News and commentary about homebuilt/experimental aviation from the editors of Kitplanes Magazine.
John Stahr announced first thing in the morning that Friday would be "a day of fussy fuss." It was time to address all those little nits bound to come up in the original work. As Paul Dye is always telling me, "It isn't how perfect you do the job initially, it's about how well you can correct the little errors." So, it was a tedious and some times a bit frustrating day of inspecting for issues and addressing them. Continue reading "A Day of Fussy Fuss"
John Stahr continued working on N958PD, KITPLANES Editor-in-Chief Paul Dye's recently built SubSonex jet on Thursday. With the large area painting completed and detailed art work started, it was another day of mostly detail work... addressing minor flaws in the original spray painting and air brushing on more details. Some of the details were air brushed on while others were shot through stencils... both prepared and made on the spot. Continue reading "Light at the End of the Tunnel"
I don't know about you, but I always thought that airplanes are first covered with whatever paint will dominate the surfaces (commonly white) and pin stripes, swooshes, and lines are added later. So, I've been surprised to learn that John Stahr starts with the details. The first paint that he put on the SubSonex jet today was gold...a pin stripe color that will cover a very limited area. So, today started with some light sanding of the areas where gold would be applied and then the color shot freehand. There was no attempt to stay within any lines, Stahr just ensured that all areas that will eventually be gold were covered. Continue reading "A Little Paint and a Whole Lot of Tape"
With most of the masking completed last night, the team immediately started into Scotchbriting all of the external aluminum areas on Paul Dye's SubSonex jet. The rivets were attacked first with a rotary, power Scotchbrite wheel. Three passes at slightly different angles ensured that the rivets were adequately scuffed. The fiberglass nose cowl was also lightly sanded. Soon, neighbors started showing up and the broader surfaces received attention. Continue reading "Prepping and Priming for the Subsonex Paint Job"
Editor-in-Chief Paul Dye's SubSonex jet is completed (after less than three months of building!), the engine has started and performed flawlessly, and a couple of slow taxi tests have occurred without issues. Since the Inspector isn't yet available (largely due to the recent enforced paralysis of that part of the federal government), it is time to paint! Continue reading "Subsonex Paint Preparation"
Van's Aircraft has released a nearly half-hour long, in-cockpit video of the first flight of the One Week Wonder, an RV-12iS built by volunteers during AirVenture last month. Continue reading "One Week Wonder First Flight - 3D view"
