Fiberglass Log 
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 February 3, 2021

 Project Log
 Empennage
  Horizontal Stabilizer
  Vertical Stabilizer
  Rudder
  Elevators
  Rudder II

 Wing Kit
  Wings
  Fuel Tanks
  Ailerons
  Flaps

 Fuselage Kit
  Bulkheads
  Aft Section
  Foreward Section
  Top Fuselage
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  Electrical

 Firewall Forward
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  Finishing Up!
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Fiberglass
There are several parts on the RV-7 that are made of fiberglass. The tips of the empennage parts, the wing tips, the intersection fairing where the VS and the HS meet, the engine cowling and the gear leg and wheel fairings are all fiberglass. If the sliding canopy version is chosen there is a little fiberglass fairing the windshield to the forward fuselage.
February 22, 2002 - 1 hours
Started fitting some of the fiberglass parts on the empennage

February 23, 2002 - 2.5 hours
Started cutting and fitting the wing tip to the right wing.

February 24, 2002 - 0.75 hours
Finished drilling pilot holes on the right wingtip.

Right wingtip clecoed to the wing after the trimming and pilot hole drilling has been done.

February 27, 2002 - 2 hours
Still trying to fit the right wingtip. Fit and drilled the W712 rib. I'ts going kinda slow but I want to get it right.

Fitting the W-712 rib to the trailing edge of the wingtip.

March 1, 2002 - 2.5 hours
Finished installing the platenuts on the right wingtip. Now all that tip needs is the lights and the lense cover.

March 2, 2002 - 6 hours
Started fitting the left wing tip. Vern came over and helped me make a couple of layups on the fiberglass tail pieces. It really helps to see it done once, but it wasn't as bad as I thought it was going to be

The rudder tip was too long to fit the rudder so Vern helped me trim the back off of it and rebuild the back. This is a shot of the first layup.

Another layup and the rudder tip is starting to look like the original. A little filling and sanding and it'll be as good as new.

March 3, 2002 - 5 hours
Did a couple more layups on the tips of the HS and elevators. While waiting for the shop to warm up and layups to cure I finished the rib and platenuts on the left wingtip.

This is the mess of bondo that I used to hold the plat to the HS tip. This is to keep it the right shape after it is removed so the fiberglass can be layed up on the inside.

Here is the HS tip with a few layups of glass in it.

A little filler and some primer and that'll look pretty good.

March 4, 2002 - 1 hours
Sanded and formed a couple of the empennage tips that I had layed up before. It was too cold to attempt any mixing of resin.

December 5, 2002 - 1 hours
Started trimming the aft end of the fiberglass wing tips. The aft end of the tips stuck out about 3/8" past the the aileron, and both need trimming.

The aft end of the fiberglass wingtips were off by about 1/4-3/8"

It didn't take too long to get them carved down

December 6, 2002 - 0.75 hours
Finished trimming and sanding the wing tip aft edges. That was easier than I thought that it would be.

December 11, 2002 - 2 hours
Played with the new NOVA strobe power supply. What a show! Drilled the holes in the wingtips for the strobe head and the position lights and started fitting the lenses for the wing tip.

This is the position and strobe light positioned on the wingtip

I duck taped the lense to the tip to mark the initial cut line.

December 12, 2002 - 1 hours
Finished up the wingtips.

Finished Wingtips

March 25, 2005 - 6 hours
Today I needed to get ready for Vern to come over and finish the fiberglass on the windscreen. I sanded on the filler that I put on the windscreen last time and finished masking everything off. I swapped out the hardener pump on the West System epoxy and did a couple of layups on the empennage tips to make sure that I had all the fast hardener out of the pump. I figured while I was messing with the tips I'd keep it up so I spent the rest of the day doing that.

March 27, 2005 - 6 hours
Spent the day working on the empennage tips. I mounted the Vertical Stabilizer on the plane temporarily so that it would be easier to work on. I discovered that the rudder bottom that Van's sent with the kit doesn't fit. It interferes with the tailwheel spring. I cut a chunk off the bottom of it and fiberglassed what amounts to a flat spot in the bottom of it to clear. It turned out okay, I guess.

I used the same procedure as before, bondo a plate to the tip while it is clecoed in place and then lay up the glass on the inside.

This is the plate bondoed to the tip of the vertical stabilizer.

This is what I had to do to the rudder bottom to get it to clear the tailwheel spring.

Here you can see why I had to cut the rudder bottom. I don't think anybody will notice.

April 2, 2005 - 1.5 hours
Still working on the emp tips. I think I have them all in generally right shape now they just need a little filling and sanding to get them just right. I did a little bit of the filling today but the sanding will have to wait until I get home from offshore.

May 22, 2005 - 0.5 hours
I managed to get the fiberglass tips riveted to the rudder.

The top rudder tip looks pretty good.

The bottom tip of the rudder is installed too.

June 14, 2005 - 2 hours
Finished riveting the last of the fiberglass empennage tips. It feels good to be finished with that chore.

Vertical stabilzer tip is on permanently.

The horizontal stabilzer tips and the elevator tips are done.

Disclaimer:
This web site and the infomation contained within it are for entertainment purposes only. The opinions expressed on construction techniques are my opinions only and should not be confused with proper construction techniques. There is undoubtedly more than one way to build an airplane and some methods that I use may or may not work in any given circumstance. If there is any question please call the kit manufacturer. I love to help but I am not responsible for the misuse of any information contained on this web site.

 February 3, 2021
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