Wings

Completed section 13 (almost)! Finished installing all the nutplates into the spar flanges and countersinking all the necessary holes. Fabricated and tapped the tie-down brackets, and installed the nutplates into it. Primed the spar flanges and tie down brackets. Only thing left to do is rivet and bolt them to the spar once the primer is dry!

Dag decided to help out too!

Wings

Left wing: completed page 13-3 steps 4&6. Right wing: completed page 13-3 steps 2-3. We plan to stagger our work slightly to make efficient use of countersinks, drills, squeezers, etc. So far so good!

Wings

Completed page 13-3 steps 2-3 for left wing

Wings

Finished page 13-3 step 1, running #40 drill through all spar flange holes not already match-drilled.

Wings

Completed page 13-2 steps 5-8. Fabricated wing box J-stiffeners and match-drilled them to the spar flanges. Started page 13-3 step 1.

Wings

Completed page 13-2 step 4: riveted spar web extensions to spars.

Wings - begin

Began wing construction. Completed page 3-2 steps 1-3.

First logbook entry since 6/3/2014.... wow!

WE'RE BAAAAAACK!!!!

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Holy cow... it's February 2015?!?!?!? Where did all the time go? Why haven't we been building? Here's the short list of things that have occurred since the last build log entry:

• We built a new shed in the backyard (June 2014)
• Our sump pump quit on a Sunday during a rainstorm and flooded our basement (June 2014)
• The very next day (Monday) another storm knocked over a tree and tore down the shed we just built and broke out a window in the basement (June 2014)
• Mold discovered in basement, turning a big project into an even bigger one (July 2014)
• Complete basement renovation begins (July 2014)
• OSH '14 - can't miss that! (July 2014)
• Basement renovation continues. Decided to dig up part of the concrete and move a post that was always in the way... because why not? (August 2014)
• Completed my IFR training and obtained my Instrument rating (yay!) (September 2014)
• Flew to Washington DC and Buffalo NY in an Archer (September 2014)
• Basement renovation continues. Drywall installation, new lighting installed (October 2014)
• We built a bigger, stronger, better shed in the backyard (October 2014)
• Basement renovation continues. Installed a new drop ceiling in the basement (November 2014)
• Ended up in the ER after putting a drill through my left thumb while installing ceiling track. I don't have any idea why I was in such a hurry to be done with all of this! (November 2014)
• Basement is finally done! (December 2014)
• Scratch-built a giant custom 8' x 10' L-shaped desk with hutch to put in my office (December 2014)
• Trip to Florida for a friend's wedding and to visit my parents over the holidays (January 2015)
• Quit my job to work for a different company based out of the Washington DC area. It's a telecommuting job so we're still here in Iowa though... I'm really happy with it so far! (January 2015)
• Trip to Washington DC to begin training for my new job (January 2015)

What was the worst part of all this? How about having almost $20,000 in wing and engine parts sitting here in the garage since July that I couldn't work on until ALL the other things above took place!

HOPEFULLY.... this year will have fewer interruptions, starting now :-)

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Wing Kit arrival - inventory

Well, a huge storm hit our house and caused major damage on June 30. No airplane parts were damaged, but we lost a shed that we had literally JUST built, and had some pretty extensive water damage in our basement. Everything from both the shed and the basement had to be hurriedly moved up into the garage and into the way of everything in the workshop. What a mess! This is going to put a huge damper on plane-building progress for the time being.

In the midst of it all, the wing kit arrived on 7/8 (Sarah's birthday!), and even though we knew we couldn't really do any building we still had to at least inventory all the parts.

Mesa performing initial quality inspection of the crates. All looked good so far!

All the packing materials removed and parts sorted back into place.

Sarah inspecting the inside of the wing tips for any signs of damage.

The parts list, painstakingly checking off each line item. All parts accounted for with 100% accuracy from Van's!

And now.... we wait.

Engine disassembly

Tore apart the engine today! Took as many pictures as I could along the way...