DRDT Setup Finished and More Deliveries...

 So I got some time and finally made it to Lowes.  I was able to pickup some cheap carpet and cut it down.  I deliberately bought extra so I could cover the DRDT, Wing Stand, and some scrap to use as padding.  I still want to get a piece of ribbed carpet to act as a table runner on my workbenches.  I saw another builder who used that and it was convenient for when you dropped things as they would get caught between the ridges.  Regardless, I wrapped up the table in carpet and came across an issue.  The table dimensions really don't allow for the carpet depth, and as soon as I tried to put it over the frame, it wouldn't go down.  I ended up trimming the carpet to cover the tops and outside edges only, and ran it smooth to the middle edges.  I ran my hand all around and didn't notice anything sharp that will beat up the skins, but I plan to monitor it for a bit to be safe.  Anyone building this later, I'd recommend leaving a little space in the center gap to allow for the carpet or carpet across the top over the front.

Completed DRDT Table

After wrapping up the DRDT table, I got in my Stewart Products primer shipment.  My can of EkoPrime and EkoEtch arrived so I am now ready to start priming parts.  I looked into the first two sections of the wing build and thought about things I would need.  I have made my run to Harbor Freight for a Tap and Dye set for fabricating the tie downs and some other odds and ends.  I also have ordered some paint strainers and a vice for the table which should come in the next day or two.  I am hoping to start match drilling by the weekend.

In other thoughts, I also have been debating how to organize the garage.  I ended up buying two deep hooks to hand on the ceiling joist.  These allow me to hang the longer narrow pieces like J Channels, Spars, and such off the floor and out of the way until I need them.  The actual spar crate only has the two spars in it and I think I will be breaking that down soon.  My current though process is to build the wing stand sooner than later.  By building the wing stand, I can store the two spars horizontally together, put the larger skins underneath on the cart, and break down both crates for disposal.  This would open up the floor space for the empennage kit to arrive late next month sometime.  However, I looked through the plans and I think it might be wise to build in order versus jumping around.  It seems like if I prep the spars, I can then start adding things as I finish each section.

I also received my order from Van's for the leading edge kits.  I have decided to move forward and go with the FlyLED's lighting kits.  I am going to use the Original kit which is only Nav/Position and Strobe lights in the wingtips.  Then I will cut a hole in the leading edge in order to mount the FlyLED 7 star lights as my taxi and landing lights.  I have seen really great feedback on their products, the cost is significantly lower than ZipTips, and it can all be done myself without too much fuss or waiting for shipment.  I plan to order all of the lights when I get to the leading edge section so I can put them in with the skins off and not kill myself doing it after the fact.  The only thing I have to decide is whether I want to do the soldering and if I want to add the Cowl light designed specifically for the RV-10.  I plan to hold off on the Cowl light until the very end, but I will see how Guil from BuildFlyGo likes his setup.  He will be done well before me and I can get his thoughts on midline lighting as he isn't adding it for now.

Until next time...

Finishing Up The DRDT Table and A Van's Update

 I lost track of progress on the DRDT setup because I wasn't in a rush.  Now that I have the wing kit sitting on my garage floor, I had no reason to stall anymore.  After finishing up inventory, I got to work on getting this table put together.  I utilized the plans within the box and made the table. It went together pretty simply using a few nails and some wood glue to hold everything together.  I finished the frame and will be planning to head out to Lowes for some cheap carpet to line it tomorrow.  Once that is done, I can finish up organizing the tools, receive the primer I ordered, and get started.

In other news, I received notice from Van's that they are preparing to crate my empennage kit.  This was estimated to be ready for shipment in mid May.  This is only a month away, so I am debating waiting for the tail kit and starting that first like normal people would.  This would give me a bit of time to finish organizing and also not be in over my head at first.  However, I do need to organize the kits better if I am going to have room to work on the kits together.  I also decided to cancel my practice kit order.  They are backordered through at least May or June and it seems a bit pointless to now wait two months to do those when I will have two kits sitting in the garage.  So once I finish up the organizing of my tools, I think I am going to just get started.  Let's hope this doesn't backfire on me.

Inventory.... Inventory... and More Inventory

 Well there is a lot of work to do with the kits once they arrive.  The first thing is opening the crate carefully as to not damage anything, remove the packing list, and then start to dig through the packing material.  Van's does an exceptional job of packaging so much stuff into these crates very carefully.  They use lots of tape and paper to secure everything so there is little to no movement of the parts during transit. As long as the crate stays intact (thats the big part), there seems to be a small chance of damage.  A few things I've noted:

• Look out for the shipper to mis-orient the crate.  My one crate arrived on its side despite clear markings for which side up..... and the truck was empty otherwise so there was no reason for it.
• Look for damage on the bottom and sides, the forklifts can do some good damage if they aren't careful.
• Open and unroll all the packing paper, they wrap things up and you don't want to throw away a part by accident.    
• When inventorying the larger parts, you will come across a few items that are not labeled.  These are mostly angle iron, tubes, and some other odd parts.  Set them aside and finish the rest of the inventory.  Once this is done, then compare the remaining few pieces to the inventory list. It will be pretty easy to identify them at this point.  Then take painters tape and label the item with the appropriate part number for later.
  
• Another item I found helpful was to mark out where you put things.  Depending on your workspace, you should have bins or shelves that are labeled.  Then mark on the inventory where these items are for easy location later.
• I had one part which was "warped" but its due to how the part is pressed in the punch at production.  Since I am doing the wing kit first, I have not received the first part of the manual and need to download the details for straightening in section 5.

I spent about 5 hours or so doing the small hardware alone and probably two hours doing the main kit pieces and subkits.  This took up the majority of the inventory time overall separating out the mixed bags and putting everything into storage bins.  I found the Harbor Freight bins really helpful for this.  I think the small bins are probably the most useful but I had purchased a few of the medium ones.  They are a bit big for some items, but I'd rather have the space for later when we get into bigger items like fuselage parts.  As well, my tail kit is expected next month so I will be hopefully combining some of the rivets and bolts into one bin for easy storage.  

I'll update this later with some pictures of the bins and how I marked things for reference.  Until next time.