Got to spend my first full day of building.  We made some pretty good progress.  We made a few blunders but overall we did pretty good.

Bluder number 1 was riviting a tube in the wrong place.  Scotty just rivits too fast for me to keep up with the book reading.   I drilled out the rivet and we riveted the tube in the right place.

Blunder number 2 was putting the vertical stabilizer rudder hinge attach nutplate in the wrong position.  I think.  It just doesn’t look right.  I mounted it in the only pre-drilled hole in that area of the VS spar but it’s up inside the the gusset area.  I don’t eve know why I bothered drilling that hole, I only need to construct the frame.

Here’s what we got done today.

Rear fuselage

Vertical stabilizer

Well, the first task of the project is done.  Inventory is complete.  There are a few backordered items but it looks like everything else is there.  To make it easy to find things I stapled the bags to the crate.  I picked up this tip on another Rans blog but I can’t remember where.  It will make finding the bags much easier.

The only problem is, I ran out of crate!  I will probably pull the crate away from the wall a bit so I can put up the bags that are still in the two boxes on the floor.

I’ve started laying out the pieces for the first project which is assembling the rear fuselage.  Lots and lots of aluminum tubing involved here.

Everything else is going to stay in the big crate until I need it.

I did run into one miscommunication on the part of Rans and/or my dealer.  Apparently since I didn’t specify an engine option they didn’t ship my cowling.  But… I paid for the cowling.  I fired off a few emails and the next morning I got a phone call from Rans and my dealer.  There was some minor strife involved.  Rans needs to fine tune their customer service a bit.  Though hearing the back story I can cut them a little slack.  They did resolve the situation to my satisfaction quickly so I am pleased with that.  I’m going to go ahead and order my firewall forward package on Monday and when they ship it they will send the cowling along with it.

Well the boxes finally showed up.  They were LARGE.  Here are a couple of pictures of what we have so far:

It’s a very big box.  The very long box is right behind it.

My A#1 helper – and the whole reason I’m building another plane.  My last hurrah with my son.

Passenger compartment.  It’s powerder-coated chromoly steel tubing.  This is looking from the front left to the rear right.

This is the left gear leg socket.  Mmmm… powder-coat-alicious.

One of the molded plastic fuel tanks.

This is the dacron covering material.  Precolored.  No painting necessary.   The black you see isn’t a shadow, it’s one of the black stripes.

Inventory fun for everyone!

Well there you have it.  The first pictures of my new aircraft project.  I’ll post some updates as soon as I’m doing something building related.  For the next week or so I’ll be doing an inventory.

In anticipation of the S-6ES kit arriving tomorrow I’ve gone ahead and reserved an N number with the FAA.  So the Rans S-6ES Coyote that Scotty and I are building is N612SV.  There, it’s practically done!  Project Covanent Promise is under way.

By the way, any Bible scholars out there?  What is THE covenant promise?

Look for a posting within a couple of days with pictures of the crates.  And the answer to the question above.

Big important projects always have cool code names.  I’ve picked the code name for the project that my son and I are about to embark upon: Coventant Promise.  Not only does it sound really cool, there is deeper meaning to it.  As part of God’s covenant with me I am required to train my children well.  Since I cannot pass on my computer expertise to my son (though he is getting pretty handy surfing the net -another story) I have decided to pass on the only other thing I know; building airplanes.  I obviously won’t be able to pass on all the planning that goes into an aircraft this time around but perhaps on the next plane his mental facilities may be better suited to planning.  For now we’re going to learn proper shop technique, basic aerodynamics, and basic aircraft construction techniques.

The kit should be here in a week or two so it’s time to kick off Covenant Promise.

Well, aside from the economy that is. EAA has come out with some great resources for homebuilders that were not available when I was building my RV-4. Not only are the kits easier to put together but the resources are wonderful. EAA is now hosting a website for homebuilders with informative videos. Everything from AN hardware basics to hose fabrication, nicopress fitting fabrication, propeller repair, tube and fabric tips, and wood and composite construction tips. Here is a detailed video on changing oil filters:

http://services.brightcove.com/services/viewer/federated_f8/1119669386

For more of these great videos click here: Hints for Homebuilders

My navigation lights showed up today.  They are combination navigation lights and strobes.  The navigation lights are needed for night flight.  The strobes are needed any time the engine is running.  I bought them through a group buy discount over at the Rans Clan website.  They are nice!  Of course I can’t receive something in the mail and then just put it on the shelf for when I need it later.  I have to take it out of the box and play with it.

I grabbed my trusty bench 12V power supply and connected it to the power leads of the nav light portion of the units.

The green light goes on the right wing of the airplane with the white light facing toward the rear of the airplane.  This white light built into the unit negates the need for a white navigation light on the tail of the plane.

Here is a video I took of the units while they were flashing: