Build Motivation
My 13 year old Nephew gave me this for Christmas … I think he’s itching for a ride!
It is also good motivation to keep working in the shop!
Empennage kit arrived
My empennage kit has been delivered!
In order to save (a lot) of money on shipping and brokerage charges, I had Van’s ship the kit to a package receiver in Niagara Falls, NY. Then I only had to pay for US domestic shipping, whereas the shipping to Canada would have been more than double the cost. On a Saturday morning I made the drive across the border to Niagara Falls and picked up the two packages. They were small enough that they both fit in the back of our station wagon (or SportVagen 🙂 ).
All that was left was to head back to the Rainbow bridge and have a nice visit with the customs folks on the Canadian side. The procedure was very painless. I showed them my receipts from Van’s and they handed me a bill for the tax I had to pay. There are no extra duties on aircraft parts so I just paid the tax man there in the office and I was on my way home.
The next (and larger) kits, like the wings, come in much larger plywood crates. I’ll have to come up with another idea for transporting home with the larger crates, but that is a ways away!
Box #1 at home Box #2 at home
Back at the shop/airplane factory it was time to inventory the parts. I must say that I was very impressed with the packaging of all the parts. Each and every piece was very well protected for it’s journey from Van’s to me. Doing the inventory of the parts took an hour or two and everything was accounted for. No, I didn’t count each and every rivet, but all parts as listed in the inventory sheet from Van’s was there.
Empennage inventory begins Empennage packaged up nicely Empennage parts and hardware Skins for rudder, horizontal stabilizer and control surfaces.
After the inventory it was on to organizing the shop and on to the practice kits.
Empennage kit arrived Read More »
Empennage Kit Ordered
Pulled the trigger and sent in my order for the RV-7 Empennage Kit from Van’s! Very excited to get the project going.
Empennage Kit Ordered Read More »
RV-7 Preview Plans ordered
My journey into amateur built airplanes has begun, I’ve ordered the preview plans for my Van’s Aircraft RV-7!
This is the first step in what will definitely be a multi-year project. The plans are the first (and required) step in building your own RV-7. They are intended to give you an understanding of the build process that you are about to undertake. They aren’t just “for fun” as they are the actual instructions you will use when you finally purchase your kit.
In addition to the preview plans I also ordered the two practice kits Van’s had available. The first is a small wing type section that gives you experience on all (most) of the techniques that you will need to learn and use throughout the aircraft build.
The second practice kit is a little more useful after its completed, a Toolbox!
While I wait for this I’ll be putting together the required tools for all the drilling, de-burring, dimpling, riveting that I’ll be learning how to do soon!
RV-7 Preview Plans ordered Read More »