Days 13–? Left Wing
Lots of partial days and missed weekends between ground school teaching commitments and then coronavirus isolation orders, and a couple of oops moments requiring some rework, but all in all it feels like the wing has been moving along very quickly. Between learning the process and the fact that we’ve been so cramped that a… Continue reading Days 13–? Left Wing
Fun, fun, fun
Unpacking was fun, but the enormity of the project definitely hit me during the process. Just getting it off the truck was a big deal – certainly the first time I ever had to “borrow a forklift” for something I’d purchased! The quality and robustness of the parts was impressive, though I resisted the urge… Continue reading Fun, fun, fun
Finally!…
After a VERY long wait, the next components of our kit are actually on the truck. The wings and fuselage were ordered together to save on shipping costs, and according to FedEx Freight, the kits and packaging total a thousand pounds. That’s a tad intimidating. It’s starting to feel more like a real airplane and… Continue reading Finally!…
Factory Visit and Demo Flight!
Whew! We flew the Bonanza from KSFM to KHYS (3 legs) and visited the RANS factory. It was nice to see the raw materials and how they get turned into airplane parts. Kept checking names on the crates ready for shipping but none were for us yet! The S21 is clearly an extremely popular model… Continue reading Factory Visit and Demo Flight!
Day 12 — Elevator & Trim Tab
Date: 3-16-2019 Participants: Sue and Rob Hours: 2 hours total (4 person-hours) The fun continues…
Day 11 – Elevator & Trim Tab 3/10/2019
Date: 3-10-2019 Participants: Sue and Rob Start Time: 10:00 End Time: 16:00 Hours: 5 hours total (10 person-hours) This is definitely the most complex part so far, and confusion over the orientation of the trim servo mounting ribs caused a lot of angst, but after finding a key photo all was finally clarified.
Day 10 – Elevator & Trim Tab 3/3/2019
Date: 3-3-2019 Participants: Sue and Rob Start Time: 10:00 End Time: 12:00 Hours: 2 hours total (4 person-hours) Are we really up to the elevator already? Wow. We really haven’t been putting in that much time. When we ordered just the tail first we had no idea what to expect, but we were definitely not… Continue reading Day 10 – Elevator & Trim Tab 3/3/2019
Day 8 & 9 – Horizontal Stabilizer Skins 3/2-3/2019
Date: 3-2-2019 3 hours Participants: Sue and Rob Date: 3-3-2019 1 hours Participants: Sue and Rob Hours: 4 hours total (8 person-hours) We were a bit dismayed when some of the countersunk rivets broke off their stems above the surface. Thought maybe it was technique, but no luck improving our odds. Seems like 1 out… Continue reading Day 8 & 9 – Horizontal Stabilizer Skins 3/2-3/2019
Day 7 – Horizontal Stabilizer Skins 2/24/2019
Date: 2-24-2019 Participants: Sue and Rob Start Time: 10:00 End Time: 16:00 Hours: 5.5 hours total (11 person-hours) We’re getting pretty good at labeling which rivets go where and planning ahead to avoid mistakes, but we realized today that we did not yet have the dimpling tool needed for the countersunk rivets. We tried fabricating… Continue reading Day 7 – Horizontal Stabilizer Skins 2/24/2019