Follow my Journey of building a Vans RV-8 Aircraft
Time: 0 Hours
In preparation for the painting I need to remove as much of the items I can like the elevators, rudder, flaps and ailerons. I also removed all antennas and fiberglass parts.
The canopy will come off as well but I’m waiting to the last minute so I can prevent as much dust from getting inside.
Time: 0 Hours
So I’m nearing the paint stage of my build and figured I would start the laying out of my P-51 graphics. I have a vinyl cutter and plan on doing most of them at home using Oracal 651 vinyl. This vinyl is 2.5 mils thin and last 7 years in the sun without fading. The silver and red on the RV will be painted as will the star & bars, invasion day stripes, the camouflage and the European theater stripes. I wanted to check out sizing that I was planning on and how each item laid out with reference to seams and screws.
So we are tweaking the final design with little changes but this is how it will look. Hoping to have it in the paint shop here on our Airpark in a week or so.
Time: 0 Hours
The day I started this adventure, with a little push from my girl Tricia, was exactly 7 years, 4 months and 7 days ago according to my blog. Today a friend, who I met online while looking for a specific paint color code, flew his RV-8 up to our home to act not as a friend but as a D.A.R.(designated airworthiness representative). These are extensions of the FAA and do the daily work needs to keep general aviation working. He job today was to look over my RV-8 with a close eye and to ensure I had all the required paperwork. He also was there to make sure I complied with law in that I was the builder of the aircraft.
Well I’m happy/proud to say that my RV-8 passed without a single discrepancy. All the i’s were dotted, the t’s were crossed and all the paperwork was in order. The D.A.R. filled out his paperwork and issued my Special Airworthiness Certificate for N800MF! That’s right, 800MF is an official and legal airplane ready to fly and be free! There is still much to do before an official first flight but we are so close! This was a BIG day for me!
Time: 0 Hours
One thing I was sure of when I decided on the Hartzell composite propellor was that I would do everything to protect it when not flying. It’s such a beautiful prop I wanted to give it all the protection I could. I read about BladeSox from another builder and his blog so I looked them up. I was super impressed by the looks as well as the customer support from the owner David Otero I sent him several photos of the paint scheme I had planned out and he came up with a great design that is custom matched to the blades in my prop. I quickly approved the final design and told him to make them! It took one day for him to finish them up and send me a photo with the invoice.
Shipping was very quick and I received them in perfect shape. It only took me a few minutes to run down to the hangar and put them on.
A perfect fit and they look awesome! Thanks BladeSox for a great product and even better customer service. If you like the looks and want your own customized set see them www.bladesox.com.
Time: 2 Hours
I decided for the exterior camera mounts I would go with FlightFlix Rock Steady mounts. I liked the quality, hardware and pricing of these but there are several brands to choose from. I have watched a lot of videos produced over the years and knew the particular views I wanted to capture. One was in the cockpit looking at the instrument panel but could also be turned around to view the passenger. The next was the view from the wingtip looking at the side of the aircraft with the pilot in the center. The other view was from high on the tail looking forward using a wide view getting a “birdseye“ view that gets the wingtip to wingtip perspective. The mounts can use a machined aluminum dove tail that can be mounted with a screw anywhere. Then they have a “knuckle” that clamps onto the dovetail on one end and the other end can clamp a ball that’s machined from aluminum and has a GoPro style attachment for the camera. This setup allows for any and all angles to be set.
I only have one camera now but will be ordering two more when they are in stock. These are gonna make for some great videos of flights.