The joining of the empennage to the fuselage. A milestone moment! April 2, 2022 A really big day. The empennage had sat against a wall for nearly 3 years while worked continued on the wings then fuselage. But on this day, it was dusted off and attached to the beginnings of the fuselage. My father came to help which was…
Assembling the Forward and Mid Fuselage From December 2021 through March 2022, the Fuselage really starts to take shape. It starts with Section 28, when the “Forward Fuselage Lower Structure” is built. Which translates into attaching the footwells and the forward bulkhead (where the wings will attach) to the firewall. Overall a straightforward section, though I had to make factory…
The building of an RV-14A Firewall as part of the Fuselage kit for what will one day become N14KR. This is Section 27 of the Van’s kitplane.
The chronicling of the building a Van’s RV-14A fuselage that will one day be N14KR. This is the start of the fuselage, which begins with the Forward Mid Fuselage Bulkheads – Section 25. Then it continues to Section 26, Mid Fuselage Lower Structure.
Building of an Van’s RV-14A aileron that will one day become N14KR. This is a homebuilt, experimental plane.
Well, it’s been a steady, but slow few months since finishing the horizontal stabilizer in early September. Lot’s going on (all good!) and so I’ve been eking out hours to work through a component that is certainly more complex than those previous. A common theme of the build so far. I’ve begun working on the Elevator, which will attach to…
It took about 7 weeks and 70 hours to finish the Horizontal Stabilizer. Van’s (the kit manufacturer) is quiet clever in ensuring the builder develops the skills needed to tackle more complex sub assemblies as the work progresses. But as the complexity and parts count goes up, so does the time needed to finish each part. This is the third…
After about 48 hours of labor spanning 7 weeks, the Rudder is now completed! Well, not entirely. The fiberglass tips are missing, but they get installed later in the build. It was a really challenging sub-assembly requiring some unique techniques. Though I was able to practice those techniques, it’s still takes a ton of nerve when doing it for “real”. …
Well, I may be more than half-way done with the rudder. Won’t know until it’s all finished. But the grunt work of separating, deburring, assembling, drilling, dimpling, and riveting the core pieces are all complete. It has been about 29 hours so far and it’s been a fulfilling process interrupted by moments of extreme frustration. I’m reaching out to an…
