We're in the air!!

Yes, it's true!! This morning George took to the air in N612RV. Everything works as expected and we're in the process of working off the five hours. Pictures are attached.

ENGINE START!!!

WE HAVE FIRE!!!!(pronounced 'far' in the South)... Yesterday, we started the engine...after the 4th attempt. We loaded in our ten dollar-a-quart motorcycle (3 quarts), purged the system, and cranked 'er up. It seems as though our battery wasn't charged completely, so we hooked up the lawnmower battery along with a charger, and it managed to spin the prop a couple of times, which was enough to get it started. We didn't have any leaks, except for the antifreeze leak, which was fixed with a flick of the screwdriver on one of the connections. Now we need to readjust the throttle control a little, sand some more on the cowling, rehang the front radiator, and we're ready to take The Puppy up to the airport, where we'll await the return of our registration materials.
I took a non-event video of the whole process and will try to post it later.
Meade and George
RV120016

Novmber 12 Working on the canopy and cowl

A lot of head scratching, emails to Marty and Vans and some 'reconstruction' have brought our 'karma' a little closer to resolution on our canopy and cowl issues. Yesterday, a friend of ours came over and helped us rework the front portion of the canopy to keep it from contacting the side skins. We looked at some of Marty Santic's photos and figured it was ok to trim the forward portion of the canopy. That also coincided with Van's template,so we figured it was ok to trim some more off. We also filled in some of the gaps with flox, so today we'll probably sand the fiberglass smooth.
Today, we'll reevaluate the stripping that goes between the rear radiator and the cooling shroud; Marty took his off and replaced it with a narrower strip. We also had some problems with the muffler placement, so we had to loosen the exhaust pipes and do some repositioning of the muffler so that the exhaust pipe was more centered in the exhaust port.
I hope that next week, we can put in the 'bodily fluids' into the plane and crank tht bad boy up; that should wake up the neighbors...

Finishing up...some more...November 6

Over the past couple of days, we worked on putting on the turtle deck, rear window, gas tank, and engine cowling. Installing the top cowl was a little hairy, in that one side fit, but the hinges were way out of place on the opposite side. But with a little patience and a larger plastic mallet, we managed to get everything back on. There were some scratches on the instrument panel cover, so we smoothed them out and sanded down some of the rough spots on the cowl. George filled the holes in the bottom cowl where we had drilled to put in clecos to hold the parts together.
We rerouted some of the red hoses on the engine to make them fit a little better, and we tie-wrapped more of the hoses together.
We installed the seats and seat belts and reworked the flapperon handle to make it work a little smoother.
We decided that we'd order the upholstery kit (the wives are paying for it for an early Christmas present)because it kind of makes a nice finish to the project. We sent in the request for the registration paperwork so I guess we'll get that back in about a month.
Next step is to finish working on the canopy so that it clears the front a little nicer.

Oil Cooler Installation...attempt

On 11/30, George and I finally got the gas tank in...again but one of the nutplates wouldn't align for a bolt but we did get a screw to fit. We also almost got theoil cooler installed. We were able to get it up just so far and then the kink in the front of the cowl kept us from getting the thing in. ALSO, in one of the photos, you'll notice one of the hoses coming out from the side of the engine that was supposed to go up to the oil cooler. We didn't like it, so we turned it back in and under the right side of the cylinders and forward. We didnt' quite get it in so I went out tonight and noticed that me and my long arms could reach forward from under the lower cowling and line things up...but I need another pair of hands to do it.
Tomorrow we should be able to get the oil cooler attached and tighten the gas lines going into the bottom of the gas tank. I think we may try to attach the canopy and put the top of the 'dashboard' back on. I faxed the blank forms to our DAR for tentative inspection.

Section 49

For the past couple of days, we've been working on the cowling and cooler box assembly and the oil cooler. Yesterday, we did the fiberglassing for the cooler box and today we put on the VA213, 14, and 15. It involved routing the hoses in and around the engine mount.
We are beginning to "...see the light at the end of the tunnel." and tomorrow, we'll put the gas tank in, put the instrument panel cover back on (we finally received one of the 'clamshells' for one of the 26 pin connectors), and possibly put the canopy on. We checked on prices for getting the plane inspected and it looks like it'll be about $400.00. We may actually get to get the engine cranked next week, so we need to start bringing in the oil and coolant.
You'll see photos of the inside of the bottom cowling showing the fiberglassing of the cooler box and the plumbing on the engine.

Gas tank fun!!!10/22

We got the tank assembled a couple of days ago and tested it yesterday. It leaked...
We took it apart and cleaned it up. It was pretty messy. We reasssembled it today and patched the leaks. We'll check it tomorrow. We did the heater cable today and some work on the oil cooler.