RV-4 build log: Unpacked and ready

Thursday, September 6, 2007

Unpacked and ready

The kit is now unpacked and all nuts and bolts are counted. The shop has received one more table and I have set up the structure to build wings and tail. The structure is made according to the drawings, but I used two 2x4 beams bolted together instead of 4x4 beams. I also got a proper sign on the door leading to the shop from the rest of my house :-)

The parts have now spread to three rooms (including the shop). I am now waiting for the tools from Averytools, a full RV builders tool kit. Somehow I had got the idea to shop for tools when needed as I build. This was of course is a very bad idea when everything has to be ordered from across the Atlantic, so today i ordered the tools that i could have ordered months ago. At least it leaves me with more time to study the drawings.

I am still confused about priming. It seems like the "correct" way is to use epoxy based primer. On the other hand, to have a house full of poisonous epoxy fumes simply cannot be good for living organisms. Hmm

I have contacted the insurance bureau and Van's about the damaged parts. Hopefully everything will turn out OK.

3 comments:

surtant said...: Hej! Priming är i mitt tycke absolut nödvändigt i vårat klimat. Själv använder jag epoxy-primer. Lycka till med bygget!; September 12, 2007 at 9:31 PM
Bjørnar Svingen said...: Hvilket merke bruker du, og hvor gjør du selve primingen? Jeg har funnet et vannbasert middel, men det må importeres, slik at prisen blir litt høy.; September 15, 2007 at 11:54 PM
surtant said...: Jag har tidigare använt "zinchromat" men det verkar som de flesta gått över till epoxy. Prata med Arigo-teknik (barkaby, Stockholm) som säljer det. När det är fint väder kan man måla utomhus, annars kan man bygga ett litet inplastat "rum" att hålla till i.; September 16, 2007 at 9:11 AM

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Why?

For some reason people very seldom ask why I want to build an airplane, but they very often ask where. When I tell them, they immediately ask how I am going to get it out of there when it's finished...

Anyway, the real question to answer is probably why an RV-4 instead of some other plane. You just don't wake up one morning and say, "aha, it has to be an RV-4". Well, that was exactly what happened to me. I have always wanted to build real airplanes. I have looked at lots of kits, tried several finished ones, made large excel sheets, on and off for several years. Then I woke up one Saturday morning, everything was crystal clear, and the order for an RV-4 was sent to Van's before 10 AM the same day.

In hindsight, things like value, performance and so on can be brought up, and the RV-4 will come out among the best. But the truth is that some things in life has very little to do with logics and excel sheets.