What's new
Van's Air Force

Don't miss anything! Register now for full access to the definitive RV support community.

RV-8 Sam in Seattle

Boomer506

Well Known Member
Greetings fellow Van's Aircraft builders and pilots. I am on my second project having finished an RV-6 1999 and now working on my RV-8 here in Stanwood WA north of Seattle. I think this is a great forum and have learned some things during this current project and felt that it was time I joined in. In my first attempt to post a picture I have started a photobucket account so here goes.
imagejpg1_zps587b5c3f.jpg
 
Welcome, Sam! Good to have another build thread going, as there wasn't much activity here for a while. Glad you figured out the photo posting; not the most straightforward system, but workable. :)
 
Sam,
Welcome! There are a fair number of RV-8s in the Great Northwet.
GET 'ER DONE! We can fly together (as soon as I get mine back in the air)
 
Thanks Scott,
Looking forward to flying on your wing. My goal is to be camped out next to the RV-8 at Arlington Fly-In summer of 2016.
 
I thought we stopped allowing new members from Seattle.

They tend to be record setting loud, defend their home turf too well, and as a Denver builder I just have a really hard time not disliking Seattle in general. It's only a recent feeling....which should go away around Feb 2nd. I'll say hello after that, but until then....Grrrrrr

GO BRONCOS!!!!

:)
 
Yes, quite a few RVators in Seattle area, with Blackjack Squadron and a bunch of old Boeing metal benders. I have family in Denver area and football is sort of a touchy subject. Every team in the NFL is gunning for the Seahawks this year and every game is going to be a battle, including the Broncos rematch. All very good entertainment, but sometimes interfers with my airplane building! GO HAWKS!
 
Good idea Sam.

This is from the wing shop at the Maule plant in Moultrie GA. The ladies actually have a dozen or more bars with different sheet metal jigs taped to them, each for a different part of the wing assembly.

 
Thanks Tom, yes great to be back into building. And this one is taking dramatically less time than my RV-6. It really speeds things up to be familiar with all the processes. I can't wait to get back in the air with this thing. Your project looks fantastic. You are not far away from flight. Where are you located these days?
 
Thanks Tom, yes great to be back into building. And this one is taking dramatically less time than my RV-6. It really speeds things up to be familiar with all the processes. I can't wait to get back in the air with this thing. Your project looks fantastic. You are not far away from flight. Where are you located these days?

I'm getting close, or at least it feels like it. I started the engine last week. I'm located @ Paine field if you are ever close by.
 
Making some progress on the fuselage. I've got the firewall done, completed the floor assembly, and now working on the gear leg towers.

2hn7si0.jpg


2im5jk1.jpg
 
Can you get your hands easily through the lightening holes in the front of the gear towers? If not, now is a good time to do the gear tower mod.

Looking good. Nice progress.
 
Mod

Having completed one RV8 I would highly recommend doing the gear tower mod to make the interior more accessable...it will make final assembly and condition inspections orders of magnitude easier...
 
Gear tower mod

I have not heard of the gear tower mod. Can you describe for me, and maybe post a picture? I'm getting ready to rivit this Bad Johnson to the floorboards and may hold off to encorporate.
Thanks
 
This thread has some good pictures of the process and completed mods. Just search gear tower mod in the 8 forum and you will see a dozen or so threads covering the subject.
 
RV-8 Fuselage Frame

Thought I would post an update. Wings and tail are done and in storage. Fuselage forward section is going together. Getting ready to debur and wash prime aft fuselage skins and frames. Starting to look like an airplane!

2dvo1g7.jpg
 
DuPont Veriprime 516S primer

I started using Dupont Veriprime towards the end of my RV-6 project and have continued it with my RV-8. It seems very quick and easy and relatively inexpensive. I mix up very small batches, and I mix it thin so it covers a large area and flows out very thin. I then brush it on with sponge brushes. I find that after cleanup with laquer thinner, I can reuse the mixing cup and also the sponge brush. It dries very quick and I can start dimpling and rivited almost immediately. It follows my parts de-buring and edge cleanup for all of my aluminum parts and skins, before any dimpling or riviting. I look at it like a 'wash primer' and will brush it on after I scotch bright (non polished parts) and degrease with i good cleanser. If you apply after dimpling, the dimples will squeeze extra primer out and can cause drips.

This process seems to be great for protecting parts during the build from scratches and corrosion.

Making progress on my fuselage!

2cwubdz.jpg


ddf1fn.jpg
 
I used Veriprime on the internal surfaces of my Rocket project and loved it. That was 1998-2000. By the time I started my RV-7 in late 2011, Veriprime was no longer available in California.:mad:
 
Painting steel parts

Before I start final assembly of my fuselage I cleaned up my tailwheel fork, bracket and spring. Built a simple paint hood and put on some primer (Dupont Variprime) and some white topcoat (single stage polyurethane Imron left over from my last project).

69qpns.jpg


It had been awhile since I applied top coat. But it seemed to go well. I had some extra paint in the gun so I got the rudder pedals too.

v2veb4.jpg


I went to the local paint shop to check prices and colors for the rest of my airplane and they told me you can get the old Imron anymore. So I gotta find a new system.

rho7c0.jpg


If I want to stick with a polyurethane, what do you all recommend?
 
Imron on eBay

Sam; Here is a 1 Gallon kit on eBay item number:281777882002
Also listed are several gallons of red, yellow and black plus activators, additives
and solids.
Wear a full suit and fresh air hood with that stuff. I have used it and it is great paint.
Jerry
 
Any new paint that works as well as polyurethane?

I used Ditzler Durathane polyurethane in 1989 to paint my RV-4 and the paint still looks great.

Any new type of paint out there that holds up as well? I'm about to start painting the interior of my under construction RV-7A...
 
Tailwheel Frames

A quick update on my fuselage. I have installed the tailwheel spring bracket. Used some leftover tank sealant to fay seal. Also final drilled my engine mount into the firewall. Seems to be going together pretty well.

2vvks8z.jpg


rj33hy.jpg


34rdk61.jpg
 
The wings and tail have been fitted!

The last few week have been busy fitting wings and tail. the wings are hanging on 4 drift pins per side. Have drilled out rear spar and tank attach. Now finishing up flap fairings. I've been able to run flaps on internal battery power. I had similar issues that other have had with flap fairings, but things turned out OK.

3097i4o.jpg
 
Cowling Intake Ramps

I've got the cowling all fitted and last night I installed the intake ramps. I'm starting to like the epoxy resin. Most of my experience has been with polyester resin, but this epoxy seems to flow out well, and cure quickly. I'll be trimming and sanding tonight.

k51xfa.jpg


I have also made some progress on the panel. I originally made the cutouts for a non-touch G3X with GDU370 in the center. But when the Garmin G5 came out, I made the switch. And will feed the autopilot with GPS data from an old GPSMAP 196. I can always put a GMU370 in later.

23t1mjl.jpg
 
Workshop Paint Booth

Starting to paint in my temporary booth in my shop. What I came up with is providing good ventilation and dust free. Plus some reasonable lighting. My rudder and spinner have turned out pretty well. Good learning before I paint the big stuff.

281vmu0.jpg


5vnits.jpg


k4jlol.jpg
 
Intruder Ball 0.05

Thanks Doug,
You figured out my paint scheme! It's going to be a utility hack airplane for VA-165 off the Nimitz, Air Wing 9. Like most builders, I fretted over the scheme for way too long. But now that I'm mixing paint, I just have to go with it.
 
I was a Screwbird back when we were on Nimitz. Was there for the fire on the flight deck. Got pictures of the KA-6 they threw overboard.
 
Airwing 9

The Screwbirds were a great squadron. They always did the best fo'c'sle follies. I think that KA-6D fire was a couple of deployments before mine. I deployed with VA-165 on Nimitz in 91 and 93. Didn't that KA-6 get hit by a round from an A-7 gun they were testing on the flight deck?
 
Paint Scheme

An A-7E 20mm cannon accidentally fired during troubleshooting maintenance. BTW, looking good so far. You don't have to spend 10's of thousands to have a good paint job.
 
Stars and Bars going on

The letters and numbers are vinyl applications from the local FastSigns shop, but the stars and bars were masked by hand. It wasn't as difficult as I thought in might be.

2wgg67o.jpg


nd4dc9.jpg
 
Dupont Imron/Axalta AF400

The paint I am using has been pretty easy to work with. It is single stage polyeurothane Dupont Imron. But the Imron line was recently bought out by a company called Axalta, so now it is called Axalta AF400. But the cans still say Imron.

I have been shooting the paint on top of my sponge brushed on Dupont Variprime 615S self-etching primer that has been on there for months and months during the build process. I scotchbrite the primer and wash it with a good degreaser cleanser before I shoot. And also a final wipe down with windex and a painters lint cloth. Seems to be working well.
 
I just painted my first stars & bars test panel. Look for my thread with pic in the "Painting Your RV" forum section; Sherwin-Williams Skyscapes GA test panel. Surprised by the result... and learned a LOT.
 
Hey, I know that scheme!

Hi Sam,
Paint scheme looks great! Are you going with the knight and boomerang, too?

I was a Boomer B/N from 88-91. I was there when that A-7 from VFA-147 chained down one of our tankers and shot it. What a mess. I think there were 2 fatalities, which was lucky given the amount of damage. One of our Chief's was heads-up enough to pull the lox bottles out of the nose, while the plane was still burning, before they blew up, too.

Brings back memories, plenty of good ones too!

Thanks,
Jeff Hirsch
 
Fellow Boomer!

Jeff!
Good to talk to a fellow Boomer. No, I am not planning on a boomerang and knight on the tail. You can see the tail up on the shop wall behind the airplane. It is a checkerboard pattern with Modex number 506. But Fast Signs is making a nice duplicate of the Boomer patch except larger than the standard patch. That will go on the nose, under and forward of the windscreen. So when people see the airplane, it will say 'Attack Squadron 165' right there.

If you look at the right side of the airplane, it is marked up as my old Prowler squadron VAQ-130, and will have that patch on the nose as well. East coast air wing 3 on the Enterprise. I couldn't let all my Prowler buddies get mad at me for not embracing my EA-6B time!
 
Last edited:
Steve!
My favorite Pensacola Navy Flight Instructor! I still remember our orange and white T-34C trip to Sun-n-Fun. How have you been? Are you still flying?
 
Instrument Panel Power Up

I threw the avionics master switch on for the first time. It all seemed to work as advertised, and no smoke or burning smells which I think is a good sign. Plenty of functional testing to go.

2a9bsqf.jpg


351709d.jpg


2m6qwir.jpg
 
Awesome looking bird!!

Also, any stories about the Intruder for those of us who always wanted to fly it? I can only imagine what 28 500lb bombs must have felt like coming off the jet...
 
Intruders Forever

Yes the A-6 was a great airplane, although by the time I got to it, we were mostly carrying precision guided weapons and not the 28 500b bombs from the early days. Laser guided bombs (GBU-12,16,10), Mavericks (AGM-65), Harpoons (AGM-84s) and HARM (AGM-88). The Intruder was retired during my time in the Navy and I was transitioned to the EA-6B Prowler, so I have dedicated the right side of the plane to my Electronic Attack brethren. "VAQ" in naval aviation is the designation for a fixed wing, electronic attack squadron. In my case VAQ-130 is my old Prowler squadron out of Whidbey Island, Washington. We flew off the Enterprise on the east coast. They fly the EA-18G Growler now.

o0hg9.jpg


34q465e.jpg


When our Super Hornets call the ball they use the "Rhino" call sign. From your username it looks like you might be an old Navy Flyer yourself.
 
When our Super Hornets call the ball they use the "Rhino" call sign. From your username it looks like you might be an old Navy Flyer yourself.

Good deduction...I do fly the Super Hornet. I'm a few months away from finishing my fleet JO tour, looking for an RV-8 to play with during shore duty orders...

Always dreamed of flying the Intruder, but the Rhino is a **** of a jet.

Can't wait to see your RV completed! I love the Navy paint job you've got going on!

Fly Navy!
 
Back
Top