Still thinking about an RV-14

Inventory done as well as the first two pages, which includes the first 10 rivets.

Jan 2, 2025 will at least be easy to remember as a start date and to calculate length of build. We should start a pool for the first flight date :tongue:

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Jim K said:
Inventory done as well as the first two pages, which includes the first 10 rivets.
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How many pages/rivets for the whole plane? I'm assuming the rivets are "I dunno but more than you'd want to know anyway" and... Do they give you all of the plans for the whole plane with the first kit, or just enough to finish that kit?
Jim K said:
Jan 2, 2025 will at least be easy to remember as a start date and to calculate length of build. We should start a pool for the first flight date :tongue:
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Depends on whether you get the parts to finish your other bird's engine first or not. :o

Are you going to keep a build log online, or just update this thread, or both?
 
flyingcheesehead said:
How many pages/rivets for the whole plane? I'm assuming the rivets are "I dunno but more than you'd want to know anyway" and... Do they give you all of the plans for the whole plane with the first kit, or just enough to finish that kit?
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20,000 ish rivets allegedly. Not sure on the page number as they break it into sections. First actual build steps are section 6, vertical stabilizer. Section 51 completes everything through the engine installation and then there's 10 more sections concerning avionics and wiring. They send paper copies of the steps covering just the kit you have, and give you access to a pdf version of all the plans. A better community annotated version can be found here: https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fo/dbxm...rcsjey02d2pr0o2o9h0kqtj4&e=2&st=b8591bws&dl=0

flyingcheesehead said:
Depends on whether you get the parts to finish your other bird's engine first or not.
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That will be priority #1 once I finally get parts back. Shouldn't take too long to build the engine, but then there's hanging it and breaking it in...

flyingcheesehead said:
Are you going to keep a build log online, or just update this thread, or both?
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Both, I think. I started a log on the EAA site so I have something I can show the DAR. I'll probably post updates here for major milestones.
 
You prepunched guys, I swear. I just can't get used to seeing RVs being assembled without jigs. :biggrin:

Nauga,
and the reason for fixed trim tabs
 
According to one of the three spreadsheets that comprise my build log, the RV-14 plans have 536 pages and 4004 steps, excluding the tricycle-only sections and a couple of optional lighting sections where I rolled my own. The unofficial rivet count is indeed about 20,000 but even at my most OCD-prone I never made it past the "I wonder if that's accurate" stage of trying to count them all.

nauga said:
You prepunched guys, I swear. I just can't get used to seeing RVs being assembled without jigs. :biggrin:
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I should have made a video when we mounted the wings. Two guys, 2.5 hours, and no adjustments required. :cornut:
 
Rcmutz said:
That’s a nice scheme and color of blue you painted it! :biggrin:
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More than once I asked myself if you could just leave the blue plastic on the plane as a paint job. Anyone that's left that stuff on a piece of sheetmetal knows how hard it is to remove after a few years.
 
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AV8R_87 said:
More than once I asked myself if you could just leave the blue plastic on the plane as a paint job. Anyone that's left that stuff on a piece of sheetmetal knows how hard ut is to remove after a few years.
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If I ever build again I’m taking that plastic all the way off vs removing rivet line strips. Cutting out those strips is a waste of time and serves no real useful purpose IMO.
 
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Sweet!
That looks like a lot of progress already, to me the uninformed.
 
tsts4 said:
If I ever build again I’m taking that plastic all the way off vs removing rivet line strips. Cutting out those strips is a waste of time and serves no real useful purpose IMO.
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I was doing the strips again today on the rudder skin and second guessing myself. I decided to go ahead and do it because I'm clumsy and bump into/drop things. When doing the practice kits I noticed that the vinyl will absorb a little bit of energy and prevent a scratch/ding to some extent. It also provides a little bit of thickness when laying the parts on a dirty surface.

OTOH, I'm sure the primer and paint would fill any damage the vinyl would protect against.

There's no way I would do it if I was still using a pencil type soldering iron as it takes forever. I picked up a cheap wood burning tool at hobby lobby that's significantly hotter and it melts the plastic pretty fast. Of course peeling off the strips is still tedious.
 
Jim K said:
OTOH, I'm sure the primer and paint would fill any damage the vinyl would protect against
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Exactly. Good paint prep will erase all but the most egregious mishandling evidence in which case the plastic wouldn’t have helped either.
 
Congrats on getting the kit and getting started.
Enjoy the journey.
 
Well, after promising myself I wouldn't spend all day, every day in the shop, I spent pretty much all day, every day in the shop for the last week. Rudder is as far as I can take it until Van's gets me the nutplates to attach the bearings.

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Same story on the horizonal stabilizer. Skins are ready to go, as are all the internal save the 6 ribs that were backordered.

IMG_20250109_185407042.jpg

Those two should go together pretty fast once I get the parts. Getting started on the elevators. Hoping the fuel tank sealant I ordered (to glue the foam trim tab ribs in) shows up by the time I need it. Not holding my breath.

Thinking I better get the wing kit ordered. Going together faster than I expected.
 
Jim K said:
Well, after promising myself I wouldn't spend all day, every day in the shop, I spent pretty much all day, every day in the shop for the last week. Rudder is as far as I can take it until Van's gets me the nutplates to attach the bearings.

View attachment 136983

Same story on the horizonal stabilizer. Skins are ready to go, as are all the internal save the 6 ribs that were backordered.

View attachment 136984

Those two should go together pretty fast once I get the parts. Getting started on the elevators. Hoping the fuel tank sealant I ordered (to glue the foam trim tab ribs in) shows up by the time I need it. Not holding my breath.

Thinking I better get the wing kit ordered. Going together faster than I expected.
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I’ll be in the pilot lounge drinking coffee. Let me know when you are done preflighting. :)
 
Good work and great progress! Im concerned that, like any project I start, I'll get about 1.5 hours into it, then get inundated with "heycouldjoos". I dream of a time where I could start and complete a project without constant interruption.
 
moparrob66 said:
Good work and great progress! Im concerned that, like any project I start, I'll get about 1.5 hours into it, then get inundated with "heycouldjoos". I dream of a time where I could start and complete a project without constant interruption.
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Jim’s wife and kids haven't bothered him, it’s that damn divorce attorney that keeps calling……………:)
 
Jim K said:
If my Lance isn't flying by then I'm going to drive to Tulsa and dunk somebody's head in a toilet.
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These days, just remember that it's BYOT.

The empennage kit is definitely designed by drug dealers. It shows up quick, goes together fast, and makes you think you'll be flying sometime late next week. The rest will go slower, but you definitely should order the kits so you don't lose steam in between.

As you move into the tailcone, you need to decide which antennas you will actually install. There are some "drill a big hole here" steps that you don't want to do if you are using a transponder that can do all the ADS-B stuff without a secondary antenna. Meanwhile, a certified GPS/WAAS antenna on the top of the tailcone, with a fabricated doubler plate, would be a lot easier to drill for and run cable to prior to having the plane on its wheels.

You can also start thinking about how you will handle wiring and connectors. The kit comes with two big molex connectors to hook the tailcone up to the center fuselage. Some people replace those with their favorite type of connector.
 
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iamtheari said:
These days, just remember that it's BYOT.

The empennage kit is definitely designed my drug dealers. It shows up quick, goes together fast, and makes you think you'll be flying sometime late next week. The rest will go slower, but you definitely should order the kits so you don't lose steam in between.

As you move into the tailcone, you need to decide which antennas you will actually install. There are some "drill a big hole here" steps that you don't want to do if you are using a transponder that can do all the ADS-B stuff without a secondary antenna. Meanwhile, a certified GPS/WAAS antenna on the top of the tailcone, with a fabricated doubler plate, would be a lot easier to drill for and run cable to prior to having the plane on its wheels.

You can also start thinking about how you will handle wiring and connectors. The kit comes with two big molex connectors to hook the tailcone up to the center fuselage. Some people replace those with their favorite type of connector.
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Thank you...that's exactly the kind of stuff I need. I'm following along with the VAF annotated plans, but sometimes there's too much minutia and not enough big picture ideas

They really do know how to hook you. That VS goes together so quick and easy you want to immediately build the next part. Rudder doesn't take long, but it's trickier. The then HS with all that deburring and countersinking. I'm kind of dreading the wings.
 
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Jim K said:
Thank you...that's exactly the kind of stuff I need. I'm following along with the VAF annotated plans, but sometimes there's too much minutia and not enough big picture ideas

They really do know how to hook you. That VS goes together so quick and easy you want to immediately build the next part. Rudder doesn't take long, but it's trickier. The the HS with all that deburring and countersinking. I'm kind of dreading the wings.
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I'll come over and build your wings plus a few spares in exchange for you building me a spare canopy in case mine gets bent. Just don't tell @nauga - evidently some of the older Van's kits required the builder to measure twice and cut once to get the wings straight.
 
iamtheari said:
Just don't tell @nauga - evidently some of the older Van's kits required the builder to measure twice and cut once to get the wings straight.
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You can get them straight? Who knew?

Nauga,
slightly twisted
 
nauga said:
You can get them straight? Who knew?

Nauga,
slightly twisted
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I guess that's why some guys do all their aerobatics to the left and others to the right.
 
The T-shirt is missing "bleed"

TINS: At one point in my build I felt the need to research whether blood was corrosive to AL. It is not. Good thing.

Nauga,
who did.
 
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