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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Forward Assembly
 
Time for fuselage assembly! 3/17/2009 - Time for fuselage assembly!
I'm going to start taking the forward section of the fuselage apart and get it ready for riveting. Being the anal person that I am, I've decided to take parts off a bit at a time and prepare them acco ... read more
Primed the forward bottom skin and angle pieces 3/30/2009 - Primed the forward bottom skin and angle pieces
What the heck, one less thing to do later. I'm kind of making this up as I go along, looking for a better way to do this forward assembly without taking the whole damn thing apart, and then freaking o ... read more
Time for dimplin' and countersinkin' 4/7/2009 - Time for dimplin' and countersinkin'
I started to take the whole fuselage apart but then decided that it would be easier to dimple and countersink the parts while they are still all clecoed together. This way there isn't any head-scratch ... read more
Riveted the F-684 Gussets to the vertical firewall angles 4/13/2009 - Riveted the F-684 Gussets to the vertical firewall angles
I started off using my longeron yoke until it wouldn't reach anymore and then switched to my 4 inch no-hole yoke. These 4 inch yokes have saved my builders butt more than once!
... read more
Bolted the fire wall in place. 4/15/2009 - Bolted the fire wall in place.
No biggy here. I checked Van's torque chart reference guide and tighten everything up.
... read more
All riveted and ready roll! 5/15/2009 - All riveted and ready roll!
Thanks to my bucking buddy Norwood, we got this dude all riveted and now it's time to "roll the canoe". We pulled all the sawhorses out except for the one in the front and the one in the back. Then we ... 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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