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Van's Air Force

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An oldy but goody, and dang it got that way without having finished it yet!

GAHco

Well Known Member
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Thanks Tony

Your my first reply, fly out sometime and Ill buy you lunch.
There is a great restaurant at the airport here (PRB) called Mathews at the Airport, its about 3 miles from our store.

Thanks, Tom
 
Thanks for the offer of lunch

Tom,

I appreciate the offer of lunch. My RV8A is not finished yet, so I would have to fly my Taylorcraft L2....that would take about a week.

You will enjoy this site, there are a great bunch of guys, and some great gals also, here. I cannot imagine not having this site as a resource. Lots of good information in the archives that you can search for.

Any question you have about building an RV can be answered by forum members who have experience and training in a wide range of skills. You will find everyone here very friendly and helpful.

Tony
 
I'm looking forward

I'm looking forward to communicating with fellow Rv'rs.

My wife, my kids and my our dog understand my building, but only to the extent of they know it makes me happy.

Old Sid Goldin got me interested in RV's about 15 years ago, and then Dale Stanly took me up in his RV4, I was hooked.

It was a few years later that I bought the tail kit. Then the wing kit. As slow as its going I see the fusalage kit coming in 2007.

Keep your T-craft up-right and have the good flight next time.
Going to dinner, be back tommorow on break time. Tom
 
Great News

This morning, I finally ordered My Fuselage kit, with the options of Electric flaps, Steps, and Dual Brakes.

While I wait for that, its time to catch up on my Hunny doos. ;)

Then 1 step closer to flying in the wild blue! :)

I envy the guys in the air, but am still having fun building on the ground. :cool:
 
Hi Tom!

Congrats on moving forward with the fuselage! I went with the QB on my 9A, and skipped a lot of the hard stuff. But I'm having a great time with the rest of it. One thing I've found, though, is that Van's does a great job of filling hardware bags, but there's always something I wish I had more of.

Gee, if only there were somewhere I could buy some genuine aircraft hardware here in California..... ;)
Actually, I have several of your hardware kits and a lot of misc stuff from your shop. Many thanks go to you for allowing me to keep working instead of having to stop and order a bolt.

Anyway, keep plugging away at your 6, keep having fun with it, and I'll see you in the wild blue someday soon!
 
I appreciate it.

craigvince said:
Congrats on moving forward with the fuselage! I went with the QB on my 9A, and skipped a lot of the hard stuff. But I'm having a great time with the rest of it. One thing I've found, though, is that Van's does a great job of filling hardware bags, but there's always something I wish I had more of.

Gee, if only there were somewhere I could buy some genuine aircraft hardware here in California..... ;)
Actually, I have several of your hardware kits and a lot of misc stuff from your shop. Many thanks go to you for allowing me to keep working instead of having to stop and order a bolt.

Anyway, keep plugging away at your 6, keep having fun with it, and I'll see you in the wild blue someday soon!

Thanks for the encouragement. :D I feel like its a real mile stone in the project.
The further I get, the more motivated I feel.

Also thanks for the biz plug. :)

I know what you are saying about Van's Hardware Bags, the company is so organized and efficient......except when organizing and presenting their small parts bags. Nutplates mixed with rivets and washer in the same bag? :eek: I just don't get it?

We make special hardware kits for other privates label aircraft companies, and when done in batches with our Autobagger, they come out very presentable. You may see some specialized kits sold at Oshkosh, but you will have to guess by who? You will know once you see how well they are done. ;)

If your flying around in my area, stop by I will give you the ten cent tour, but it won't cost you a dime. :cool:
 
Got my Fuselage Kitv / Slow build?

Slo build version, showed up a little more than a week ago.
It all looks pretty good. The skins have NO holes in them. I got a little spoiled on the wing kit with the outer wings skins being pre-punched and nothing else.

Oh well the first 6 fuselage I helped build was a scratch built in 93/94.
I helped a zany old Englishman ( Mike Underwood ) put it all together in the back of his overstuffed shop. There were no holes in anything and we laid out skins with squares and long straight edges.

He made all the bulkheads and ribs from 2024-0 condition by beating them over very thick Formica forms with lead straps. Once he had made several sets, he took them down south for heat treat to T3, they were real nice.

He paid me $10 bucks an hour and that's how I paid for our #3 kid to get let out of his Mom.:eek: seems like things were cheaper when I didn't have all the fancy insurance.:rolleyes:

I bought a set of the back 5 bulkheads before he skipped of to England.

I bought the Leading edge Ribs also and used them instead of the Vans ribs, they fit real nice without fluting or slits in them.

Any way thing have come along way since then, but parts of me is stuck back there compared to the latest kits.

I am having fun and taking my time, or maybe I am taking my time and having fun.:D

Hope your all having fun too!
 
long rv6a project

BOY BACK AT IT 1995 KIT ITS HARD TO PICK UP THE PIECES WHERE U LEFT OFF JUMPIMNG AROUND BUYING INST. AND ENGINE WELLL WITH TAIL DONE WINGS DONE LESS LIGHTING FUSE DONE EXCEPT , TIP UP FIBER GLASS WORK NEEDS DONE , OHHHH THE TIRES FROM 95 DONT LOOK IN REAL GOOD SHAPE SO THEY WILL BE REPLACED INST. PANEL NEAR COMPLETE NEED ATTITUDE,TRANSP.,COMM, AND BREAKERS BUT HEY IM GEETEN THERE NEVER SALE OR NEVER GIVE UP UR PROJECT SEE IM STILL AT IT KIDS ALMOST OUT OF THE WAY YEEEEEEEEEAH MORE MONEY..

OH YES LOOKING FOR THAT PERFECT PRICE ON IO-360 OR O-360 NEED HELP HERE.................
 
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I now have my Finishing Kit!

Inventoried my finishing kit with the help from my youngest son Nathan today.
It is a -7 kit forward of the firewall, all the other stuff is -6.

The fiberglass parts are about 12x better than the ones that came with the tail kit in 98.

I have the tail cone skins fit and drilled to the canoe.

Back to work for me!
 
Still working on it, more than I am posting

De-burred, smoothed edges, Detergent washed with Scotchbrite, Rinsed, Dried, and applied 2 part Zinc Chromate on all of the Main Spar Bulkhead "F604"components.
It only took me 8 hours :( but it came out real nice :cool:
 
More and More Priming!

When I started this project I told myself that I would build it to the best of my ability. I still am holding to that standard, and I will continue.

However it does take more time than I thought it would.

Today I cleaned parts with scotch-brite and detergent, dried, and then spray primed with acid based zinc chromate wash primer.

Working on all the fuselage parts (before final assembly) I primed the numerous misc. brackets and the cabin seat ribs.

Next I will prime all the remaining bulkheads and the baggage compartment ribs.

Priming is one of the least fun jobs, but can pay real dividends in the longevity of the airframe, so I press on.:p
 
Special Day!

My sweetie gave me an early valentines present, she helped me work on the RV6 I am building. For today its was (We)!
She is awesome and all the work that we did is high quality and Good Lookin':)
 
Fueslage off the jig 2 weeks ago!

I thank Glen Rosel for letting me use the jig someone else lent him.
It worked very well once I put the adjustable feet on it.

My fuselage came out very straight.

Today I fit the aft fuselage deck and will be able to do more Tuesday evening.

The further I go, the better it gets!

Building on........
 
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