“No bird ever flew nonstop from New York to Tokyo, or raced 15 miles high at triple the speed of sound.
But birds do something else.
They do not conquer the air; they romance it..”
Peter Garrison
My name is Jurgen Roeland, I live in Belgium and I'm very proud to call myself an aircraft builder. Wish you a warm welcome to my builders blog.
Some people called me nuttzzz. Some people buy a porche when they get into the mid life crisis age. Other people take a second wife. Others get depressed. I decided to start building an airplane. A what ???? Yes, an airplane ! I skipped the phase of building the small plastic versions with glue and paint and went right into the real thing. My time is precious now so let's cut the obvious questions upfront. I heared them too many times already so here is the -mandatory FAQ reading- if you plan to visit my workshop.
"You're building an airplane?" : Yes, I am. "A REAL airplane?" : Yes", "In your garage?" : Yes. "
"One you can actually fly in?" : Yes! "You can do that?" : Yes!!!
If you look at history, it's been thousands of years that people have dreamed about flight and it's only in the last 100 years that we have now the opportunity to build our own airplanes and fly. The current project work is the results of years of deliberation, evaluation and planning. I took the advice of fellow builders very seriously and so should you. The type I have decided to build is the Van's aircraft, RV-7. I will motivate my choice in one of the subsections of this site. I hope you enjoy following my building adventures and that you will return frequently to check on the progress. The latest activity will always be posted on the main page. You can also subscribe by RSSfeed. This will send you an email each time I post new progress. For subscription, click on the RSS icon in the bottom of the left menu on this page.
For people that live nearby, feel free to come and have a look. Don't forget to bring a six-pack. The most frequently used lubricant in my workshop is called "Jupiler", bring some as I'm frequently running out of stock.
In final preparation before hanging the engine mount, I had to think of the remaininng firewall forward plate work.
One of the things missing were the firewall passthrough holes for electrical wiring on both left and right side.
The left/passenger side hole will be used to pass the battery cable to the vpx and master switch etc. The right side will host engine monitoring cabling.
There are no location specifications on the plans but found the dimensions as shown in the picture from Bruce's website. 2 inch from the top angle and 2" 9/16 from the top rib. I did the same on both sides.
Drilling through stainless steel firewall is a pain. The firewall plate is mounded so no way to use a drill press. I figured the best way would be to have the back supported by a clamped big wood block.
Made the first cut on the pilot side with a regular twisted drill bit #40 and then enlarged.
Used a hole cutter to upsize to the larger diameter and deburred carefully. That stailess steel burr will cut through your finger like a knife goes through warm butter.
I then centered the safe air pass through kit parts in the hole and taped it with good old duct tape to drill the holes for the 4 screw that hold the part in place.
Deburred holes and all done.
Same precedure on the passenger side. Next image is just after being through with the hole cutter.
attach holes drilled (not deburred) and temporarily fitting the passthrough ring.
All looking neat and clean. This will finally be installed when my 3M firebarrier paste arrives so that I can finally screw this in place.
Forward look of the firewall so far with the two holes finished
Oshkosh is to you like Mekka is for a Muslim.
If you haven't been there at least once in your life, you will NOT go to aviation heaven !
From Belgium, it's quite a trip but in the last five years of building, we managed to go twice to Oshkosh.
Nothing beats the experience of Oshkosh air venture in Oshkosh Wisconsin.
The first time we went, I visted sun'n fun in spring and decided to also visit Oshkosh. On sun'n fun there were rv's but the experimental parking there is kind of isolated and more difficult to make contact.
So my idea before arriving in Oshkosh was, 'wel I hope there will be some RV's'.
There are hundreds !
Most even camp next to their airplane and it's a real family style setting which is very inviting to go and have a chat to the owners.
I strongly recommend it to anyone, anywhere around the globe. Anything GA related will be represented at Oshkosh and it's definitly the only location in the world for home builders in the world where all info, resources and suppliers are availble at your fingertips. Wanne play with the next Garmin G3x hands on ? and some minutes later compare it you the Dynon skyview touch ? well... only at Oshkosh. Strongly recommend also the local hardware vendors where you feel like a kid in a candyshop having all those rivets, bolts, tools laid out in front of you. (small side remark: travel light, you will return heavy). There are often also the best discounts and deals to be found during the Oshkosh week when you buy there. Some even send it later at same price when you order there. I bought my VPX, aeroleds and lots of other stuff there.
I can also recommend the vansairforce.net gathering which takes place every time after the show in a house just outside of the airport. There 's hundreds of vans of builders there.
Another good tip: plan ahead ! there's hundreds of workshop, celebrity appearences, shows, movies, honourings, lectures, .... You will not be able to do all. Let me rephrase that: you will only be able to see a fraction of it, so it's very important to plan your trip ahead. The full agenda is available upfront and they even have a smartphone app. But save yourself the trouble in the evenings of your visits and plan ahead. You will be tired from walking all day, busy with late evening show or events so you just don't have the time for it. Do it at home, The agenda is fixed months upfront so plenty of time to prepare.
Vans aircraft has a tent withsome planes at Oshkosh, so it's a good opportunity to meet some of the well known names from van's support in real life. If you're lucky you can spot Van himself and take a picture. Also the vans dinner is a good moment to meet fellow builders but it's kind of like a static setting where once you sit, you are with the same people around your on your table.
Fir the vans dinner, you have to reserve and pay upfront via the mothership.
The vansairforce.net keg party is more like beer drinking thing in a garden outside of the house and gives much more possibilities to walk around from group to group. Ask on the vansairforce net forum for the exact time and location as it sometimes varies. Doug will be glad to help you. You will also meet some of the more famous builders like the members of the teamaerodynamix.
When organising your visit, make sure to book a student room in the local oshkosh university. Rooms are much cheaper than in the local hotels and if you book late, you might end up in cities far away from airventure as hotel infrastructure is very limited in Oshkosh itself. If you want a room in the university, book couple of months after the last airventure ended as they also sell out quite fast. The university campus will be full of aviation enthousiasts and there is a nice beer-terrace just outside of the parkinglot where a lot of them gather in the evening. Very nice place to get to know new people that share your passion. Busses to airventure are organised from the campus to the Oshkosh airfield and run in 15 minute intervals.
https://www.facebook.com/UWOEAAHousing/
If you have some spare time, the Oshkosh air museum is defenitly worth a visit as it has some of the original RV's on display like the prototype RV-1 and early versions of the RV-3 and RV-4.
Visit airventure website for details on schedule.
Start | Done | Time | |||
Horizontal Stabiliser | 01/01/11 | 22/01/11 | 79h | o | |
Vertical Stabiliser | 22/01/11 | 05/02/11 | 27h | o | |
Rudder | 05/02/11 | 06/03/11 |
36h |
o | |
Elevators | 06/03/11 | 23/08/11 | 124h | o | |
Wings | 01/09/11 | 31/12/12 | 918h | o | |
Fuselage | 01/01/13 | ongoing |
1216h |
||
Finishing | 24/08/20 | 01/07/23 |
377h |
o | |
Electrical | 02/07/23 | ongoing |
105h |
At the Oshkosh airventure 2013, I took this cool shot with Richard VanGrunsven, founder and CEO of Van's aircraft. We had a short chat after he came out of a presentation where he attended putting the young eagles project in the spotlights.
Richard -usually known as "Dick" or "Van" was born in 1939 and became an American aircraft designer and kitplane manufacturer. These days his kits are so popular that the number of VanGrunsven-designed homebuilt aircraft produced each year in North America exceeds the combined production of all commercial general aviation companies.
Read more: Meeting an icon, the creator, a true hero for the general aviation community.
Use the kit buttons in the top ribbon bar to see a chronological overview per sub section per kit. For the full chronological article list, see chronological build link in prelude menu here below. The easiest way to lookup information is by typing in some part numbers or keywords using the search option in the ribbon bar
Some advice on reading my log for fellow builders !
In some articles, I made corrections at later date on the original article to rectify my own stupidities or faults. Read through the entire article if you intend to use my findings/experiences on your own project !
It’s possible (not likely) that I’m not as smart as I think I am. (Occasionally, I have moments when I know this to be true. Fortunately, the feeling passes quickly.) Although I have tried to make this information as accurate as I can, it is not only possible, but also quite likely, that erroneous and misguided information lurks within these pages. I cannot and do not warrant these pages to be error free and correct. Furthermore, I accept no liability for the use of this (mis)information. And, as many would say, your mileage may vary. If, after reading this, you are intent on proceeding, please be aware that the contents of this site are protected by copyright (copyright © 2011 and 2012). Nonetheless, you may copy this material subject to these two conditions: (1) any information used is for non-commercial purposes, and (2) the source of the material is properly credited. Of course, you may link to any page herein. At some articles, snippets of the plans from Vans are visible. These are for educational and illustrations purposes only and should never be used as plans for part construction or assembly as plans may have changed since the picture was taken and more important they are protected by Copyright by the Vans Aircraft Mothership company.