Gas Tank & Wiring ...What a Combo!

Still working my way through Section 31 , The Fuselage Wiring Harness. I made it to section 31-04, step 6 and ran into a problem. One of my CPU fans was not working ... so I called Van's Aircraft and they sent me out one at no charge ... I just had to wait for it to arrive so I jumped ahead to section 37 and tackeled the fuel tank while waiting for the fan to arrive.

I tried to be as neat as I could while working on the fuel tank but that sealant is a mess to work with ... no if ands or buts. I had the MEK solvent, latex gloves, rags, sealent from Van's in the caulking tubes, Van's caulking gun and popsicle sticks all laid out and ready to go ... and still it was a mess to work with. I completed the front half of the tank and then ran out of the sealant so I had to order more from Van's.

I didn't want to start a third section so I decided to wait for either the fan of sealant to arrive. A new CPU fan arrived so I continued with fuselage wiring harness. I made it to section 31-6, step 3 ... and so far so good ...

By the way ... there are now 7 RV-12s that have put air UNDER their tires ... I'm jealous ... but my day will come ...

Began Wiring Today

With the fuselage on it's side, I was finally able to attach the clip holding the return fuel line to the interior of the firewall. After finishing that, I began the wiring process.

When you pull the telephone line through the 1202Y conduit tube you might try taping the clip so as to hold the clip close to the wire (section31-3) ... this will facilitate pulling process with the pre-set string.

So far I ran the WH-RV12-SL-ANT, WH-RV12-TX-ANT the ES RS 279-374 Phone Cable. That went smoothly enough ... but you do have to loosen the rudder pedals to pass the wire tips over the rudder pedals. Also, when you slit the snap bushings to make the wire fit thru, it's best to cut them on the top and bottom of one of the side slots so you only have to cut a couple of very small bits of plastic. I cut the snap bushings with my aluminium shears ... no problem.

Van's Aircraft website currently lists 5 (five) RV-12s completed and flying. To date there are 6393 Rv's completed and flying ... click here to see the latest first flight write-ups!

Flipped Fuselage on Side ... Hurray!!

Believe it or not, today was a big day! I was fortunate enough to get three neighbors and my wife to help me flip the fuselage-tailcone on it's side! I can reach areas in the cockpit that I could never come close to reaching before. I hope now to make some real progress on the finishing kit ... finally!

Yesterday before the flip, I debured & painted the 7 main access panels on the floor and behind the luggage compartment. I learned from experience to never, NEVER spray paint while in the hot sun ... I guess it dries too fast and doesn't adhere to the metal.

Back from OR & CA ... now back to building!

I spent the last month in Oregon visiting my daughter, son-in-law and grandson. We all had great fun visiting Crater Lake National Park, Medford, Klamath Falls, Newport and last but not least SanFrancisco. The entire trip out West I was thinking about my RV-12 and how much full it'll be flying out there in it next year. That's right this baby will be in the air sometime next year ... by July, I hope.

I just installed the 1204Y plastic conduit tube and now need to find a couple of strong guys to help me turn the fuselage on it's side to continue. Will be 100% back into the project in the next couple of days.

A fellow homebuilder has FINISHED his plane and has flown it. Congratulations to him and if you would like to see his plane and read all about it click here!

Cowling Done ...well almost, anyway

I'm just about finished with the Cowling Section 38 ... upper and lower cowling match up as good as I can get'em. Just remember to apply a little Boelube oil to the hinge pins before you try to slip them into the piano hinges. Check and double check the hinges before you rivet them to the different areas of the cowling ... you'd hate to make a mistake there.

By the way, my wife came out to the garage last week and saw me searching for the cleco pliers, screwdriver, cleco and just about anything that wasn't screwed down ... she suggested I get a tool belt. What a great idea! I never thought of that. I went to Harbor Freight and bought a tool belt for about $7.00. What a good investment! Everything I need hanging

around my waist.

I've decided to leave section 38-09 steps 2 thru 10 till I'm finished with the entire Finishing kit. Will also leave the majority of section 30, Fitting the Wings, undone till I get into a hanger. So tomorrw I'll continue where I left off on Section 31, Fuselage Wiring Harness.

The oil access door tool about five hours to do. As I've said so many time before, I'm not the fastest builder in Van's World ... but I'm getting the job done.

Getting the HW 2600-3W camlock fasteners into the upper cowling to place the HW 212-12 camlock receptacle in their proper position was a bit tricky till you figure out you have to put pressure on the camlock fasteners so they will fit into the 1/4' hole in the cowling. Difficult to get them in & difficult to get them out ... but doable with thunb pressure on the HW 2600-3w fasteners.

Here's a video of my RV-12 build after 720 hours ... feel free to take a look. Click Here!

Cowling takes a while ...

Still plugging away at the cowling. I'm trying to be careful not to remove too much material and be sorry. I went to Home Depot and bought some additional 80 grit sandpaper to trim up the edges of the cowling. A few more hours and I should begin wiring the Rv-12 ... looking forward to that.

I gave a talk about building my RV-12 at my EAA chapter meeting Wednesday, August 26th. I had about 65 slides shown in a Power Point presentation ... took about 35 minutes and I think the audience found it interesting.

The 3 pictures of parts comprise the remainder of my finishing kit ... plus the canopy of course.

I'll guess some RV-12 builders will be airborne within a couple of months since all the kits are finally available ... stick with me ... I hope to be in the air by next summer.

I'm Back At It ...

I haven't worked on my RV-12 since July 8, 2009 ... for personal reasons ... but I'm back now and hope to put a dent in my Finishing Kit.

I received the new pin stopper (WD1217D) I destroyed last month ... tapped it properly this time, set in the magnet & applied the epoxy. All taken care of.

Now that I've riveted the tailcone and fuselage together, there's not enough room in my 2 car garage to fit the wings on as stated in section 30-02, step 8... so I'll have to wait till I get a hanger. In the meantime I'll continue to work on cowling & pick and choose those sections I can complete in my garage.

I've fallen a bit behind ... hey, wait a minute, it's not a race. But I did order the wing kit, fuelage kit, tailcone kit & the finishing kit on the first day they were made available for purchase. Now the avionics kit and engine kit are being offered and I haven't ordered either one yet. I'll get there eventually!

I placed the seats in the cockpit and the canopy frame & canopy onto the fuselage for a photo opportunity. Personally, I think it looks pretty good. I can't wait till she flies.

Cowling Hinges

So far not very difficult but

very time consuming.

Section 38-03, step 3 confused me

I called Van's builder's assistance. There was no part number listed for the left & right cowl hinge pin. It looked like a regular hinge pin in the plans but with a rectangle with a hole in it. I was told a left and right Cowl Hinge Pin came with the kit and it looks exactly like the drawing, with the rectangle and hole ... a generic item used on most of the RV's. I found it! Wish all my problems were that easy to solve.

Section 38-04 has a note on top of the page: Mark hole locations on the outside when installed as shown in figure 3. Important to follow or you may have to remeasure and mark ... not a big deal, just save yourself the extra work and follow the note.

Another day, another rivet ...

Started the Cowling ...

I left section 30 behind till I get a new fuselage pin stopper and grommet.

I tackeled the F1270B assembly (section 31-02, steps 1-5). No problem!

Then in section 31 (the revised section 31-02, revision 1) step 6 calls for an AN931-4-12 grommet to be modified in step 6 on the 6/23/09 revision ... not in kit ... so I ordered 2 (in case I break one, not unlikely).

I skipped sections 30-37 and began section 38:Cowling. Section 38, step 1! Figure 1:Trimming the Top and Bottom Cowling ... I correctly decided not to remove material to the scribe line in the bottom cowling around the semi-circle where the prop protrudes and two inboard areas adjacent to the semi-circle where there are no hatched areas indicated. I didn't see a scribe line ending the top of the bottom cowling from side hatched removal of material to front adjacent non hatched area. So I followed the curve of the inboard top of cowling and arched it down to scribe line on upper sides.

Again, I just removed the hatched area and drew an "imaginary line" connecting to the front unhatched area ... Call Van's builder's assistance, to be sure, before you mess up this expensive piece.

To cut the cowling I uses my Dremel tool with a cutting disc attached. Do wear a dust mask and eyeware protection. I broke several disks and pieces went flying. Had I not worn the safety eyeware I definitely would have had an eye injury! Safety first! Be careful and protect your eyes and lungs!

Also my fuselage and attached tailcone is upright on 3 short homemade sawhorses. Other builder's on VAF advised me to set the fuselage assembly on it's side to facilitate the building process. As soon as I round up a couple "volunteers" the fuselage assembly will be laid on it's side.

I was hoping to be flying my RV-12 by Xmas '09 ... now I'm guessing July 4th. of 2010 ... I'm not the fastest builder out there! I still think the RV-12 is a Great Kit ... it'll be done when it's done. __________________

Finishing Kit ... Off To A BAD Start!

Page 1, step 1 (section 30-02, step 1) of the finishing kit and I totally messed it up! I've still got a lot to learn! Step 1: Tap the hole in each of the WD-1216C Fuselage Pin Stoppers as shown in figure 1 (tap for 10-24 screw). I had no 10-24 tap with my Avery RV-12 tool kit so I drove to Home Depot and bought that tap for $5.00. My first tap was very tight and I didn't make it fully thru the pin stopper. On my second try the tap cracked in half deep in the WD-1216C Fuselage Pin Stopper. $%&#@! I hope to salvage one of the two pin stoppers and so far ordered one new one ($8.50). I'll need to buy another tap too.


Minutes before, I tapped the holes in the roll bar for the aft window with no problems (on 25-05 step 5, revision 1/20/2009 the revision has you final drill #36 all the holes in the roll bar before tapping 6/32 screw holes (old replaced version doesn't say to final drill # 36 before tapping ... I would have messed that up to if it weren't for the revision ... hmmmm). Wish there had been a new version for page 30-02, step 1 stating to drill holes with a #25 drill bit before tapping the WD1216C ... I learned that lesson a bit late.

So far my build hours are as follows:
Wing Kit Completed: 232.5
Fuselage Kit Completed: 314.5 hours
Tailcone/Empennage Kit Completed: 151

Total so far: 698 hours

Oh well, better days ahead, I hope.

Tailcone Riveted and Rear Window Clecoed

I'm so close to finishing my fuselage kit ... so close ... maybe one or two more days and then on to the finishing kit.

When riveting the F1284-L & R shear clips to the fuselage, be careful that they match up and there is no space between those tailcone shear clip and the fuselage attach points (section 25-04, step 1). You may have to reach thru the nearest lightning hole, nudge the shear clip to match the rivet holes.

Clecoing the F1277L & R turtle deck skins takes some patience. At first the holes wouldn't match up ... so I took all the clecoes out and started again in a different pattern and voila ... they matched up.

I'm taking Marty S's advice ( Marty's RV-12 Blog ... click here) ... and not riveting the F1277L & R turtle deck skins till later in the building process. That should facilitate control cable assembly, gas tank installation & attaching the aft window (F1277A). Thanks for that advice Marty.

Once I start the Finishing Kit, install the tricycle landing gear, inflate the tires, place the scarlet red and light gray seat cushions in the fuselage and attach the seat belts, I should be able to actually get in the RV-12 and make airplane noises in my garage. Yippee!

Tailcone Clecoed to Fuselage!

My RV-12 finally has one long beautiful fuselage ... not a Boeing 747 fuselage, but a fuselage none the less.

In section 12, page10, steps 1 thru 6; attaching the nutplates to the aft of the tailcone assembly to screw the tailcone fairings (F1294 assembly) into place took me 5 hours to complete. Six steps ... yet so time consuming. I didn't have an extended #40 drill bit so I bend the K1000-6 nutplate in the opposite curvature they would be permanently mounted to the inside of the tailcone and temporarily clecoed them to the outside curvature of the tailcone and match drilled (#40) the tailcone and K1000-6 rivet holes. Then bent the nutplate curvature of the K1000-6 platenuts 100% opposite of the way they were on the outside of the tailcone for the riveting and made them fit the inside curvature of the tailcone. Great suggestion from a friend. Guess this is a good time to once again repeat:

Remember, I'm a newbie builder. Be sure to check with Van's Aircraft Builder's Assistance before following my lead in any building procedure, method or anything I do or suggest . I've never taken a builder's course nor do I have any experience in building an aircraft. I'm the furthest thing from an expert builder there is. So reader beware ... and refer to my site with caution!!

That said, my clecoed tailcone & fuselage looks fantastic. Be sure to have a helper when attaching the tailcone assembly to the fuselage. One person should be sure the tabs on the forward upper section of the tailcone (F1279L & R, F1278) clears the baggage bulkhead(F1207c L&R and the F1207A). Be careful not to bend any tabs while fitting the two sections together.

I'm getting closer to starting finishing kit!