Airworthiness Process

 1 Dec 20

The FAA accepted my paperwork (submitted last Friday), with only a few technological hiccups. The MIDO was helpful to resolve the issues and then delegated the go ahead to my DAR this morning. I'm hoping for an airworthiness inspection this Friday and hopefully flying on Saturday or Sunday, weather being one of the determining factors. Stay tuned.

Weight and Balance and Finishing Up

 Nov 2020

Once I had all the wiring taken care of through the main tunnel, I had my EAA Tech Counselor (Ron Smith) come out for his final sign off. This was his third "formal" visit with a write up, but he's also got his airplane at the same airport, so he stopped by a few times in the last month or so to check up on me.

He was happy with his final inspection (only one cotter pin needed to be bent) and got me in contact with the DAR that will do my Airworthiness certification.

My DAR got me working on the FAA's Airworthiness Certification Process, which is a newer almost completely digital approach to gaining the airworthiness certificate. Take a look at the FAA's website, which includes a PDF that outlines the process.

I fit the interior side panels that were delivered from Flightline Interiors. Abby was very helpful along the way and I'm happy with the result. I'll include some more pictures of the final install later on after I start flying this bird.

Data plate installed on the right fuselage under the horizontal stab with a few pop rivets. It's mine now!

My local EAA chapter 538 has a member that owns scales. He came out to the hangar and we went through the process of getting her weighed. We actually had a few discrepancies with the displayed weight, so we moved the airplane on and off the scales a few times and switched the scales to get the average from each attempt. In the end, she came in at 1,266 pounds, which was right in the range I was expecting from watching others final weights (1250-1325).

I watched all the EAA videos on proper weight and balance calculations to make sure that my final document was accurate. E's RV-14 site was once again very useful to provide an excel template with functional formulas and reference numbers. I was able to plug in my numbers which auto populated throughout the document and helped me a lot through the process of getting most-forward and most-aft CGs, which are required per the FAA.

Here she is without the wheel pants installed. Everything is pretty much ready, minus a test fit of said wheel pants. 

Glamour shots for the FAA "3-view" pictures or drawings. Man, I'm glad I waited for paint, although it's been stressful doing the final assembly keeping close mind of not scratching the paint. 

Wing Attachment

 Nov 2020

Once I got all the parts back from the painter, I took a few weeks of leave from work and got right to attaching the wings. Once again, my oldest son came in handy in getting the job done. I placed the wings on two sawhorses, got them lined up with the main spar and then had my son tilt the wingtip up to get the drift pin holes aligned per the plans. It was surprisingly easy to get the drift pins in. I made four total so that I could get both wings on and then feed in the main eight bolts later on. I left the bolts in the freezer for about a month to hopefully aid getting them into their final resting place. Most were very easy to insert, with only light coercion required with a rubber mallet. A few others required a little more influence, but still nothing unreasonable. Getting both wings on with the drift pins only took about an hour and a half; not bad at all.

Once the wings were on, I was finally able to feed all the wiring through both wings to get everything hooked up to the back of the panel. That took me an afternoon or so, then I went about verifying connectivity and cleaning up the wiring bundles with zip ties.

 

  

Paint!

 Oct - Nov 2020

Progress pictures from the painter!

 

Loading up and trying not to do any damage in the process.  This where a large older son comes in handy.

  

There goes my baby!

Safe and sound at the paint shop! 

 

Paint design and planning

 August - September 2020

My EAA tech counselor put me in contact with a local painter that paints large/heavy aircraft at Goodyear airport in Phoenix. This guy had painted about 10 RVs over the years at his house and was willing to paint mine as well, but availability was an issue. Even though I was ready to move to a hangar and put the wings on and fly, I decided it was worth it to wait until the aircraft was painted so that I could avoid the heat and make my first flight in cooler conditions and in a truly completed airplane. So, I dusted off my Xbox and played video games for a few months and worked on my design ideas. I used Maverick Aircraft Designs to do the design work for me and Conrad was really great throughout the process of turning my sketches into a fully formed proof. You can see that progression below...