Construction log:
THE EMPENNAGE HAS BEEN COMPLETED
Total time for the empennage comes to <approximately> 276 hours.
Time recorded for empennage construction between June 15th and August 13th was 196 hours.  Add to that the 50 hours or so on the first attempt back in October, plus about 30 hours total rearranging the garage and building work surfaces and such.  This seems like a lot but I've seen a number of first time builders report similar times.  I've also talked to a couple of guys that did the tail in three weeks.  Of course it was their second plane and the first one wasn't pre punched.  Working times seem to get better as I gain practice, I'm anxious to see the total time spent building the wings.  A big key to efficiency is NO SCREW-UPS.  Mulligans cost time and money.  Measure twice cut once.  On to the wings...

The Wings ..starting sloowwly..
Ever notice how you get lots of things done while you're unemployed.  I got a tail kit finished as well as a few unimportant things.  Now as I'm trying to get rolling on the wings, lo and behold, I'm back to work!  Having a job really shoots the day.  Of course it does pay better than airplane building, at least as far as cash flow goes.  I do need to have the funds down the road to get the finish kit and a few instruments.  So, here I am, two and a half weeks into the wings and have spent a only 25-1/2 hours on them.

There is a bit of sorting to do with a couple of dozen bags of rivets, nuts, bolts, rod end bearings, and other hardware, as well as a file box full of aluminum pieces that will eventually become doublers, splice plates, aileron brackets, and the like.  That out of the way..
THE WINGS IN PROGRESS
 
 
 

About the airplane
A link to Van's Aircraft web pages for the RV-9A.  Browse around for a while, you might find something you like.  If you like what you see you can go to the factory and take the free demo flight that ends up costing most people over $30,000 by the time they're finished...

our Mission profile
To go where we've gone before...a story you may have already read but here's the link to it anyway.  We do like to travel in the little planes

you can email us about the project at dianas-rv9a@teleport.com

Index page revision 14, 2003.09.02 mgm