Scott & Tanya Card RV9A build log (N4822C)

The Empennage kit was delivered by Fedex at 2:22PM this afternoon. After getting home from work, we began doing inventory. Everything was there and in good condition. I’ll repeat the same comment that many others have had; I’m very impressed at how Vans packages all of that stuff. It is amazing that they got all that in those two boxes. Other comments: Wow, the rudder skins and trim tab skin (.016″ thick) could be damaged so easy. We handled them with more care than a raw egg. Most of the skins were stored on shelves in a spare bedroom that we have designated for aircraft parts storage.
Before removing the wood cutting blade from the band saw and gearing it down for a metal cutting blade, I thought it best to go ahead and cut out the horizontal stabilizer jig. I found the first piece of aluminum angle to be fabricated into brackets which I’ll do tomorrow. Tanya did some rivet organization. We were looking at the (small) size of some of those AN426AD3-3 rivets in amazement.

 

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

The first part for fabrication.

  

  

 

It is the weekend before the empennage kit is delivered (and Thanksgiving). I think I’ve done about all the shop prep work that one could do. All the tools are ready, benches built, back-rivet table ready, dimple (C-Frame) table is ready, priming supplies have been acquired, and a ton of other stuff…

This weekend we built three frames covered in chicken wire for setting parts on for priming. The frames are placed on “child size” 2′x2′ card tables with the top removed. These little tables are very sturdy and have folding legs. It’s all about space management so far. I had an old steel music stand that I decided to convert into a plans holder, so I attached a piece of 1/4″ ply to it to hold the plans and instructions while building. I’m thinking that I’ll probably also take new plan sheets to work (I work at a civil engineering firm with large format plotters and scanners) and scan the plans to PDF for later reproduction if I kill the originals in the garage.
We also spent some time lining up a rechargeable screwdriver for deburring and some small parts storage. Oh yeah, we also got some plastic storage containers that we hope will work for alodining parts. We’ll see.

This was the last weekend of prep. We’re ready to dive in and build in three days :)

 

  

  

  

  

  

  

 

The air plumbing is done (short a few more securing clamps). We finished up sweating the pipe together and hung it on the wall. I did some preliminary pressure / leak testing and all looks good. I guess I’ll order the filters and regulator for the work outlet. This supply is going to be highly filtered for particulate and moisture sufficient for spraying final paint with a HVLP spray gun. In the pictures, the final filters and regulator will be mounted on the plywood panel on the wall.

 

  

outlet end

  

  

supply end

  

 

Tanya faxed the order for the Empennage kit to Vans yesterday! I expect that it will be here by late next week. I also put in an order for the Vans practice kit to learn some of the basic construction methods, i.e. riveting. Hopefully that will reduce some of the stress of driving the first real rivet.

Plumbing of the copper pipe for the new air compressor continues. Yeah, sometimes I get a little carried away with theoretical details. I could probably go on about all the technical details of why it is a good idea to run some hard pipe for compressed air even when distances don’t require it, but I won’t, unless somebody is interested.

• Four more trips to home depot – aka airplane depot.
• Our big tool order from Cleaveland arrived on Tuesday. This pretty much filled up the rest of our tool chests. It will be nice to have the tools on hand when we need them. The final items shipped Thursday and should arrive this coming Tuesday.
• Added work bench tops. Scott added 5/8” mdf to the top of the work benches. This way, Tanya can put drill holes, knife marks, etc. in it, and Scott can just replace it when it gets too ugly.
• Scott built a table for the c-frame dimple tool that rests on top of the work bench. The goal is to have a flat surface for the material to be resting on while we are dimpling it instead of having the sides hanging down onto the work bench. The table has two holes cut for the dimpler. The first is on the edge so that the dimple tool sits completely on the work bench. The second is in the middle and an extension was built for the work bench so the back of the dimple tool would rest on it.
• We built the spray booth. There is nothing canned about this booth. The frame is comprised of 1×2 boards hinged in the middle to allow for storage. The 4 panels are connected with hinges for easy breakdown – just remove the pins. We covered it with 6 mil plastic – look out, Tanya is a fiend with the staple gun. For ventilation, we have an a/c filter over the intake and a bathroom vent fan for exhaust (again, covered with an a/c filter). It takes less then 5 minutes to set up or tear down. Detailed plans are available here: primer spray booth plans.
• Another project for the week was to build a tool cart. The design idea came from the Craftsman tool catalogue. However, Scott knew he could improve on the original. He has gotten smart in his old age; notice the holes bored into the 2×4? It makes the cart much lighter. tool cart plans
• Plumbing for the air compressor. Scott is still anxiously waiting on his air compressor. To ensure the garage is ready for its arrival, we started to assemble the plumbing. Just one recommendation – Measure twice, cut once.

 

  

Tool Cart

  

Spray Booth Panel Under Construction

  

Spray Booth Storage - Entire Booth Folded Up!

  

Scott in His Spray Booth

  

  

Spray Booth Intake

  

Spray Booth Exhaust (Interior)

  

Spray Booth Exhuast (Exterior)

  

  

  

Dimple Tool Table - Notice that it fits on the bottm work bench shelf

  

Bottom of Dimple Tool Table