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Van's Air Force

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Show us the status of your 7/7A project!

Cabin Painted.

I traded emails with Jeff Boderlon. I decided to go with Rustoleum 'Hammered' Gray.
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177 WD

Thought this was a cool pic. Also you can see the emp is done and painted and working on the wings. A FEW years to go but love the sight.
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New RV-7 builder in Illinois

I have just received my RV-7(?) tail kit after a visit to Van's a couple weeks ago. I have been planning on building a 7 since it was introduced and the demo ride with Ken Scott sealed the deal. I will send Doug a donation and appreciate the feedback and advice from all on this forum. The adventure begins.


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The land of the 10,000th rivet

My dad and I just about finished up the lower tailcone riveting yesterday, and my rivet count (yes, I AM counting each and every one... :rolleyes: ) passed 10,000 (10,007 to be exact to this point). :D

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:cool:
 
Chad:

Keeping a talley on the number of rivets is probably better for your mental health than keeping track of work hours or dollars :)

Jekyll
 
False Advertising

RV_7A said:
Am I seeing things in the photo marked "TANK" on top? It looks like the interior of that tank is primed. Or is this and optical illusion?

Jeff,

Contrary to its label, that looks more like a leading edge to me.

George
 
cjensen said:
My dad and I just about finished up the lower tailcone riveting yesterday, and my rivet count (yes, I AM counting each and every one... :rolleyes: ) passed 10,000 (10,007 to be exact to this point).

Hey Chad. I'm just curious. If you have to drill out a rivet and reset it do you count that as one or two rivets? Also...are you counting the number you have drilled out?

If you're at 10,000 and you haven't flipped the fuse yet I'm guessing there must be close to 18K in the 7. I know a lot of people say that there are 14K in the kits but I believe that was for an RV-4. The side-by-sides are quite a bit larger than the -4. I'm very curious to see where you finish up. Keep us posted!
 
Jamie said:
Hey Chad. I'm just curious. If you have to drill out a rivet and reset it do you count that as one or two rivets? Also...are you counting the number you have drilled out?

If you're at 10,000 and you haven't flipped the fuse yet I'm guessing there must be close to 18K in the 7. I know a lot of people say that there are 14K in the kits but I believe that was for an RV-4. The side-by-sides are quite a bit larger than the -4. I'm very curious to see where you finish up. Keep us posted!
Well, as a matter of fact, I keep two seperate counts going-one for total number of rivets set plus those drilled, and a count for just how many are actually in the airplane. I also keep track of my accuracy set right first time. That number doesn't move much now that I have this many rivets set. My "Numbers" page is here , and you can see I have two counts for total rivets, counts for each section, and counts for each "sub-component" in each section.

Am I losing my sanity here?? Nope, I'm just a curious person, and I'd like to find the answer to the question-How many? Obviously my count won't match everyone's kits due to variance in custom parts, and the options available, but I'll be able to get a close number for an average.

:cool:
 
cjensen said:
Well, as a matter of fact, I keep two seperate counts going-one for total number of rivets set plus those drilled, and a count for just how many are actually in the airplane.

Am I losing my sanity here??

And you live where???

Sorry, couldn't resist.

Keep up the good work.

Mike
 
Status of 72601

After spending waaaaay too much time finishing ribs, here is what I did tonight. The right top skins are clecoed and ready to drill!

Everything fit very well. I guess all the time spent on the ribs was worth it.

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I don't think there is a more convenient way to do the wires, what with them having to pass through the bulkheads and bushings ... something has to be crimped or soldered after they are in place. I thought long and hard about it and looked at multiple web sites and it seems that is how everyone does it...

I like the "NP" on the cap sender - I did the same thing to remind me which side the nutplates went on!

Thomas
 
Getting close

Here's a picture taken about a month ago on the day I did my first engine run. Nothing much looks any different now, except all the random wires hanging out in this pic have been cleaned up. I'm planning to rivet on the forward top skin and install the windscreen next week. I also recently posted a photo of my panel in the 'show us your panel' thread.

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MOVIE TIME

Hi Guys,

MOVIE TIME

Progress has been slow on my RV side. I am currently in the USA for a business trip. I made the most of my 23 Hour flight here from South Africa and finally got around putting together my movie of the Firewall Forward, Engine hanging and Gear Install.

I hope you guys enjoy this instalment ;-)

Here is the YouTube version that should be up for ?ever?, but at low quality and resolution:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nysO1CXUUCk

And for a limited time you can download the high quality BIG version from my website and save it to your computer?That is until I run out of bandwidth, then I?ll have to delete it, so be quick.
http://www.rudigreyling.com/movie/rudis_rv_engine_hang_big.wmv

Kind Regards
Rudi

PS: Thanks Caption_John for consolidating all my RV goodies I ordered and forwarding to my Hotel?
PPS: Keep this thread clear...discussion of here
 
This image is from a few weeks ago. Since then I have rigged the ailerons and flaps and fitted the wing root fairings. Over this last weekend I've installed the motor mount.

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Well it's kept me pretty busy, but I'm having a blast. I've built most of it early mornings while my wife and kids are still sleeping. I must be doing something right because I have not heard any complaints from the wife yet. Van's is shipping the wing kit this week. :D I have years to go but I'm really enjoying the building.

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Wing looks great, Brian. One quick suggestion before you get the other wing in the cradle. I think you're going to want the wings to sit in the cradle with the bottom of the wing facing outboard. You still have some work to do inside the wing that is going to be hard to do if the bottom of the wings face each other. Also, you might choose to buck the bottom wings skins in the cradle. Just make a new end piece and you should be good to go. Good luck.
 
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I'll second Steve's suggestion...only because I did the exact same thing. I got all finished up with the cradle construction, and found out after I had moved both wings to the cradle, that I had ZERO access to the bottom of the wings for bellcrank work and aileron/flap installation.

I changed the end piece, and it worked great. :rolleyes: :)

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Yea,

I know I screwed up and actually I kept telling myself when I made the board that I want to make them face outwards and low and behold if I didn't screw it up anyway. I realized this about halfway through the cut for the second wing. I had limited time this weekend and wanted to make the most of it so this was a major rush job. I just went with it for now because I wanted to get the next wing finished up to the cradle stage so I can start working on both at the same time again. I will fix it later.
Thanks for the tip...
 
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Wings hung!

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I still have to make all the incidence measurements before I drill the rear spars but preliminary measurements look good and I don't anticipate any problems. It's really starting to look like an airplane. Even the family is impressed...
 
The big move!

This weekend I moved the fuselage to the airport, to be followed next weekend by the wings. It was a stressful but fun time! Here are some fairly self-explanatory photos.

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Now...let's get this thing bolted together and go fly...
 
Still plugging along and having a good time with the wings. Everything is so big and easy to work with compared to the emp. I'll have to say that my hands are a little tired of forming and fluting though. :rolleyes:

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Brakes!

I worked eight and a half hours on these freakin' things yesterday, but the results are pleasing!

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A little later...

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:cool:

__________________

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I know that I just posted a status update but I had to post another one just for the coolness factor. :D :D :cool:

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pierre smith said:
Thoughts of when you might fly?
Hey Pierre:

I have no idea...but I'm guessing probably about 1/4 down the runway. :p

Seriously...I'm trying my best to get the engine started in the next couple of weeks. After that...who knows??????

I should probably get on your schedule for some transition training. Can you send me a PM with your contact info? Thanks.
 
Progress

I finished up the tail feathers on the -7 on March 9th. Right after that I went to Africa to work for a month.

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I made it back home on April 12th and after getting things caught up around the house I was able to call Van's on the 18th. Quick Build Wings arrived and is in the garage as of May 4th.

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I've completed the inventory and looks like I'm missing one little bag in the big hardware sack. Guess I'll call Van's on Monday. Going back to Africa for another hitch on Tuesday, but really look forward to getting back in June to get started.
 
Mated the wings today

Man, I thought tipping the canoe felt good, but this took the cake!!! :) The good news is that both wings fit like a glove, and even better -- they fit with the garage door down!


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...and you DIDN'T call me!!!??? :eek:

Just kidding! Looks great! I gotta get over there to see how they look!!

:cool: :cool:

__________________

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I feel like this project may actually fly one day. The official engine hanging was a week ago so my project now has a nice, rebuilt O-360-A1A hanging on the front. The project started on August 31, 2001 but had a several year period of inactivity. It is now full speed ahead to completion.
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Steve Eberhart
3EV, Evansville, Indiana
 
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Got the call

Vans phoned today, my QB fuselage and wings are ready for Partian Transport to pick up. all they want is more money. Check's in the mail! :D

I ordered them on March 7th and was told 8 weeks. So they missed it by 1 week...close enough for me.
 
Lucky timing

Called Vans last week and found out that the 7A I ordered in Dec just arrived! Flyin up tomorrow to bring it down :D
Two days and 1000 miles to the next stage.
 
Wings are Complete!!!

It was a great day today? I finally finished the wings! A lot has happened since I started the wings in Oct '05. Let's see, in January of '06 we bought a new house and the project went into storage for 6 months, then this past January my wife gave birth to our first child. When I started the wings, I had no idea either of these events was going to occur, and at times I felt as if I would never see the end, but I stuck to it and now I can celebrate a milestone passed. A big thank you goes out to all my RV/VAF friends who supported and helped me along the way. Bring on the fuselage!

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Atta Boy Brad! Keep the momentum up (the baby really wants to be with mom anyway : )

Its tough for us guys with wives, jobs, and kids to get a plane built, but the satisfaction when done will be its own reward.

erich
 
Brad,
Conratulations on getting the wings done! It is possible to get the airplane done with a kid. It's just going to take some balance. I finished my airplane when my son just about turned 3. BTW I took him up for his first ride last Friday. He loved it!

Take care and congrats again a huge milestone!

Jerry
 
My Panel

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After 3 different layouts I finally arrived at this one. I got the air speed & altimiter as high as possible Oh & just had my first flight. Havn't figured out how to post it on vans site but will soon.
 
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moving forward

Big day today, Vans visit. Daryl gave us a great tour and got to see my kit...ok didn't actually see which one was mine but it's here somewhere.

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then went in the office and paid the balance.

Yippee!
 
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Cool pic!

One question though: did Van's change the type of primer they use on the QB kits, or did the colors just come out funky in the picture? Looks like gray primer inside and maybe alodined outside. Used to be greenish primer (Sherwin Williams P60G2) inside and nothing outside. Just curious.
 
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