Rudder Match Drilling Prep and Storage Concerns

 I have been a bit busy with life the last two or three weeks.  Between work and family stuff, I haven't had a significant amount of time to get outside.  I also started to realize I need to plan for the winter accordingly.  My garage is insulated for the most part but has no heat source currently.  I am waiting for some quotes to get a Mini Split or Heater installed to allow me to work out there in the winter months.  It get a bit hard to work fine motor when its 30 or 40 degrees out.

Another thing I have realized is my wife wants her parking spot back.  My wife is very understanding and allows me to utilize the entire garage during the majority of the year, however, winter is coming.  As such, the boss has ordered me to make space for her car in prep any snow events.  As such, I spent a lot of time calling around to local storage places looking for a medium sized unit.  I figure if I can get rid of the two large crates, I can easily fit my wifes vehicle in the garage when needed.  However, finding a unit was a serious struggle.  Most of the ones I can find are very small and won't work for my needs, and the larger ones have one of two issues.  One issue was they were inside units with tight hallways to access, I didn't want to risk swinging a flight control or large part and denting it when I don't clear something.  Also, many of them were simply unavailable.

I eventually struck a bit of luck and happened to check a unit in the next town.  I asked about mid size units, but the only thing open was a large unit, which literally became available that day (it was the first of the month).  Since I haven't been able to find anything, I decided to take it.  My thought process was I have some extra space in back for some household stuff, but I have the large unit to grow into as I finish other parts.  It also will allow me to store some racks for small parts in a more organized way.  And I am buying some saw horses to build some "skin tables" to store skins flat until needed.  I am hoping to have the unit setup and everything moved sometime next week, which will allow me to focus on the rudder again.

In the meantime, I was able to finish the rudder prep and have the skins placed for match drilling.  This process wasn't terrible, lots of little prep work.  Separating the stiffeners and lots of deburring was in order to get to this point.  I constantly am debating about the level of deburring, many people seem to argue online about how "smooth" or how perfect things should be.  I find the cut pieces are a bit less precise but the stamped parts are pretty straight forward to deburr.  I don't feel any major sharp points or anything, so I think I am doing ok.  

Lots of deburring to get the structure together.

After a long deburring session, I got to clecoing the skin together.  It's amazing how precise the kit is, and match drilling should be pretty straight forward.  Another thing I am still trying to figure out is how crazy I need to be.  On the vertical stabilizer, I would simply run the drill in and out quickly, most parts were not taking much if anything off at all.  So do I need to waste time with this step every time or now?  The plans aren't updated to reflect what parts are final sized or not, so I have been cautious and making sure to do it quickly.  I guess this makes a more exact part anyway and makes riveting easier.  Should I just be reaming everything instead?  What do you guys think?

Rudder skin cleco'd in place.

So that's where I stand right now.  The rudder hasn't been too terrible, but I am looking forward to my first back riveting experience which will be coming soon.  Time to get back out there this week.

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...

So What Now?

 Prep work has begun and is going into overdrive.  I touched base with my local tech counselor who is also a past RV-10 builder.  He gave me some good suggestions to get started and I will start there.

I signed up for Synergy Air’s Fundamentals class this coming December.  This class will show me how to rivet, countersink, dimple, and other essential skills to do the majority of aluminum work on this build.  This is a good basis of knowledge to get started.  I plan to do a fiberglass and Electronics/avionics class down the road when those times come.

I’ve spoken to Cleaveland Aircraft Tool and will order the tool kit soon.  I am going to finish cleaning up the garage and get the workbench done before diving into that setup.  I don’t want to wait too long as the DRDT2 has been in and out of backorder.  That is essential to get started, so I don’t want to wait until the last minute. 

Time to finish cleaning and getting ready.  December will be here before I know it…….

Airventure 2021

 Well after a year off, Airventure has returned for 2021.  I unfortunately cannot attend with my work schedule this year, but I am definitely going next year.  My best friend and I have agreed that we will head out commercially and stay 3 days to explore.  I already am mentally building my list of the have to sees in the exhibition area.  I definitely want to stroll around the homebuilt areas and get to meet and pick the brains of the builders.  It would be really great to meet and talk with a few of the builders I followed that had inspired this project.  

I'll be honest, I've had Live ATC going the last three days monitoring the Fisk arrival and watching it on Foreflight's internet traffic.  I am disappointed I couldn't go, but glad that I have a plan for next year.  Any tips for finding a reasonable hotel would be appreciated, it appears most hotels only book a year out, so next summer hasn't quite opened yet.  

I also am looking to possibly find an RV-10 demo flight.  Van's has restarted their demo flights and I think its wise to reach out to Zach, the east coast rep, to try and setup something.  I can use it as another excuse for a cross country and it will help me wrap up this instrument rating as well.

Update on my Project Prep

I have been working on reorganizing the garage and getting ready for this.  I finally got the overhead storage and all of the shelving put up so I can get the floor cleared out.  This also made room for me to buy a brand new tool chest from Harbor Freight.  The US General tool bench is great and I bought an add on end cabinet to increase my storage.  As I get more of the garage cleaned out, I plan to get started on building the project table and the air piping.  I am hoping the lumber cost drops a bit before I start that build, but sometimes you need to just bite the bullet.  Until my next update... I'll try to remember and snap some pictures of the new shelving and workbenches.

Storage and Lighting

 Well the first prep task has been completed.  I bought some overhead shelving to mount over the garage doors.  I need to clear up the floor space so I can have enough room to build in the garage when I am ready.  The two racks were a bit interesting to put up, especially since the bars that support it are a bit flexible.  But with some persistence and hard work I finally got them up.  I expect this push through work ethic is going to be needed at many points through the project.  Now it's time to clean up the floor and get things up on the rack.

In other news, I have been debating my idea of a 10 and have also looked at the RV-14.  Part of my thinking is it would be easier to do a 2 seater aircraft and move upwards later, but part of me says why bother and just build the plane I want now.  Thoughts?

 Photo of RV-14 Demo plane by Flying Magazine.

On To The Planning Stage.....

Step 1 : Spring Cleaning

 So now that the family is supportive of my plans.  I need to start prepping my "plan of attack".  I already have laid out a few of my needs in the garage.  I just bought a bunch of storage which will help me get everything off of the floor.  Once this is done, I hope to have a mostly clear garage floor.  Can anyone say Spring Cleaning??

Step 2: Research, Research, and Research

So this really is being done at the same time.  I've spent a lot of my free time lately researching everything from common RV mods to Avionics to Engines.  Now I know a lot will change between now and when I get to the Engine or Avionics parts, but I like to have a rough draft in my head.  I think by having a rough idea, it will help me guide myself through the build stages.  Due to space constraints, I am pretty sure I will do the empennage then the fuselage.  This way I can join them together, and do the interior mostly before worrying about wing structures laying around.  Of course this can all change.  I am hoping to have my research done by the summer and have a real plan of attack.

Step 3: Plan Ahead

For those who stay up to date on the RV stuff, the estimates for kits are getting longer and longer due to COVID, higher demand, and longer production.  This has caused the kits to become 6-8 months for most of the standard kits.  So I will definitely plan to order two kits together, the Empennage and One other.  Now I could order the wing kit to keep costs down, but in the end, I'm gonna order them all.  The other question, Do I eventually want to take on a partner in the build as I get further along.  Having a partner would be nice, but that also complicates things as you need to take their opinion into matters.  Maybe I would be better off waiting until complete to do so.  One step at a time :).

So how am I doing these steps?

I am currently reading through lots of Build Blogs and watching tons of You Tube videos for other builders.  Here are some of my favorites:

YouTube: Jason Ellis, BuildFlyGo Channels, 
Instagram: BuildFlyGo and Plane Lady
Build Website/Blogs: Charlie Derk, Mark Ciglia, Damazio Family, RV10 Builder, Good Plane Living, and Tim Huneycutt

Many of these sites have great documentation of the build process, upgrades they have done, and tips for future builders they learned along the way.  Another great resource I have found have been Van's Air Force Forums and the various RV-10 and Van's Builder Groups on Facebook.  There is lots of good information and conversation out there.  I think my next task is going to be to order the plans USB stick from Van's to help me layout things in my head and better understand some of the build specific chatter.

So what are your thoughts and tips?  Anything unique I should preplan for?