PREPARING TO ATTACH THE CABIN TOP Once again, we come across competing schools of thought in the RV-10 universe of builders. I have seen some people prepare their cabin tops prior riveting on the forward fuselage. The instructions provided from Vans have you rivet everything in place prior to sizing… Read More »Top of the cabin top to you
LAYING OUT THE FUEL SYSTEM If you’ve read even one post or story on building experimental aircraft then you know about the battle over ignition and injection systems. One camp believes that magnetos have been and will always be the way to go. Some people move in other directions. I… Read More »Fuel System Part 1
BUILDING THE BAGGAGE DOOR The baggage door is not a complex piece to construct. After all of the metal fabrication and rivets that brought me to this point, this was not supposed to be difficult. A few angles of aluminum bracing, small lock mechanism, front and back skins, done. That… Read More »You think YOU have baggage…
CONTROL APPROACH RUDDER PEDALS There are many reasons why I am swapping out my rudder pedals. The simplest of course is “because I want to.” I have opted for the Control Approach rudder pedals for my plane. The design is incredible and I certainly consider it an upgrade over the… Read More »Rudder Pedals
QUICK DAY – MINOR MODIFICATIONS TO GMU 22 MOUNTING BRACKET I did not have much time in the hangar today, so it was a perfect day for a minor project. I have elected to use the GMU 22 as a part of my avionics suite, which will require the GMU… Read More »GMU 22 mounting bracket install
TIME TO INSTALL THE BAGGAGE FLOORS Now that the conduit and battery cable runs are in, it is time to make the baggage floors permanent. This is indeed a bit daunting to know that I am sealing this area up for good. There are plenty of builders who elect to… Read More »I’m floored… by all these rivets
PLANNING FOR THE CONDUIT RUNS The time has come to make plans for all of the wiring in my plane. While I have not made final decisions on some aspects of my avionics package, I do have a reasonable expectation of what it will require. This information in hand, I… Read More »Conduit Runs (at a walking pace)
THE NEED There are a ton of really impressive modifications that builders make on their RVs. At one point in my planning process, I wasn’t very discerning and compiled a list of nearly all of these. It became quite overwhelming. Fortunately, I took the time to sit down and really… Read More »Tunnel Access Panel
STEP 1: CLECO IT ALL TOGETHER I have been waiting for this day for a long time. It is really quite exciting to see the whole length of the airplane (ok – minus the cowling but you get the idea) all stitched together. The tailcone attach process itself was not… Read More »Tailcone Attach Part I
DRILLING RIVETS AND BENDING BRAKE LINES Today was a lot of fun. I came to the point in the instructions where you are offered the chance to jump ahead a few chapters and begin laying out the aircraft braking system. Obviously this is too exciting to pass up. I have… Read More »Bending Brake Lines