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.

The Day Has Come....

 Well after a long anticipated wait, the first kit arrived yesterday.  I was a bit disappointed to be starting on the wings before the tail, but I am glad to at least have something to work on.  I am waiting for one or two more parts for my Air Hose system.  I opted to buy the Rapid Air Products RapidAir System.  This was a good setup as it had 100 feet worth of hose and two outlets.  It would allow me to setup a drop down reel, and remote reel by the garage, and keep my compressor in the back of my garage.  I am trying to maximize the distance from the bedrooms to the compressor so I can hopefully work in the evening after my kids are asleep.  Time will tell how that plan will work out, I might be limited to certain tasks only late in the evening.  I am going to do another post about that system and my feelings on the setup for it.

The Truck Has Arrived.

Wings Are In Transit!

    Well the news has arrived and my wing kit is now on a truck crossing the country.  I expect the local depot to have it next Thursday, so I presume I will take delivery early the following week.  Now I need to get in gear and finish up prep work.  I just received my RapidAir air hose kit and hung my hose reel in the garage.  I need to stop and grab some mounting gear at the hardware store and to tackle that this week.

    In other news, I received an "estimated" crate date for Early-Mid May for the empennage kit.  I am debating starting my wings until that comes, but we'll see how long that progress takes at first.  It might be worthwhile to wait until the tail comes and just start that. The issue is going to be storing all of it at once, my garage will be quite full with three full crates there. 

    I will try to get some pictures of the RapidAir kit and hose setup as I get the install completed and done.  Then to finish doing the DRDT2 table is on the hit list.

Crating Date Received!

 We have been anxiously waiting for the details about crating for the wing kit.  It took about three weeks since we made the balance payment, but the crating schedule has been published.  Now to anxiously wait for confirmation that it was shipped.  

In other news, we have been grabbing parts and items to finish up organizing the garage.  I got some lag bolts yesterday so we can hang the air reel, and am going to order some air piping from Rapid Air Products so I don’t need to move my compressor around all the time.  The last big thing remaining is the support tables for the DRDT, I have been procrastinating as the garage has been in the 20 and 30 degree mark the last two months, and since I had no kit there wasn’t any rush. I guess it is time to get in gear and finish this up. I have to admit, I am getting excited!

Progress...

So news came yesterday via email. Our wing kit is ready to be scheduled for crating and Van's wants all of my money. I was a bit shocked as we haven't heard anything on the tail kit still. I requested more information but still haven't heard back. I decided to query some other builders and my local EAA Tech Advisor for their opinions.  A lot of people seemed to believe if I wanted to spend time prepping all of the wing kit, that would eat up alot of my time. Then hopefully I will get my tail kit while i'm working on that. Worst case scenario, I finish up the prep work and start on the smaller surfaces. Only time will tell, but I am excited to at least get some information about one of the kits coming. Since I might be getting the wingsn first, I decided to do some research into wing items. The biggest thing that I eventually have to decide will definitely be the lighting. I am torn between the FlyLED's products which are highly recommended and liked by many builders. The other option is the Aveo ZipTips which are a one piece fit all where all lighting is built into the wingtips. However, I have heard a few things about them which doesn't make me happy. I have heard the trailing edge doesn't quite match the ailerons on many planes, the assembly is delicate and some had issues, and the shipping can take quite awhile. To not help matters, the ZipTips are probably triple the cost of FlyLED's solutions.

FlyLED's Original Lighting

Aveo ZipTips

The downside to the FlyLED's is that I probably will need to cut into my wing leading edge for the landing light install. This isn't a super big deal, but it definitely makes you nervous. I have to do some more research into the Van's light kit and an aftermarket one from Duckworks. The duckworks seem to have better documentation, but some of the online talk suggests they have a smaller lens. Will have to report back. Now to wait for more details on when the kit will actually ship or more details on the tail kit.

No Kit Yet but a Training Accomplishment Finally Finished....

So just a short update today. Still no word on my kit progress, but Van's did release an update last week about its shipping delays and how they plan to resolve them. They are going to provide more frequent updates and hopefully I will hear something soon. I have found more than one person who ordered in July and August who are also still waiting, so I assume it may be another month or two. Its not bad, my garage is 30 degrees so I am not eager to stand out there freezing quite yet.

In other news, I finally got to finish my checkride. I unfortuntaely freaked out and screwed up one approach (non precision to circling) due to anxiety. I shook it off and then flew everything else perfect. But as we all know, I got a unsatisfactory and had to redo the one approach and circle. I ended up rescheduling four or five times because of the crappy weather recently. Either way, I flew this past Wednesday and everything went perfect. We flew the approach I expected and the examiner complimented my skill at the end. He told me he knew I was nervous on the first one and noticed my "tense" handling. He said I was noticeably relaxed this time around and flew perfectly. I am so happy to be done with that training as I wanted it for years but had no time when the kids were young. I hope to do some good flying in the spring and summer this year to enjoy it.