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RV-10 #41741 Colorado

tims88

Well Known Member
On January 1st I started work on the empennage kit for my RV-10! After nearly a year and a half of research, planning, preparing, and dreaming it's an incredible feeling for my wife and I to finally be able to say that "we are building an airplane" instead of "we are going to build an airplane".

A huge thanks to Mike (ppilotmike) who showed us how to build our first practice kit, and Justin (J Twilbeck) and Myles (met through EAA chapter 43) who took us for rides in their RV-10's.

This website and multiple build logs I've found online have been extremely educational and motivational while we have been getting ready to start our build. It's inspired me to try to maintain my own blog documenting our build. I started one a couple months ago when I started building my workbenches but it still needs work and will try to add more content in the coming weeks.

https://timsrv10blog.wordpress.com/

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welcome

Welcome to the club! I'm just a few months ahead of you.

If you haven't already, order some proseal from Van's. You'll need it about 3/4 way thru the rudder.
 
E-mail group

Tim
Welcome.
There's a group of builders in Colorado who communicate by an e-mail group. Mike is in the group. If you would like to join in, send me an e-mail. Address is below.
 
Thanks unitink72! I actually just noticed that while I was looking ahead in the plans last night. I don't know yet if I'm going to go with the ProSeal or if I'm going to try the tape method mentioned in section 5. I'll be doing some research on the forums to see what people think about the two options. I've got more time than you would think though. I messed up some parts on the VS so I skipped ahead to the rudder while I await the replacements. As soon as those are here I'll probably go back to working on the VS.

I'll be following along on your blog so be sure to point out any tricky steps so I know what to expect! :)
 
Rudder

Hey no problem. I try to keep it up to date, will see how that goes.

Just cleaned up the proseal last night. It wasn't too bad, I think I made a mess of it and it took maybe 45 minutes at the most to clean it up with Acetone.
 
Welcome (officially) to VAF..

..and thanks for the kind words. As others have said, you are in for a ride.

Regarding the Proseal, I'd highly recommend getting the little, tiny 1oz pack from Vans. It's already premeasured and cheap. Apply it to your rudder with a popsicle stick. You won't need lots of Proseal until you get to the fuel tanks, so don't bother buying a lot. When you do get to that point, I highly recommend using the premeasured Semco gun cartridges that Vans sells. They are a little more expensive, but they are premeasured, easy to mix, using an electric drill (get the mix adapter that chucks into the drill) and makes a lot less mess. When I calculated the difference in cost between the cartridges and the "mix it yourself" cans, it wasn't too bad. Plus, I didn't take into account the savings due to waste. IMO, when you batch it yourself, you use a lot more proseal, and the cans go bad after some time on the shelf. Get the cartridges when you're close to needing them and keep them in the beer fridge in your shop. You DO have a beer fridge, right? :D
 
I used the VHB tape... Got perfect results setting the double-flush rivets and the trailing edge is "laser-straight"

Not to mention, my Clecos don't have any Pro Seal stuck all over them. :D
 
Thanks everyone!

You DO have a beer fridge, right? :D

Not yet, I'm such an amateur....

It's good to hear that the tape has worked out well for some people. Other threads I've found on the forums didn't make it sound like a great option. I haven't made a decision yet but I'll definitely keep the 1oz ProSeal packs in mind if I decide to go that route. May be good to get some experience with the ProSeal before it's time to use a larger quantity of it on the tanks anyway.
 
I'm in Sedalia (between Castle Rock and Littleton) and am buying a RV 10 project. I'll send a pm with my info.
 
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