So it has been forever since I posted last.  I have since purchased and almost completed the fuselage kit.  I will post some more pictures of this work.  I have gone through a bunch of scenarios as to what to do in terms of finishing the plane or not.  I have been flying my Gobosh quite a bit.  I have over 350 hours total time now and have even gotten my tailwheel endorsement in Alaska.  Most recently I got my medical and I am very close to completing my private pilots certificate.  This is the main part of my indecision on the future of my RV-12.  With my private, I could build something faster and larger.  Decisions, decisions.

Pages 21-04 to 21-13

Ok about 35 or so more hours on the builders Hobb's.

It has been a busy couple weeks with work but I have been able to spend some quality time on the weekends getting some building done on the fuselage.  The weather in Colorado has not been really favorable to flying.  I managed to get in a flight up to Erie CO to get some work done on my other plane but that was about it.  I got up yesterday for about .4 and encountered some serious wind shear.  All that allowed me to really focus on the seating area of the fuselage.  I did manage one stupid move on this section.  I didn't read the directions closely enough and enlarged both holes on the F-1226L seat panel to 1/2 inch instead of just the forward most one.  I swear I read the directions as both holes.. alas no, I was wrong.

I am feeling better about the build after the last couple weeks.  I was kind of dreading the nut plates in the fuselage.  I am however feeling better about them I guess.  It just seems like they never end.  Hoping to get through the bottom and lower side skins tomorrow.  I have some help coming in so the build should go more quickly than having just me working on it.

Some Seat Ribs 

More Seat Ribs 

The Seating Area Riveted In 

The State of the Fuselage as of Today's Building

New Plane

Ok as I said in my catch up post.. I purchased a plane.  I had originally learned in a Gobosh 700 aka the Aero AT-4 from Aero Poland.  I love the plane.  It turns out that a gentleman in Kansas had one for sale with only 93 hours on it.  I couldn't pass up the opportunity to pick it up.  Since purchasing the plane I have tried to balance time between building on the -12 and building up hours in the AT-4.  I have done a few shorter cross countries in it but a couple weeks ago I did the ultimate in cross country flights.  I flew my new AT-4 down to Sebring for the Sebring LSA expo.  It was awesome.  I am hoping next year I can make the trip in my RV-12.  Below are some pics of my "other" plane :)

Me in the "other" Plane my Aero AT-4, Buena Vista CO

The Clean and Simple Panel in my Aero AT-4

My Plane at Sunset at Ft Smith Arkansas on my Way to Sebring

Catching up

Well it has been forever since I posted last.  No excuses.  I have been flying a bunch and building some.  We finished the wings, built wing stands, ordered the fuselage kit and started building it as well.  I also purchased a Gobosh 700/AT-4.  So in order to catch up I will post some photos of my progress.

One of both of the flaperons we finished

Finished Wing!

A Potential Paint Scheme for my RV-12

Both Finished Wings in the Wing Stand that my Wife and I Built

The Start of Match Drilling the Fuselage Center Section

The Flaperon Mixer

The Current State of the Fuselage Center Section

Wings Wings Wings

So we took the long weekend to make some progress on the wings.  Or more specifically the right wing.  We got the right wing spar outfitted with ribs and the bottom skins about 95% riveted on.  My wife and kids assisted.  It was a fun family activity.  In the end I think Van's directions are really good.  It sure seems to me however that when it comes to the lighting kit and wiring they are not nearly as good or as clear.  I spent quite a while trying to synthesize the information on the lighting kit install and the wing directions.  I guess since I worked on the right wing before the left, I brought some of this upon myself.  I wanted to delay taking on the stall warning assembly until later.

I am quite happy with the progress we have made over the weekend.  I wish we could have finished that wing but the temperatures here in Colorado have been incredibly high for the past week and it just got too hot out at the hangar.

Here is a picture of our progress thus far on the bottom of the right wing.

Open Hangar Day at the Carl's Airplane Factory AKA the Hangar

We had a really fun weekend this past weekend.  We hosted an open hangar at our place and invited in local flying and work friends.  Many of these folks say.. you are building your own plane... that is cool, that sounds hard.  It was a great chance to get them to see how it goes together and how both squeezing and pulling rivets works.

We had in friends from the flying club I belong to in Centennial CO, Skyraider Aviation.  They were great and flew down a couple of Gobosh 700's from the club.  I learned to fly and got my sport pilot cert in the Gobosh and love that plane.  It was cool seeing two of them in the parking area in front of the old FBO at Meadow Lake airport just outside Colorado Springs.

We had a great time showing folks the RV-12 and how complete the kit and plans are.  I even recruited some help squeezing some rivets in the initial build out of the wing kit.

My son and I also bolted together the majority of the tail control surfaces to the tail cone.  We still need to fabricate the antiservo tab servo and get it installed, as well as the fairings, but the tail kit is mostly finished.  See the pics below for an idea of where we are at and some cool shots of the Gobosh's at Meadow Lake.

Pages 10-05 through 10-10 Tail Cone Completed

About 25 more hours on the builders Hobbs

Wow it feels great to be finished with the tail.  It has been a challenge to get the time to get this completed.  My wife and kids helped out a great deal.  I am was surprised today for fathers day as they cleaned up the build space, built me out a peg board for my tools and framed the drawings of the plane.  It was a great surprise.  They then spent the whole afternoon helping to finish the tail cone.  My son did an awesome job riveting most of the tail cone together.  I worked on the squeezed rivet pieces and alternated playing cleco man with my wife and working on some pop riveting.

We had a minor issue with some missing bolts we needed to get re-ordered from Van's.  We also had some challenges getting washers into place between the stabilator and the rear bulkhead.  The other minor challenge is the static source.  It appears the one static source rivet just didn't expand enough on the back side to hold the tubing.  Luckily I had ordered a spare just in case we messed it up.  We will drill out that one tomorrow to put in the new one and hopefully have better luck with the setting of that one.

All in all, I am very impressed with the kit so far.  I am having an open hangar next Saturday and inviting friends, many of them pilots, over to help pull some rivets on the wing kit.  It should be a fun day, some good food and some help pulling rivets.

We passed a milestone of sorts today too.  We finished off the first box of 2500 pop rivets.  It seems incredible that we have used that many rivets already.  I am guessing the wing kit is going to take quite a few more to finish up.

Here are some pics of our tail cone construction.