"You are doing what ?!?! Building an airplane ? Oh, you mean an ultralight."
I don't know how many times I have heard this exact phase. Countless. And the conversation eventually gets to "So, when are you going to be done ?"
ARGHH! I normally answered "Thursday." I never said what month or
year, just "Thursday". And guess what, it was actually a Friday !!! Friday, October 15th, 2004.
| Anyway, I built an RV-8.
What is it you ask. Well, it is a low wing, all metal, 225 mph airplane
that will take us from Ottawa to Nova Scotia in around
three to four hours. Or Florida in an afternoon. Or
the west coast in a day (if you work at it ;-). In fact, just about anywhere.
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Final Inspection – Oct 15 2004
First Flight - 6 November 2004
Build time - ~1600 hrs
Engine – IO-360-A3B6D “0 Timed” by Leavens in Toronto
Prop – Catto 3 Blade, 66 x 78
RMI uMonitor and uEncoder
MicroAir 760 Com and T2000 xpndr
Garmin 196 GPS
Flightcom Intercom
Dynon D-10 with remote compass
Ack ELT
Steam gauges for Airspeed, Altimeter, compass
Vans Fuel, Tach, and MP gauges
I have to thank my buddy John Perrin (80118). I could not have finished this airplane without his help, encouragement, and the fact he finished first, so I got learn from his mistakes too ;-) But I especially have to thank my wife, Linda. She understands what it means to dream, and has been a constant inspiration to me since the day we first starting seeing each other.
You have all heard this before, but I’ll say it anyway: “Keep pounding those rivets. It is worth every second.”
If you have any questions or comments:
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What's on the site ?
On this site, the status will change change whenever I remember to do it. We finally bought a digital camera, so I can't use the "film developing" excuse any more. Each link below will take you to a different portion of
the airplane. I have jpg images on each page to show you my progress.
One of the links contains a graphical representation of my progress to
date (a blatant rip-off of others I've seen on the web), as well as the
latest spreadsheet of my hours to date. That spreadsheet gets updated
whenever I fill a sheet of binder paper I have taped to my workshop door.
| The Tail
Last updated: 22 February 2004
The Wing Page 1 Last updated: 21 November 1999 The Wing Page 2 Last updated: 7 August 2000 The Fuselage Page 1 Last updated: 13 April 2003 The Fuselage Page 2 Last updated: 10 April 2004 The Finishing Kit Last updated: 28 June 2004 The Engine Last Updated: 2 March 2004 The Panel Last Updated: 24 October 2003 The Paint Job Last Updated: 22 October 2005 Electrical Stuff Last updated: 27 Sept 2011 (Put all drawings in a PDF) Project Status Last updated: 14 April 2006 Cool Links Last updated: 10 January 2003 |
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