Smitty's RV-9A - Experimental Aircraft from Van's Aircraft The RV-9A from Van's Aircraft Monday, September 06, 2010 -
Howdeeeeee! I'm building an RV-9A from Van's Aircraft. Take your shoes off and sit a spell. Give me a holler if ya' got questions or ya' just wanna chew the fat about RV's.
 
Howdy Ya'll!
Howdy! I building an RV-9A! I'm an aviation nut and am excited about building my RV-9A from Van's Aircraft. Have a look around!
Do what yer' Momma said...
Go Play!
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Construction Log
Preparation
Empennage
- Horizontal Stabilizer (49:40)
- Vertical Stabilizer (21:15)
- Rudder (32:15)
- Right Elevator (35:45)
- Left Elevator (30:50)
Wings
- Inventory & Setup (9:30)
- Left Wing Prep (54:30)
- Left Fuel Tank (45:20)
- Left Wing Skins (46:10)
- Right Wing Prep (34:15)
- Right Fuel Tank (47:50)
- Right Wing Skins (40:15)
- Ailerons (54:30)
- Flaps (40:30)
- Rods and ends (18:45)
Fuselage
- Fuselage Parts List
- Inventory and Setup (7:15)
- FireWall (14:30)
- F-704 Bulkhead (13:25)
- F-705 Bulkhead (14:20)
- Other Bulkheads
   and Longerons
(17:30)

- Tailcone (29:30)
- Center Section (35:15)
- Forward Section (52:40)
- Forward Assembly (24:30)
- Skins/Baggage Area (46:30)
- Seats & Seat Floors (30:15)
- Flaps & Gear Mounts (18:15)
- Fuselage Plumbing (14:0)
- Tail Feathers (16:35)
- Front Deck/Firewall (58:50)
- Electrical
Finish Kit
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Other Bulkheads & Longerons
 
Started work on all the aft bulkheads 6/2/2008 - Started work on all the aft bulkheads
These were pretty easy to find. I pulled out my Unibit and drilled of the rudder cable holes called for in the plans.
... read more
Bought a new laptop 6/8/2008 - Bought a new laptop
This dude will really come in handy. All of my parts are in separate Rubbermaid containers according the sub-kit number. I scanned the parts list into my website database so I can do a search on it. H ... read more
Started putting the F-706 bulkhead together 6/13/2008 - Started putting the F-706 bulkhead together
I assembled the bulkhead by drilling the F-730 plate, F-728, F-729C and F-729 rib to the F-706B Bulkhead Bottom, and then riveting everything together except for the F-728 channel, which gets clecoed ... read more
Drove out to the my hangar in North East Texas 6/17/2008 - Drove out to the my hangar in North East Texas
This weekend was grass cuttin' time at my hangar. On the way, we skirted around this giant storm that had just pounded the interstate we were on. The air was crystal clear and the sun was shining on t ... read more
Started working on the F-711 Bulkhead 6/28/2008 - Started working on the F-711 Bulkhead
I started off by fluting the flanges of the F-711A and F-711B bulkhead halves to make them sit flat on the work bench top. Then it came time for the F-711 C bars. These guys were real head-scratchers, ... read more
Finished the F-712 bulkhead 7/1/2008 - Finished the F-712 bulkhead
I had some really nice pictures of the building of this bulkhead, but my camera ate them. So I will show what I have left. Here's the F-712A and F-712B cleoced together along with the tie-down bar (wh ... read more
Worked on the last bulkheads 7/2/2008 - Worked on the last bulkheads
I pulled out the F-709 bulkhead and sanded the edges and fluted the flanges. Ready for priming!
... read more
Started working on the Longerons 7/10/2008 - Started working on the Longerons
I think I've procrastinated enough now, so now I'm going to tackle these dudes. First item on the menu is to cut the longerons to length. I measured 173 7/16 inches for the cuts. I remeasured again an ... read more
Time for the bends again 7/12/2008 - Time for the bends again
The front ends of the F-718 longerons have to have a bend down and a twist (sounds like a drink). Here I mounted the right longeron in the vise. I put 2 clamps on top of it to make sure it doesn't mov ... read more
The "cover your butt" section
This website was built to document my work on my RV-9A in compliance with the FAA requirements needed to certify my aircraft. My experiences and comments are by no means to be considered as instructions on how to build an RV-9A or any other aircraft.
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