Tag: kitplane

Rudder half-complete

Well, I may be more than half-way done with the rudder.  Won’t know until it’s all finished.  But the grunt work of separating, deburring, assembling, drilling, dimpling, and riveting the core pieces are all complete.  It has been about 29 hours so far and it’s been a fulfilling process interrupted by moments of extreme frustration.  I’m reaching out to an…

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First assembly complete

After about 8 days and 21 hours of labor, the Vertical Stabilizer is complete.  It’s unlikely that I’ll sustain this pace, just happened to be able to get a lot done over two weekends.  It came out pretty good, but definitely some room for improvement.  I didn’t like the primer so will switch brands going forward,  When riveting some of…

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What is my mission? Setting the criteria for evaluating kitplanes

Previously, I shared some thinking about how I plane to build a kit airplane in the future (after The Barn is complete), and which three models I narrowed my selection to.  This post gives more insights into how I begin framing the selection decision and the nuances of each design. The Mission In comparing these three kitplanes, there is no…

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Arion Lightning XS

Which to choose?

Even before I earned my Private Pilot Certificate in 2013, the idea of building a kit plane had taken root.  But even since thinking about this for some years, I am still undecided on which model to build.  Though, this decision is not required for a year or two while I finish building the barn.  In the interim, I continue to…

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