Well folks, I've made a ton of progress since my last post. I have the cabin sides ready for solid riveting. I'm also ready to start match drilling the wing spar pieces. I've made about 75% of the parts in the plane. About 3 weeks ago, I broke my bending brake trying to bend some longer .063". The pop rivets holding the piano hinge pulled out. So, I thought I'd use the opportunity to practice my solid riveting by repairing the brake with bucked rivets. What a disaster. I simply CANNOT get…

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Been hard at work on things. Fine tuned the bending brake, been shooting video of my progress along with Tips & Tricks. Got a lot of channels bent up and many other parts. Check out & Subscribe to by blog at http://gregsplane.blogspot.com for regular updates & videos if you like. I'll keep posting certain milestones here though!

Anyone ever use an Eastwood Rivet Gun? The company claims that it is about the same as a 4X gun. Since it's so cheap, I thought it could be a re-badged air hammer, but it sounds like a rivet gun in the YouTube videos.

Eastwood Rivet Gun

Finally got my DIY brake set up properly with enough clamping force to get the .032" bent! Did my rudder spar & spar doublers, and actually got the rudder skeleton riveted together with Cortec CpVI-373 on the mating surfaces. I'll be working on the skins now.

Today hasn't been good. I've ruined several parts blanks without forming a successful part. Can't get the metal to form around the nose of the form blocks (flaperon ribs, slat ribs, elevator ribs) without kinking the metal. my measurements are all good, my parts blanks are all good, but the aluminum just wants to kink and crack, and won't work it's way around the radius. Any suggestions anyone? Part of the problem seems to be the soft plywood forming blocks, but I've literally just ruined…

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Got my form blocks done for the tail section today. Now just waiting for my fluting pliers & bulk pack of rivets...should have most of my rudder parts formed (and maybe assembled) within a couple of weeks. Can't believe it took this long to get going! Got my rolled aluminum sheet, Cortec primer and hardware from Zenith just before Thanksgiving...got about 8 solid hours of work in this weekend.

Well summer and fall came and went and I didn't do a darn thing on the plane...debating on whether to get my materials ordered so I can work on stuff over this coming winter. But will I have time? Home repairs and other life setbacks have really gotten in the way!

Well, as I was cleaning up my basement all winter, trying to make room for my workbench, I found a bunch of severe, floor-to-ceiling cracks in my old sandstone foundation. Unfortunately, addressing the structural issues has taken front seat to getting started on my plane. However, looks like I'll be finally starting nicely on the tail surfaces within a few weeks...

After calling numerous shops in my area, I finally found a place willing to make the 4 flanging dies needed for plans-building. The shop wants $1,000 for 4 dies. I'm not sure what I was expecting, but this seems way too high! At that price, I'm better off buying sub-kits!

Since it's bitterly cold this winter, and my garage doesn't lend itself well to heating, I'll be working on my smaller structures in the basement. My basement workshop is very tight. I can accommodate a table of about 3'x8'. Hope this is enough to get me started on the tail feathers!