Author Archives: Michael Carter

About Michael Carter

Programmer, Pilot/Builder and Amateur Radio enthusiast living in the Bay Area of California.

The kit has shipped!

Woohoo! It’s coming! The empennage kit will arrive at the airport this Thursday! I haven’t had the time yet to build any workbenches since I’m still waiting on the lease doc to be finalized by the city. I’m hoping I’ll … Continue reading

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Hangar cleaned out and ready

I stopped by the hangar over the weekend to check if it’s been cleaned up and made ready, and sure enough, it is! I’m hoping that the city will sign off on the lease this week so that we can … Continue reading

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EAA Builder’s Log

I’ll be using the EAA’s Builder’s Log to document the build of our RV-7. I was considering writing one myself (and still may do that), but once I found out that the EAA already has one, so I’ll be starting … Continue reading

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Practice kit done!

We’ve finished it! I had promised that before we start on the actual plane that we’d finish at least one of the practice kits, and last night we pulled the final rivet. It isn’t exceedingly pretty, not is it perfect, … Continue reading

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The Trigger has been Pulled!

The order is IN! This morning we clicked the Submit Order button on vansaircraft.com and committed to building the first section of the airplane! This starts a chain of events that are all interlinked. I need to obtain a Builder’s … Continue reading

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Practice project: Almost done!

Yesterday I thought it’d be more advantageous for us to start working during the day, and as a result, we had a marathon of sorts. We worked on and finished 4 steps! Now we’re down to the last one. So … Continue reading

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Practice project trailing edge

Continuing on with the practice project, tonight we installed the leading edge wedge and through-drilled and clecoed. The challenge here was drilling at 84 degrees to the skin. For that I laser cut a gauge on the Glowforge, according to … Continue reading

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Found a Hangar!

Huzzah! I just heard back from the airport manager that there is a hangar coming available this month at our airport. We’re super-excited given we missed out last month on a smaller T hangar, which was okay, but not quite … Continue reading

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The “shop” is shaping up!

I’m trying to make the most of the small build space I have to work with until a hangar comes available at the airport. Since I’ve started, I removed some rickety wall-mounted cabinets in the back of the garage, and … Continue reading

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Fabrication challenge!

The next chapter in the saga was to fabricate something from scratch. The instructions call for making this special dimple/bucking bar for the small area of the ribs that you can’t fit any other tool into: The tool we need … Continue reading

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