Category: Everything Else

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...

Just in time for my kits arriving tomorrow, I received my Milwaukee M12 rivet gun today! It’s quite substantial, more so than I was expecting. It just came out this past weekend so I must be one of the first people in the whole country to own one. I’ll...

Before I decided to buy a kit plane, I had no idea that there were so many choices for priming metal parts (or even to prime at all!). But given the New England weather, I decided I’m going to prime mating surfaces. I’m going with SEM Self Etching Primer...

I spent a few hours today finishing up the work tables, they look good! I added some retractable casters to make them easier to move around. The last 1% is a attaching some vinyl fabric over the MDF tops – I’ll get that done during the week. Really hoping...

Tonight I chopped up a bunch of 2×4’s needed for the pair of work benches. I deviated slightly from the plans – mine will be 6′ long (instead of 5′), 3″ taller (since I’m tall!), and the tops will be 3/4″ MDF rather than plywood. I’m also covering the...

I picked up materials this weekend to make my workbenches, following plans from EAA Chapter 1000. Still some work to do to transform my garage / wood shop into a metal shop, but I’ve still got a week or two before the fun starts. Also received a few more...

My haul of clecos, drill bits and various other things arrived from Brown Aviation Tools today! Big, heavy box!...