Matt’s RV7 Build Log

My friend Ryan and I took the train down to Portland and then picked up a Uhaul truck and drove it over to the factory. Barbara and co. were ready with a my QB wing crates. Technically I could have picked them up uncrated but I thought $300 is small price to avoid any dents during transport. After a great lunch at Pho Van outside Portland we drove back to my house. Fellow builder Jason met us there and the three of us unloaded the wings directly out of their crate on the truck and into the wing cradles I got from Dave Parsons. Thanks Dave! We unloaded the second box and stashed it in the garage. It’s pretty crowded now in my build space but it’s nice to be surrounded by so many airplane parts! Pics to come soon.

I decided to order a QB wing to save a little time on the project. It won’t be ready until April. In the meantime though I figured I could get started with some of the fuselage build. The weather was terrific in the Northwest for MLK day. With the day off from work, there was not a better day to visit Van’s and pick up my fuse kit. Van’s had my big box of parts and a 14′ tube with the longerons waiting for me. In about 30 seconds a forklift and 4 guys came out of nowhere and put said big box and long tube in my truck.

With all the extra time I had, I waited in front of the hanger to get my free ride. It turned out that the factory 7 was in the shop getting a new engine so I opted for a ride in the 8. Joe Blank was a great host and pilot. He took me for the all too familiar $50,000 ride (more like $30,000 ride at this point). It was great to get my hands on the stick and feel how smooth and precise an RV is compared to the Cessnas and Piper I’ve always flown.

After a total of 7 hours in the truck, I arrived home safely. My builder friend Jason came by a few minutes later and helped me get all the stuff into the garage. Exhausted, I only managed to pull out the inventory list from the crate before dozing off. 

We just got back from a long weekend in Vegas. It was nice be in the warm desert before our winter really kicks into high gear. Now back to the project!

• Clecoed left elevator skeleton together
• Cut away right counterweight per plans

Note: Holes in the outboard right elevator spar doubler and the E701R spar are slightly off set by approx. 1/32″. I need to contact Van’s to confirm this is within tolerances. Update (11.20.07): Joe B. at Van’s says its no issue as long as no torsion is created in the spar by trying the force the clecoes in place (which is not happening in my case). Problem resolved.