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Tuesday, July 28, 2009

Left Elevator Complete

No pictures, but I have finished the left elevator and am now working on the trim Tab. I am taking it slow since the wing kit is 3 weeks out. Will get some current photos on soon. Hard to work in Seattle these days, temps are in the high 90's and central air is not common, at least not around my house...

Tuesday, July 21, 2009

Left Elevator Priming

Primed the left elevator skeleton last night. Next step is final assembly, keeping that trim tab in mind.

Monday, July 20, 2009

Left Elevator Trim Tab bending

OK, after much thought and preparation I bent the tabs on the left elevator that close out the rear section where the trim tab is installed. I think I got them bent perfectly, but won't be able to tell until I get the trim tab made and set into place. I also finished all the metal prep work on the skelleton and will prime in my next session. The use of the flat rivet set worked really well, I turned down the pressure and ran it along the bend softly and slowly. It flattened the edges out really well. Note to builders: The elevator is upside down in the pictures so the upper tab is folded "over" the lower tab.

Next sessions will include priming, then onto final assembly of the left Elevator.

Tuesday, July 14, 2009

Back at it..

Took some time off and Bekah and I went to Colorado to see my grandfather. Lots of stories about WWII and had a great time. He was a tail gunner in a B-24, with 36 missions.. The average lifespan of a tail gunner was 6 missions... Wow.. Also went to Arches National Park and Moab UT looking at the southwest canyon country. Can't wait to fly the RV through that area. Getting back into working on the emp, and slowly getting to the trim tab on the left elevator. Will put some time in on that this week and post some pics. Taking it slow because lots of builders have trouble with the trim tab.

Wednesday, July 1, 2009

First Cool Electronics !


OK, so I decided to order electronic elevator trim. I figured most people now go this route and plus I get to order electronics early in the build process. The kit comes with a switch and a LED Panel Indicator which is a bummer because I will have an EFIS and a stick with Trim switches on it. So If one wanted, they could probably order the RV Rivets/Install Kit and then just buy the servo from Ray Allen and do it themselves. Might save money I don't know, but for me I got it all and now have options so I guess that is OK. Anyway, look forward to playing with this a bit and putting it into my left Elevator.

Places we have been in our RV-7 ! (Blue 2013, Yellow 2014, Green 2015, Purple 2016, Red 2017)