RV-4 build log: rivets

Showing posts with label rivets. Show all posts

Tuesday, November 2, 2010

Rivets rivets rivets

Purchased several tons of rivets from a collegue at work who used to be an aircraft mechanic. All kinds of sizes including a big case of cherrymax rivets and a very professional looking original Cherrymax hydraulic puller with 3 different extensions. Some other hardware was includd as well.

Thursday, April 30, 2009

Rudder and elevator

I was going to prime, but run out of gloves. Have to put pop rivets (LP4-3) in R-410 because none of my tools fit inside, and I have already riveted the assembly together. Due to some drilling difficulties, I will have one 4/32 and one 5/32 solid rivet, and two LP4-3 rivets. This looks strange, but is perfectly OK.

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.