Building the RV7-A The first kit contains tail feathers!
A great way to learn the secrets of riveting.
Beginning assembly of horizontal stabalizer.
Horizontal stabilizer assembly
Everything is put together to check fit, then disassembled for cleaning and priming.
Tail pieces adding up and the blue plastic protectant removed
Elevator!
Horizontal stabilizer, elevator, vertical stabilizer and rudder! Tail feather kit complete.
Here comes the wings!!
Lane helping his dad unpack
Hey dad! Ribs!!
Fasteners. gobs of fasteners.
Wing assembly
cleaning and prepping parts
Squeezing rivets pneumatically.
Several fixtures to hold wing during assembly.
Primary assembly.
Mixing sealant for fuel tank assembly. Grandpa helping.
One of two fuel tanks.
Left and right fuel tanks fitted on the wings.
Attaching the fuel tank.
Flap assembly.
A helper working on a flap.
Aileron assembly.
Rivets, rivets, rivets!
Robert giving a hand.
L.E.D. navigation lights in the wing tips.
Fuselage kit has arrived.
Gobs of parts and pieces.
Assembling the firewall.
Oh boy! Almost flying!!
Taking shape.
Primed formers. Plastic protected skins.
The "Old Fart" lends a hand.
Cockpit floor, joy sticks.
"Cleco" fasteners hold things together temporarily.
Horizontal stab added as a test fit.
Fuselage inverted for access to this phase of assembly.
Rudder/brake assembly.
Overall view of inverted fuselage.
flipped back right side.
Loren checks out the progress.
It feels pretty good!!
You are right, dad.
The turtle back starts being assembled.
The custom seat arrive and look great.
Five point harness looks great too.
Flap control rods and bell crank.
Scott helps out.
Interior cockpit wall are painted an off white.
Masking prior to more interior painting.
You da man.
Looking great!
Wings in place!!
Elevator push-rod assembly.
Fuselage/wing/flap/step detail.
Overall view.
Fuselage/horizontal stabilizer detail.
Roll bar assembly.
Check, check
Double check!
Fuel tank selector and plumbing.
Starting to cut holes in the dashboard.
The radio stack is first.
Radio stack hole.
Canopy hinges.
Canopy structure.
Throttle, carb heat and prop pitch???
More holes. These for the "Steam Powered" gauges.
Demonstrating the canopy tip up structure.
Cutting and fitting the Plexiglas canopy.
Looks great!
How it works!
Very nice.
The rear window.
Happiness!
Here comes the electricals.
Engine mount.
Fuse blocks
Break cylinders.
The beginning of the wiring
More and more.
Keeping it neat.
Elevator push rod
More electronics.
A mix of steam and glass!!
The dashboard has been painted. Canopy tipped up.
Under dash fuse blocks.
Electronics and son lit up!
Strobe controller.
Adding access hatches in the fuselage skin for the electronics.
Time to buck those hard to get rivets in the aft fuselage.
Overall vies, note foot step.
Jacking up the plane for installation of the landing gear.
Gear without fairing.
Another view.
Nose gear in place.
The start of fitting fairings!
Looking good.
