November 16
Started on the Wing Tips.
The first thing I did was to trip all the excess off. This was not bad. The fiberglass tips were scribed where to cut. Also the fiberglass add on for the wing tip lights had to be trimmed and they were also scribed. After they were cut to size I fitted them to the lwings and drilled the attach holes.
Now the work started. I had to epoxy the molded fiberglass attachments for the wingtip lights on as well as the rear rib. I let these sit overnight.
November 17
Now I epoxyed a foam filler over the rib to fill in the wing tip end where the aielron slot is. This is just for looks.
Now the sanding starts. I sanded all the edges down where the fixture for the wingtip light fixture has been epoxied on and feathered it in. Now I used a filler to fill in all the areas needed to make a smoothe transition.
I also sanded all the surfaces in preparation for the high build primer.
I fitted the wing tip lights and drilled the holes for them.
Sunday, December 6, 2009
Thursday, October 22, 2009
The Beginning
All this started when I had a mishap with my Kolb Mark III in Monument Valley at the annual Kolb Fly-in, May 16, 2009. My left main landing gear collapsed on landing causing it to skid off the runway. The Kolb received substantial damage and was transported back to Cypress, Texas in a U-Haul truck. The plane could have been repaired because the fuselage, cage, wings and tail feathers were not damaged. The major damage was to the fuselage tube and one aileron.
As I said to my friends "It was a great ride but it's time to go".
With that decision I went to Oshkosh on a mission, to find a home for the 912ULS engine.
I found the Highlander and knew it was what I wanted.
On July 29, 2009 during AirVenture I made a deposit on the Highlander Quickbuild Kit from Just Aircraft.
August 25th I flew my RV-7 to Walhalla, SC to visit the factory and finished the details of the purchase. At this time the owner gave me a demo ride in his Highlander and I was very impressed with its short field take off and landing and cruise performance.
I made arrangements for me to come back and start the build experience in the factory. This is not a builder assist program. I rented a space in their facility and had use of tooling, jigs and help when I needed it. There are three other builders doing the same program and are in different stages of completion so that made it easy for me when I needed to see how something was done. Cost: $200.00/month, what a deal you say. Well I had transportation, bed and breakfast plus eating out every day to add to that. But I feel it will be worth it.
September 15, 2009
The weather was bad so I took Delta Airlines to Atlanta and rented a car and drove to Walhalla, SC. I checked into the Liberty Inn Bed and Breakfast. It says "Bed and Breakfast" but there was no breakfast. Anyway I got settled in and ready for my first day on the 16th.
September 16, 2009
I got to the factory at 7:30AM and the gate was locked and no one was there. I left and went to find coffee and was back at 8:00. The gate was open. For the first hour I spent finding my way around and setting up the table they had let me use. The quickbuild wings were sitting there on saw horses and the fuse cage was on the rotation stands they had built for me. A fellow by the name of Dennis came over to introduce me to the building and what I needed to start on. He then introduced me to the Epoxy and how to mix it.
I unloaded all the tools I brought and got to work. First I installed the doublers on the wing spar roots. This involved fitting, drilling, deburring and epoxy and riveting in place. Then I went on to the doublers for the strut attachment position on both the front and rear spars, 8 total. These were already in place and held down with hose clamps as part of the quick build process. I installed the 4' long I-beams inside the spar tubes. After Dennis checked the position I drilled the doublers in place which also drilled the I-beams in place. I then clecoed it all together and removed the hose clamps. I deburred and cleaned it all up and mixed epoxy and put it all back together with epoxy and then riveted it down. After this I got Dennis to help me reinstall the wings on the fuselage. I let it all set to harden overnight. 7:00PM, it's time to go get some rest.
September 17, 2009
As I said to my friends "It was a great ride but it's time to go".
With that decision I went to Oshkosh on a mission, to find a home for the 912ULS engine.
I found the Highlander and knew it was what I wanted.
On July 29, 2009 during AirVenture I made a deposit on the Highlander Quickbuild Kit from Just Aircraft.
August 25th I flew my RV-7 to Walhalla, SC to visit the factory and finished the details of the purchase. At this time the owner gave me a demo ride in his Highlander and I was very impressed with its short field take off and landing and cruise performance.
I made arrangements for me to come back and start the build experience in the factory. This is not a builder assist program. I rented a space in their facility and had use of tooling, jigs and help when I needed it. There are three other builders doing the same program and are in different stages of completion so that made it easy for me when I needed to see how something was done. Cost: $200.00/month, what a deal you say. Well I had transportation, bed and breakfast plus eating out every day to add to that. But I feel it will be worth it.
September 15, 2009
The weather was bad so I took Delta Airlines to Atlanta and rented a car and drove to Walhalla, SC. I checked into the Liberty Inn Bed and Breakfast. It says "Bed and Breakfast" but there was no breakfast. Anyway I got settled in and ready for my first day on the 16th.
September 16, 2009
I got to the factory at 7:30AM and the gate was locked and no one was there. I left and went to find coffee and was back at 8:00. The gate was open. For the first hour I spent finding my way around and setting up the table they had let me use. The quickbuild wings were sitting there on saw horses and the fuse cage was on the rotation stands they had built for me. A fellow by the name of Dennis came over to introduce me to the building and what I needed to start on. He then introduced me to the Epoxy and how to mix it.
I unloaded all the tools I brought and got to work. First I installed the doublers on the wing spar roots. This involved fitting, drilling, deburring and epoxy and riveting in place. Then I went on to the doublers for the strut attachment position on both the front and rear spars, 8 total. These were already in place and held down with hose clamps as part of the quick build process. I installed the 4' long I-beams inside the spar tubes. After Dennis checked the position I drilled the doublers in place which also drilled the I-beams in place. I then clecoed it all together and removed the hose clamps. I deburred and cleaned it all up and mixed epoxy and put it all back together with epoxy and then riveted it down. After this I got Dennis to help me reinstall the wings on the fuselage. I let it all set to harden overnight. 7:00PM, it's time to go get some rest.
September 17, 2009
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