

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Here's a link to a 20 second video of the arrival at KBAZ airport. The move was un-eventful (in the way you hope it to be).
https://photos.google.com/share/AF1QipNR1ODRkfSf_5vtXR69hnZuQMCOcciY4ur27LGDuw5YySOxKWxnkZftI7FQE4Jp8A/photo/AF1QipPjRK2aYMzMNykgT0NOioQKB87Cxf_ftM2lGjwb?key=dk9QUzdwSUlzYkhLQmM4bVNQbHRTUW9HREFYZlhB

It couldn't happen without friends and family!


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Very happy with how the panel and interior turned out. Can't wait to actually fly this thing! My lips are numb from making airplane noises in the garage.


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My plan is 1st flight and Phase 1 in August, then paint at Evoke Aviation in September (Here's the paint scheme) It's beginning to feel like flight will actually become a reality!


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Another Flying RV-10

Yesterday was a big day for N783V! She got her Special Airworthiness Certificate!

The D.A.R. was great! If you're anywhere near Central Texas (San Antonio area) I highly recommend Boyd Kempf for FAA inspection. He's retired from FAA and knows his stuff. Plus, he had a very "helpful" spirit and attitude. He found some squawks, but we were able to correct before he left.

Today is 1st flight! It's 5:44 am, headed to airport for approx 7:30 am flight for the cooler a.m. temps.

Thank you Les Bourne! My EAA tech counselor, mentor and friend for ALL the knowledge and help to make this happen!!
 

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Congrats from Utah! Have a great flight, I’m about 10 days behind you but won’t be sporting wheel pants and GLF’s for my first flight!
 
Looks great, Randy. Must have been the custom leather wrapped sticks that helped you pass 😁. Congratulations.
 
Congrats from Utah! Have a great flight, I’m about 10 days behind you but won’t be sporting wheel pants and GLF’s for my first flight!

I debated this and I know they can affect flight characteristics. But, I wanted reduced drag for engine cooling. Glad I did, my CHT's were 389-402. Not sure what they would have been with increased drag without pants. It flew pretty well. A little left yaw. I'll take them off later after CHT's come down with more break-in time.
 
From my experience:
Fixed pitch prop - you always do your maiden and break in the motor WITHOUT the fairings and wheel pants.
CS prop - you always do your maiden and break in the motor WITH the fairings and wheel pants on.
 
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