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Match the front fuse and rear tailcone

For the record...At 388 hours QB...I also reached a major milestone, I matched the front fuselage to the tailcone. Fairly simple task. The trick was to get the front and back aligned at the same heights as close as possible. Then it was simple a case of moving the front (that is on a castor trolley) then slide into the back. A little wiggle and all the holes lined up. 30 minute job for 2 people :D

Ready to start the operation
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Close-up of the join
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Backing the front up, making sure the longerons slide on top of each other, and the skins nest and sandwich correctly.
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It is joined and the holes line up:
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Proof it is together…
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Regards
Rudi
 
I'm intrigued by what looks like zip ties connecting the sections of seal together. Was that called out in the plans? Won't it spot-chafe the cowling? Most of the installations I've seen didn't connect the sections; those that did used rib lacing thread or similar. Not trying to be critical; I'm hoping I learn something new here. Nice looking engine installation, by the way.
 
Yes, that's what they are, and yes, they will rub the cowling a little. They won't tear through like lacing though. I've tried everything on these seals and this seems to work. Next I may try velcro.
 
I've seen them covered with some red RTV before. So only the RTV touches the cowl.

Can't wait till I get that far!
 
Is that SOLID rivets with a retainer holding the baffle material? You really want to make it difficulty to service a cylinder huh? I like the retainer idea, I thought about using one with nutplates and screws. Drilling out a pulled rivets is easy compared to drilling out that many solid rivets.
 
I started my RV10 SD kit almost a year ago (right after SnF). Here is how far along I am. Excuse me for the mess. I seem to work better when I don't have to worry about keeping things organized.

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2/2/2010

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4/13/2010

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4/14/2010

My RV9A cylinders are sitting in ECi warehouse for the past 2 1/2 months. Without a flying airplane I really make very good progress.
 
Individual strips

If you look close, you can see each baffle piece has it's own strip. This baffle comes on/off surprisingly easy. Last 8 baffle I did almost the same except added angles & nutplates at several joints to make it easy to strip off. I hate it when you have to strip down the whole side of an engine to service one cylinder. Thanks for reminding me about the RTV dab over the zip ties, except I think I'll opt for black RTV though.
 
Progress

Here is a few photos of recent activity on the 10.

Rear seat power outlet for Headset Inc ANR units, and the ubiquitous "cigarette lighter" outlet.

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Little closer shot for detail, note red and black shrink tube for polarity I.D.. Supply wire for power outlet not yet installed. The headset power goes to a regulated power supply mounted behind the flap rod cover. Also have a fuse block in same location for power outlets, and seat heaters.

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Finished product from other side.

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And installed in plane.

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Also, got the fuel valve ----Andair----supported and the cover modified to fit over the escutcheon and handle.

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I am not sure if all Andair valves have mounting lugs that are not threaded, but mine are. This makes for a bit of a problem in mounting the unit, as it is kinda hard:rolleyes: to get to the bottom of the unit for attaching nuts when the tunnel cover is on.

Here is the solution I came up with.

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Cover is split into three parts also, lets you access pump and filter area much easier.

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Lastly, hooking up the electrical for the elevator trim servo.

I used these connectors from the local Radio Control hobby shop.

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I removed one connector by bending it back-and-forth with a pair of needle nose pliers till it broke off. This yielded a polarized three prong connector that I used for the sensor.

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Continued next post, over photo limit.
 
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More

I used a pair of dikes to cut off a pair of plugs to make a two prong, not polarized, for the motor connection. This allows reversing the leads in case the motor was running backwards. (BTW, it was. Easy fix with the connectors set up like I did.)

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Here it is all hooked up, ready for the smoke test. Note caterpillar grommet protecting the wire from the edge of the trim mount in the background.

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All buttoned up, you can just see the lacing cord used to tie the two half's of the connectors together, probably overkill, but makes me feel better about something buried away in the tail of the plane.

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Here is the baggage bulkhead with the charging pigtails for the two batteries

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I used a rubber grommet, 1/4" id, 3/4" od and split it.

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A little Velcro, labels, and done.

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These pigtails plug directly into my battery minder, come in handy when at the stage where you are using the planes power a lot, but not running the engine yet.

Thanks for looking.
 
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Nice work

Great progress Mike!
I keep looking at your posts and it always says: "working on window installation.
Glad to see you've been doing a lot more than that.
I'll have to come up and copy some of your inovations.
 
Great progress Mike!
I keep looking at your posts and it always says: "working on window installation.
Glad to see you've been doing a lot more than that.
I'll have to come up and copy some of your inovations.

Ernst, anytime you want to stop by. Thanks for the kind words.

As to the windows, I successfully procrastinated long enough last fall, that now I am waiting for the weather to warm back up enough to make the glue happy.

Shouldnt be too long now, and I may run out of excuses, and have to actually put the windows in:(
 
Mike,
Where did you get that neat recessed plate that contains the headset connections? Pretty cool idea! Thanks, Dan
 
Mike,
Where did you get that neat recessed plate that contains the headset connections? Pretty cool idea! Thanks, Dan

Here it is, neat little thingie, can be mounted on surface, or inset.

I mounted it in such a way as to minimize the chance of damage to the plug and cord for the headsets. Also gives more room to the knee/leg area. Pointing down should keep crumbs out of the jack, and prevent sharp bends in the cable.
 
Another big Milestone...Trim and fitted the Cabin top loosely in its place today...580 Hours to date (QB Fuse and Tail kit only so far.)

Before:
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After:
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One more from another angle:
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Regards
Rudi
 
Doors and Cabin Top Mounted

Spent a week's vacation time with my dad and made good progress- cabin and doors mounted.

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Almost done with door latches and safety latch. Feels good :)
 
Progress

A few shots of the wiring all cleaned up, and dressed for success.

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The -7 snap bushings in the stab, for the elevator trim cables would not fit on the cable---I used -8 bushings instead. Here is the guide tubes I threaded into the stab prior to installing on the fuse. the ends of the trim cables go into the tubes, and follow them on through the stab, pushing the guide tubes out as the cable progresses.

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Tail all together for a final fitting/adjusting.

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Wing tip wiring.

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Duck Works kit with home brewed HID from a Corvette.

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Engine on

Got my braces off my teeth and my engine mounted in the same week. Not sure which I'm happier about :)

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Nice job Dwight!

Looks like you've made a lot of progress since I first visited your garage. (looks like you cleaned up a bit too.. ;)) Keep going. I'm dying to see your finished RV-10! As far as my progress, I plan on purchasing my Emp Kit at Oshkosh this year. Thanks again for inviting me to your house. If you need any help, or just want to show off your craftmanship, send me a PM (I'm right down the road).

Mike
 
Windows

Well, I have gotten 4 of the 5 windows installed.

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It was every bit as bad as I expected........not. Not quite?

Yes, messy and smelly, and intimidating. But doable.

So far, I have worked on them two days last week, and the next day I felt like I had a case of allergies combined with a chest cold. I suspect it is a reaction to the glue........anybody else experience this after using the Weld On on their windows???

I know some folks are allergic to epoxy, I suspect there may be something similar going on with me.

For anybody considering doing a headliner, make a close out ring for the windows, and install it after the window. Do not make the same mistake I did, and let the upholstery shop talk you into installing the windows after the headliner, and just using masking tape to protect the upholstery.
 
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Pat Stewart's RV 10 arrives in Zephyrhills (KZPH)

After a long Sunday ride from Alabama, we unloaded Pat's fuselage from the trailer and into a new (literally) hanger at ZPH:

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Pat taking in the fact that his fuselage has a home:

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Finished taking the previous photo and Pat reached inside and powered up the panel. Awesome - sorry turned off for the photo.

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Next week - the wings move in.

Welcome to your new digs, Pat!
 
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Gray Cowls

My finish kit arrived yesterday. I was surprised by the gray primier on the cowl. Must be something new Van's is doing.

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My finish kit arrived yesterday. I was surprised by the gray primier on the cowl. Must be something new Van's is doing.

Whoa, looks like that's the pink cowl I have, with a nice coat of primer. What's the pinhole situation on that one? Did they do that with the doors as well?

-Rob
 
If no one else has worked with the gray cowl yet, I'll be starting on mine shortly. Quick look seemed like it was nicer from pinhole than the pink cabin top, but didn't look closely so I could be way wrong.

Doors are still pink I think, I ordered a replacement shell (since I cut mine wrong just a couple weeks ago) and got the same old pink stuff.
 
Whoa, looks like that's the pink cowl I have, with a nice coat of primer. What's the pinhole situation on that one? Did they do that with the doors as well?

I haven't really looked close yet. The top was pretty bad. They missed several 2x2 areas along the edge. You would think with the primer they could at least figure out to paint to the edges.

These are the only parts that were primed. The doors are still completely pink. The wheel fairings were all green.
 
Maybe check under your gray for void repairs? Could be yours needed "plugging". It'd be nice if they'd prime for us. Be even better if they'd send a hot crew of "southern aliens" along too. The guys that built my hangar took 2 1/2 days to finish all the metal. I just spent the same amount of time on 2 bottom wing skins.
 
Rudder trailing edge

Got the rudder trailing edge done today and I couldn't be more pleased with how it turned out. It is straight as a laser beam. Many thanks to Mike Cencula for coming down to help. Having another builder there to discuss the process and ponder the options makes the entire process more enjoyable.

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UH......I gotta rudder...

May not look like much but you gotta start somewhere. I thought I'd add a little something extra to the picture for comparison so I dug out my original 7 rudder. When Van's replaced the original 7 rudder with the folded over trailing edge, to the newer double flush riveted trailing edge, the replacement was actually quite a bit longer on the bottom than even this 10 rudder but you can certainly see the height difference between the two. Onto the HS....or I just might build the tailcone for something a little different...I've built several flying surfaces but only one fuselage, albeit the tailcone is only a section of the fuse, it's still something different.

I'll go ahead and leave the bottom fairing clecoed on until I get my strobe. On my 7 I simply floxed a couple nuts onto the inside of the strobe cutout which made for easy removed of the strobe and glass. I'll probably end up doing the same thing on the 10.



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*sound of a starter's gun* "And he's off!" :p Glad you're having fun.

Having fun would be an understatement....well there is that getting the holes aligned on the bottom aft skin and the flanges on the rudder attach bulkhead. It was however, a little easier to line up than on my 7 with the tailwheel hardware...thought I was going to have to use a bigger hammer on the 7:eek:

Today is going to be a day of final drilling, forward bulkhead brace, bellcrank angles, aft deck........sounds like fun to me:D

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We are going to be getting pictures of you sitting in it soon!
Hey Todd, I wish it were you building rather than me and getting ready to sit in it and make airplane noises. Down to the basement I go with a couple of new #40's, ear protection and air drill in hand!!
 
Hey Todd, I wish it were you building rather than me and getting ready to sit in it and make airplane noises. Down to the basement I go with a couple of new #40's, ear protection and air drill in hand!!

All in time. My wife still says I am going to go orphan the children every time I mention the word flying.
 
Roof liner and close out rings
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another view
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Similiar Black Painted Metal backing strips will close off the sides and back of the roof liner material once the cabin is riveted to the fuse

On with the build...
Rudi
 
Striped and numbered

Yesterday we got someone out to layout all the stripes. It was quite interesting to see a pro at work. Making sure the two sides are the same is also difficult. Then we masked and covered the whole AC and painted it. Happy with the outcome :D
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Hi Ernst, yes soon!
We have upholstery and the left side of the instrument panel to do.
And the wing tips need the final coats of paint.
 
It is in the mail

I just talked to the good folks at FAA/Oklahoma City------

N210LM is now officially assigned to my aircraft shaped pile of parts, and the registration in in the mail as of yesterday.

Getting closer....................................
 
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