I am taking advantage of the local weather and trying to work as many days as I can. Other than a very rare snow event, winter here in south Mississippi is generally mild but summers can be brutal especially in a sheet metal hangar with no insulation or air conditioning. Its not abnormal to see temperatures in July and August over 95 with even higher temps inside the hangar itself. So, I am trying to keep up my momentum on the build.
As I mentioned earlier, life threw me a few curves but you just dig in and keep grinding or nothing gets done. I want to fly my plane!
Before I left the hangar today, I walked around and just looked at the plane. With the landing gear, tires, wings, struts all on it, it looks like like a baby Kitfox plane.
If you ever talk to anyone who has finished a kitplane build in a reasonable timeframe, they will tell you the secret is try to do something every day, even if it is just planning or research online about some aspect of your build. Even small tasks can keep you on track.
I am now at the point in my build where I have many empty plastic bags that once contained assorted nuts, bolts, fittings etc... and after I open a bag and use up the contents, I put the bag in a box with all the other empty bags. Today, I noticed the pile of empties was pretty big.
I still have a ton of work left such as:
- Crimping all the stranded steel cable fittings for rudder controls and flying wires for the horizontal stabilizer.
- Riveting all the flat aluminum for seat, firewall, dashboard, etc...
- Installing the windshield plexiglass
- Finishing the flaperon installation and rigging the flaperon cables
- Fabricating the custom engine mount for the Hirth F23 twin cylinder powerplant. I will document this as a separate build log as there is a lot
to do to make this happen. I spent a lot of time planning the layout for the engine as well a researching methods to dampen vibration.
- And finally, I have to cover the flying surfaces with covering materials. Then apply the paint as well. I am going with a naked fuselage at the
moment just to make my life easier and leave me good access to everything I may need to get to such as fuel lines, rigging for ballistic
parachute, etc...
For those who are considering buying this kit and building it I say DO IT! You will find out it is really not that complicated after all and the pre-made parts fit real good to start with. I have never built anything like this before. Of course I have had the file off a sliver of metal here and there probably because the powder coating on some of the metal assemblies added a smidge of thickness you will have to deal with. We are talking 5 minutes of work max here to get the part to fit right.
I cant say enough good things about how good the support from Chris D at the " Badland Factory' has been. All my questions get answered. I have had him send me a part and its gets here super quick!
FYI, My last build project I recall was assembling a fancy queen size bed frame with built in storage shelves with doors. My wife did all the figuring,
, I turned the wrenches and screws. I am no expert by far!I also need to mention that I have not had to obtain a bunch of high end specialty tools either to get my plane assembled. I already had a simple hand held manual riveting tool and an electric drill. I think the only tools I had to buy was a cable end swagging tool, some Cleco pliers, a handful of assorted Clecos, and a pack of new #30 drill bits. All well under 100 bucks.
The last thing I need to say is that this Badland 103 Forum is great and it is only going to grow as more people contribute here. I hope to see the online community here pitch in and get everyone flying their dream ultralight aircraft.