02.01.2004

Both wings are done! Construction started at June,14th 2003 and it took 123 days in the shop and 510 hours. All in all I'm pleased with the result. Drawbacks: The aileron, that's fallen down from my workbench, the poorly built Phlogiston spar (the tank joint plates), the resulting misfit of the tanks and the underbent rear spars flange angle, that causes the skin not to lay flat on the flap. I could'nt blame anyone for the aileron, I think ;o) ..and could'nt fix anything with the spars...and should have been more careful with the rear spars flange angle....but it's a process of constant learning and this is a handcrafted aircraft, and the word EXPERIMENTAL says it all. (Beside that, take a close look to any spam can, and you will find out that these guys facing the same problems even in a 'mass-production'). If you look at some other peoples RV projects on the net, you might think they're perfect, no mistakes at all! But do they tell the whole story? Who knows...I'm not perfect. Maybe you have to make your decision between two ways: To build an aircraft because you want to fly or to build one because you like building. Of course you have to like building anyway, but what I want to say is, that the difference between a clean RV and a perfect one could easily double building time. My goals are a basic RV with wood prop, VFR instrumentation, building time less than 4 years, 30.000 Euro and good craftmanship for a first time project. Let's see what I have to correct first, haha