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olanandkate

Fuselage

Bulkheads and Longerons Match-drilled

I didn’t get a ton of time today to work, but I did get all of the mating surfaces inside the plane match drilled. I got the shims fabricated for the trailing end of the top longeron to skin so there’s identical thickness of skin and no odd pillowing of Read more

By olanandkate, 1 weekAugust 21, 2025 ago
Fuselage

Initial Joining of Empennage and Fuselage

I got all of the bulkheads drilled and dimpled. The rest of the night was mating up the empennage. The left longeron was a bit long with what they had from the factory on the fuselage. The longeron that was on the empennage was just the right length with the Read more

By olanandkate, 2 weeksAugust 20, 2025 ago
Avionics

Quickbuild Inspection & Initial Work

Tonight was the first real night of fuselage work. I had to remove the pop rivets they installed to hold down the components that they did not perform the final install on. I then inspected their work which was really good! They did an excellent job with all of their Read more

By olanandkate, 2 weeksAugust 19, 2025 ago
Avionics

Cradle Done and Wiring Block Diagram Started

I spent quite a bit of time in Visio working on the block diagram. I know the components I want/need in the plane so now I just need to document how they will connect to each other as well as the redundant paths in case one of the methods goes Read more

By olanandkate, 2 weeksAugust 18, 2025 ago
Fuselage

Additional Cradle Work

After looking at the cradle and thinking about the stability I want, I decided to put some additional length and width to the rear. This will allow me to adjust the cradle after I get the empennage attached so that it will support it a little bit better. But hopefully Read more

By olanandkate, 2 weeksAugust 17, 2025 ago
Fuselage

Fuselage and Empennage Retrieved and Cradle Build

I got the fuselage and empennage today from storage. Took quite a bit of moving stuff around but we got it figured out. I got the fuselage removed from the crate and I started working on building a cradle. I think I might need to make it a bit longer Read more

By olanandkate, 2 weeksAugust 16, 2025 ago
Research

Aircraft Electronics Association – Experimental Avionics Class Day 3

I graduated! LOL My harness worked first try which was a sigh of relief. This course definitely gave me a TON of confidence on completing the avionics installation on my plane. I now know which components I need for my installation, how to get them wired up, and what wiring Read more

By olanandkate, 2 weeksAugust 15, 2025 ago
Research

Aircraft Electronics Association – Experimental Avionics Class Day 2

The second day was excellent. We learned practices for system design starting with our mission, equipment that will support the mission, how we should design and place it within the cockpit, etc. We also went over the different communication methods like RS232, ARINC, and CANBUS. CANBUS is primarily what the Read more

By olanandkate, 2 weeksAugust 14, 2025 ago
Research

Aircraft Electronics Association – Experimental Avionics Class Day 1

The first day of class went fairly well. Levi Self from Midwest Avionics was the instructor for the class and he did an excellent job of answering our questions and the content was well organized. We covered the regulations for an avionics installation (what you want to include, how it Read more

By olanandkate, 3 weeksAugust 13, 2025 ago
Wings

Pitot Wireloom and Wingtip Lighting Cleanup

Before I left for the wiring class today I got the package from Aircraft Spruce in with all of the adel clamps. I installed nutplates and then got the wireloom mounted. I also got the tape off the wingtip lights and cleaned up the excess sealant. I might need to Read more

By olanandkate, 3 weeksAugust 12, 2025 ago

Posts pagination

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Aircraft Build Time

Airplane sectionBuild time (hrs)
Avionics/Electronics9
S06 - Vertical Stabilizer22.5
S07 - Rudder34.25
S08 - Horizontal Stabilizer49.75
S09 - Elevators59
S10 - Tailcone75.75
S11 - Empennage Attach27.75
S12 - Empennage Fairings26.5
S13 - Main Spar18.25
S14 - Wing Ribs35.5
S15 - Rear Spar29.25
S16 - Top Skins32.75
S17 - Outboard Leading Edge34.75
S18 - Fuel Tank79.5
S20 - Bottom Skins42.25
S21 - Aileron35.5
S22 - Flap44
S23 - Aileron Actuation11
S24 - Wing Tip Installation14.5
S29 - Fuselage Side Skins4
S30 - Step Installation2
S32 - Tailcone Attach14.75
S36 - Brake Lines4.5
S38 - Rudder Pedals & Brake System9.5
Total716.5
Recent Posts
  • Rudder Pedals Installed and Rudder Cables Ran
  • Rudder Pedals Assembled
  • Rudder Pedals Cut, Deburred, and Primed
  • Front Floorboards Installed
  • Brake Lines Complete (Almost)
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