Category: Everything Else

Got started on the aux wing spar late last week and into the weekend, it’s coming along pretty well. I ran out of the primer that I was using (SEM), so I had to use some backup primer (Rustoleum) for the wing skin support bracket – it’s not as...

I have some artistic friends who would tell me that my version of “painting by the garden at night” is a little too literal … nonetheless, my left auxiliary wing spar is now primed 😬...

I had an exciting week at Airventure 2018!  I decided to return after a 10-year hiatus – figured I was overdue, especially since I started building my own plane this year!  It was a fantastic event, with lots of beautiful home builds and exciting air shows – I’ll have...

OK, this post is not really related to building my plane, but I wanted to share a little about another transportation device I just recently acquired – a Tesla Model 3! I’ve been waiting for this beauty for more than 2 years – though I’ve wanted to make the...

I’m buying a second rivet gun – as I mentioned in my earlier post, it’s pretty common for assemblies to use both 3.2mm and 4.0mm rivets.  Changing the bit on the rivet gun is a little annoying (even if it doesn’t take too long) – it’s about the same...

This seemed to be much easier than filing down 26 rivets...

Working on the elevator trim tab now, and the instructions call for removing 4mm from the rivet body. Of course, the engineer in me insisted on a precise way to do this with a 3D-printed tool to hold a bunch of the rivets and then run them under my...

After about 2 days of drying, my freshly-primed parts for the horizontal stabilizer started showing spider lines in the paint, then flaking off and looking like this horror: It took me a while to figure out what went wrong, but it looks like I failed to properly clean the...

I decided I needed a more comfortable chair to sit on while I work. Here’s a pretty nice drafting chair from Amazon that I just got today. Also notice, just behind the chair, I bought an anti-fatigue mat to stand on while I’m working....

The first two kits arrived, so I can finally begin! First I’m doing a full inventory and inspection of the kit pieces.. it will take some time as there are MANY parts, especially in the wing! I thought it might speed things up to scan all the parts with...