Prime time
I took a very, very similar picture of my first priming session on my RV-7A on August 16, 2004. Well here I am almost three years to the day later. Just thought I had to take a similar picture.
First RV-10 visitor
Sam is a good friend of mine… we went to high school together in the mega-tropolis of Canfield, Ohio. He currently lives in the Bay Area of California but made it out for a weekend of airplane related activities. Here he his getting an intro to RV building. I told him when he saw the RV how many steps it took for each rivet (drill, debur all parts, dimple, prime, rivet). He really couldn’t believe how long it took until he got his hands into the fray.
DRDT-2… so easy even a 2 year old can dimple!
Last Thursday, before I had to be at work by 2pm, I flew to Alex City, AL to pick up the very cool DRDT-2 dimpler from Hollywood. This thing is a beast!! We made sure that it went into and out of the airplane unscathed. More importantly, I made sure that the plane didn’t come out on on the wrong end of a mishap. That .025 skin would be no match for the 50 lb dimpler. The RV is such a cool machine. Who’d thought that you can be in Northeast Atlanta at 10AM, go pick up a dimpler by Montgomery, fly home, pick up lunch and be at the world’s busiest airport (by car) by 2pm?
Anyway we got it home and it was finally time to start some dimpling. Before the serious dimpling began my little girl, Heather, had to try it out. So easy even a 2 year old can do it!
The Great Unboxing
If you ever read any tech-gadget type blogs, they always make a huge deal out of unboxing the latest new fangled gizmos. Well in that spirit, here you go. Unfortunately, my picture log is not quite as complete as some others I’ve seen.
See that shiny new Dewalt drill in my hands? Was walking through Home Depot the other day and saw it on the discount rack. It came in a box with a 14V flourescent light (combo). Marked down to $99.00 from $179! I was like, heck yeah! Brought it to the counter – to make a long story short… they mis-labeled it. It should have been $159 but I got it for $99! Woohoo. Watch that discount table. Never know when the next deal will pop up.
Here we go again
Well just like old times! In fact it was almost 3 years to the day that my RV-7A kit arrived from the great aircraft provider from the great northwest. Coming off a midnight shift and ready for another midnight shift, I waited around the house all day for the familiar ABF truck. Since we do not own anything bigger than a Grand Prix, I had to spring for the extra fee for a residential delivery. ABF promised the kit between 9A-6P.
Around 445P I called ABF dispatch to see where my deliverer of airplane goodness was. He was in Zebulon, Georgia – over an hour south of us… and that’s in good traffic. ABF said he was on his way if I still wanted the kit today. Hell ya! (Had to work a midnight then right back on an afternoon shift the next day). He rolled up the drive at 640PM and backed right up to my workshop.
Alas the future Will family traveling machine has arrived… the back half of it that is.
