Building an Experimental Airplane, The Vans RV-7A | EP3.2 Firewall, Bulkhead 704

[@gregritchie570]

Thank you so much Ryan ..!!!! I REALLY appreciate your attention to detail and insight you provide. All your hard work in building and filming your process is greatly appreciated.. !!! I watch your videos a few times before I head to the hangar and it has certainly help in every process. Keep up the Great work ..!! Thank you again ..!!!

[@RyanFlysPDX]

Oh man, that’s fantastic! I love putting these together-for the most part. 😉 I’m glad folks are getting some use and enjoyment out of them!

[@gregritchie570]

Your going to have an amazing plane when you're done..!! Hope to be sharing the NW skies with you .. Here in Spokane building my RV9.... 90% done .. 90 to go... LOL@@RyanFlysPDX

[@RyanFlysPDX]

Heck yes! I’ll head that way with mine for some group flights when it’s done!

[@illpro2]

Love the video. I love all the short explanations of why your doing it a certain way.

[@RyanFlysPDX]

Thank you! Appreciate it.

[@dapalmer79]

Ryan, I love your videos! Keep up the great work. Is there a reason you didn't prime the firewall, itself? Was this for aesthetic or safety reasons?

[@RyanFlysPDX]

Hey, thank you! And the firewall isn’t primed because it’s stainless steel. So corrosion isn’t as large of a concern, and in the case of an engine fire, we want it free of things like paint and primer.

[@omorin34]

Thanks for the vid! I like to see sections being built before I head out to the shop. I was also thinking about back riveting. I heard that is how Vans builds most of the plane if you buy a quick build. I wanted to ask if you were using a backing plate under the firewall? Thanks!

[@RyanFlysPDX]

I tried back riveting the firewall and just couldn’t get them set right. I tried multiple times. I switched to conventional riveting and it worked far better. I’ve heard I wasn’t the only one that battled back riveting on the firewall. I was using my large plate and blocking unit up 1” to make room for the flange.

[@inigo_88]

Hey Ryan, are you using the 3M scotchbrite wheel in your bench grinder, or the default Ryobi ones? $100 at aircraft spruce for a deburring wheel feels steep, but may be totally worth the investment after fabricating a bunch of parts. I also really appreciate you showing all the steps and not glossing over some of the more boring ones like edge deburring (I saw a vixen file, then a fine tooth file, your Dremel like thing and finally finishing it off by hand with scotchbrite pads). I think you’re striking a great balance between quick lessons and gotchas vs build progress montages. Keep up the great work man!

[@RyanFlysPDX]

Thank you for the great feedback-truly appreciated! That is the $100+ Scotchbrite wheel. And yes, it is steep! But it is useful for a huge portion of deburring tasks. As I move forward through the build, I find I’m using it a little less in favor of the smaller wheels on the hand held rotary, but couldn’t do without it.

[@inigo_88]

Thanks a bunch for replying! Time to send spruce some money. 😂

[@mikefreemn4154]

I'm in the exact same place with my 7. I noticed you put the spaces in as they came. The instruction talk about measuring rhe webs on the wing spar and making some wooden blocks etc. Have you found the spacers to be correct as they came or are you leaving that for later? Great job with these videos. It's good to see someone else building a 7

[@RyanFlysPDX]

Thanks for the kind words! It is a bit of a mix between what you've described. The spacers appear to be the correct length. They also appear to have slightly "off" cuts, meaning there is a bit of a wobble as I turn them round. From my assessment, they'll need to be adjusted but likely just ever-so-slightly. I'm on the lookout for some good material to make proper spacers, and will hit the adjustments required once I get those.

[@javarenas]

this is before I finished the episode, but, have you selected avionics yet?

[@RyanFlysPDX]

No. I need to. I’m on the fence. I’ll probably work through that in an upcoming episode.

[@quintinbrand1885]

Great stuff Ryan! You are advancing like a racing machine. Can you tell me when you work on the plane? Every day, morning / evening, weekends? And did you make a deal on that with your wife? I'm wondering to get an idea if it could work for me as well.. THX

[@RyanFlysPDX]

I dedicate more time to the project than I would expect most to be able to. I spend about 15-20 hours each weekend-long days. After work I spend anywhere from 30-90 minutes in the garage, split between plane and video editing. Fridays I’m usually down there until midnight or so finishing up a video for the next day. I have a very patient girlfriend. We spoke about this early on in the project, but I’d be lying if I said she was excited about how much I’m down there.

[@quintinbrand1885]

Thx Ryan, that helps me in my considerations for sure. I have kids too, so double the worries ☺️. So are those 30 - 90min intervals efficient?

[@RyanFlysPDX]

Yeah, you bet. It keeps it fresh in your mind. You don’t spend 30 minutes trying to figure out where you are or what you were doing. Sometimes I set stuff aside and know that I can tackle it on a weeknight. If I had the obligations most builders have, I think my build goal would be 4-5 years, and I’d have to give up the videos. But still reasonable.

[@quintinbrand1885]

Yes that would be my idea as well. 4-5 years with I think a dedicated "me time" towards the end. Seems to me the 20-80 rule holds very much when building an RV. SO, having a couple months off at the end seems the right thing to do to get the job done in the end. Anyways, your videos are inspiring and I thank you for taking that time of, off your building time. Tried to get into a RV-12 this week. Not an option with my 2 meters length. An RV-8 it must be, but that sure is a bigger invest in time and money...

[@RyanFlysPDX]

@@quintinbrand1885 yeah the 12 is quiet small, and over 2 meters would certainly pose a challenge. And 90% done 90% to go seems to be the case with every part of this project. There are so many details!

[@umatgreyhound]

Nice tip on the bucking vs back riveting. No idea why, but that seems to be the story on any rivet through steel. At this rate you're going to be flying before I get my tail kit!

[@RyanFlysPDX]

I beat my head against that wall far too long, and each rivet was less than ideal. Then with the bar and gun I just sailed through them.

[@gordonbuss1476]

Have you had to have any FAA inspections up till now? if so, how did that process go?

[@RyanFlysPDX]

I have not. I’ll have a tech counselor out soon, while wings are open and before too far into the fuse. I’ll continue with those visits as needed up until the DAR inspection.

[@flyyourdream9716]

Bro! We are and have been neck and neck on our builds. Today I am finishing riveting the firewall components and on to the center section.

[@RyanFlysPDX]

I’m really enjoying the fuselage so far! And these aren’t really even the “fun” pieces. Center section was great with how technical it was. I’m on to additional bulkheads now, and they’re similar. Instructions can be… sparse. 😉

[@c80pilot6]

What bandsaw blade are you using?

[@RyanFlysPDX]

Great question. I chucked the one that came with the saw first thing--that was geared for wood and household projects. The best I could find quickly and locally is a .014" 14 tooth, "Super Cut" blade. It is still a multi-purpose blade, but works for soft metals at slow speeds. I have a spare but haven't needed to install it yet. They seem to last a while. It's from HF. I wanted to hide this at the bottom of the comment so most folks will never see it. 😂

[@inigo_88]

Thanks for answering Ryan, I was going to ask this too. I’m slowly building up the same Ryobi collection. I tried to find the answer on VAF and people were saying they stuck to the default wood blade, but that seems… sketchy. 😅

[@garyvanremortel5218]

Are you shooting Stits EP-420 primer? When I built my 6A 28yrs ago we used Variprime and it still looks like new.

[@RyanFlysPDX]

No, and I hope I don’t regret going an alternative method. Using Eastwood white epoxy primer. I love the look so far, and am getting the feel for shooting it, but don’t know about how well it will age.

[@garyvanremortel5218]

@@RyanFlysPDX What is their corrosion fighting chemistry? Stits is strontium chromate.

[@RyanFlysPDX]

Boy, I don’t know. There’s a slew of chemicals that boast “superior corrosion resistance,” which means it must be good, right? With less moisture in the cockpit, I wasn’t as concerned about the corrosion resistance as wear. Now I’m concerned about yellowing. Only time will tell.

[@garyvanremortel5218]

@@RyanFlysPDX i was concerned when Van's started doing powder coating of their steel weldments since it has no corrosion fighting chemistry. Your stuff is probably okay for internal steel and aluminum parts. Can heat accelerate the cure for you?

[@RyanFlysPDX]

Heat should. And with summer coming that’s good. I’m getting more patient-that’s a plus. And I’m luckily there’s plenty of tasks to do while primer is curing. I’ve looked a bit for an accelerator but not sure if they produce one. I need to call. Their other products have accelerators that hasten the curing time.

[@JasonWare-ym6mm]

Hey Ryan did you have any edge distance issues on the firewall brackets F601j? made left one to drawing but top hole is a little shy on edge distance just curious if i screwed up ?

[@RyanFlysPDX]

I did not. I knew going into this that some alignment was critical, as I had heard stories. I think I skated by with a “legal” piece, though it was close. If you’re concerned on edge distance here, you’ll want to contact Van’s for sure. This is an integral piece of the structure!

[@JasonWare-ym6mm]

Ok version 2.0 and problem is solved. Made version 2 slightly longer than the drawing specified. An extra 1/32 and we are golden

[@JasonWare-ym6mm]

Loving your build by the way

[@RyanFlysPDX]

Thank you so much! Glad I can offer some entertainment while I struggle my way through this!!

[@adriank3388]

you look very tired. Please take care for yourself.

[@RyanFlysPDX]

There were a few parts where I was running on fumes. Thanks for looking out-I’m getting good at knowing when enough is enough.