30/04/2007 - Begin paper work

Details for Import Duty Tax exemption; PFA forms for joining and building; Preview Plans for RV-7; Tool catalogues for Avery, planetools.com, aircraft spruce book, are all ordered.

30/04/2007 - I need help !

I travel down to see my Mom and Bob, as Bob has built aluminium monocoque single seater racing cars.  Bob gets as excited as I am and deals are struck there and then.  He sets about finding me a compressor that will be quiet enough in a residential area.  The British don't like noise on the whole!

31/04/2007 - Work Shop construction begins

Ok as you can see from the picture below its hard to imagine that I will be doing anything in here let alone build an aircraft!

02/05/2007 - Garage Clearance

Why oh why do I have all this stuff!?!  In the end everything seems to have a home or has been thrown out.

05/05/2007 - New Garage lights

Six five foot fluorescent lights have lit the garage up nicely.

06/05/2007 - Painting the Walls

This will help to keep the dust down...my arms ache a bit.

08/05/2007 - Preview plans arrive

Oh my!  I think this might just stretch me.  I am off to Mom & Bob's to show them, I need a confidence boost.

12/05/2007 - Floor painting, compressor installation and electrical sockets

Its starting to look a little like a work shop now, I am pleased with the painting results.  The compressor is installed beneath the boiler and can not be heard outside of the garage with the doors shut.  It's a fantastic compressor, expensive but I don't have to worry about complaints.  It has a 3hp engine with expansion tank capability so should be perfect.

New electrical sockets have been installed and cabled back to the distribution board so that I don't overload the house circuits.

Oh and the flags are there to represent:

Navy blue flag - State of Oregon where the kit gets made

Green Cross Flag - The county the assembly takes place in which is Derbyshire

The Red Cross - Where Bob lives, priming and parts of the build will be in Northamptonshire

The RAF Flag - because I need a fourth flag and its the Royal Air Force

14/05/2007 - Bench Drill & Tool Box Assembly

Self explanatory really but I did read its important to have a Low RPM bench drill press.  This one is a 12 speed Sealey unit and runs as low as 210rpm.  Socket sets, spanners and tool box are also Sealey.  Not cheap but worth it.

16/05/2007 - Tool Kit and Bench Research

For the next few days it will be nose in the books, maths and making decisions on which base tool kit and extra options we require and what type of benches are needed.

20/05/2007 - Tool Kit ordered

Ok I plumped for the kit from planetools.com as I liked that it came with a DRDT-2 dimpler and a pneumatic squeezer as standard.  I have bought a few extras from Cleveland tools as well, such as a rivet removal tool, and an edge former.

21/05/2007 - Bench Work

Bob has taken over this little exercise and is going to build the main work benches and the mobile bench for the vice, bench drill and grinder.  Thanks Bob !  Which has given me time to work out how I get a web camera to work for relatives and mates to see what is happening in my RV world, i.e. the garage.

24/05/2007 - End-Use Authorisation number arrived today

Great news I have been waiting for this.  I can now get on and order the empennage kits from Van's.  Yippeee.

25/05/2007 - Web Camera is working

Wasn't too difficult after all, if you click on the right hand menu item called RV-7 Cam then that will take you to the instruction page on how to use the camera.

27/05/2007 - Fibre board, Dry Marker board and parts bins.

I have put a fibre board on the wall to put plans on which will be just above the bench.  On the opposite wall a dry marker board for drawing and making calculations and reminder lists.  Next to it I have installed a 40 bin parts storage container.  Not very big but I think it will come in handy for small kit parts.

01/06/2007 - More equipment arrives

Bench grinder; another toolbox to sit on top of of the trolley pictured above; a hand held tray to fill with clecos, and plenty of reading about what I need to do!!

04/06/2007 - Work, Work, Work.

A huge week at work, so nothing really progressed this week, as nearly all my time went to the people who pay me.

10/06/2007 - Tools glorious tools

The tools arrive, base kit is from planetools.com; and I have added best of breed tools or specialist tools from Cleveland; Avery, and The Yard.  Some of the tools are shown below.

13/06/2007 - Specialist Tools arrive, including a torque wrench !

The torque wrench will go as low as 20in.lbs, a vernier calliper for precision measuring, a die grinder for helping with smoothing off edges of lightening holes etc, and a soldering iron for marking the protective blue vinyl covering the aluminium so that strips can be pulled away where I will need to rivet without removing all the vinyl.

23/06/2007 - Dimpling table completed for the DRDT-2 dimpler picture above

So sheet metal working and careers start out with woodworking skills, mmmm.  oh and carpet laying !!  The plans for a table that come with the DRDT-2, build a table that is quite small and I believe would not help that much with large skins.  So I have built a more substantial one like other builders have done.  The only problem is the anvil for the DRDT-2 is 6" high off the table, so the resulting table has a lot of wood in it, making it heavy.  I will see how I get on with it, but I might have to put lightening holes in it !!!!! lol !!!!!  Still its built to last.

Thanks for laying the carpet tiles Simon !

24/06/2007 - Final work on benching begins

Bob has come up trumps.  The metal trolley has been converted into an all singing and dancing 'mobile bench tool solution'.  The 'Stanley' adjustable workhorses have made two benches, they have been levelled (the floor runs out a little).  The beauty of these for me is they can be completely folded away if I need the space or if I only need one of them, the other is easily disposed of, until I need it again.  Very pleased with the benches and trolley; thanks Bob.

26/06/2007 - Routing the back rivet plate & wiring the mobile tool bench

Just need a couple more things to complete and the workshop is ready to go.  Well the back plate is very nearly there, need to scrape the bottom of the board a bit to get it to sit flush as its about 1.5mm proud at the moment.  The trolley is all powered up and ready to go.

20/07/2007 - Creating an Empennage Jig

After doing some work with practise kits and experiencing the size of the horizontal stabilizer for the airplane, some research on the web and discussion with Bob, we both decided that a jig is the way to go because I don't have much space to manoeuvre.  Bob very kindly ordered us a 10' 4"*4" dead straight piece of timber.  Shame it will have holes drilled in it really.  Simon who had helped with the carpeting above came over for the day and said he would lend a hand building the jig.  A quick design session meant that it was imperative that the jig was mobile and could easily be moved to one side over the top of either bench.  So with trips to Wickes & B&Q assembly of the jig commenced.

The finished product makes use of two Black & Decker work-mates, I had one and Bernard next door lent me the other.  These are mounted on some fabricated castoring platforms and the everything else is built off that.  Hey presto a moveable empennage jig !