So you want to build an RV airplane?       by Bob Collins

Those of us who are building (or flying an RV), especially those of us who have been building for a long time, tend to forget that there are probably more new RV builders coming onto the scene every year than any year previous. Sometimes we think the entire RV universe is focused on that component we’re focused on, and that if a question has been asked before, and we know it, then everyone else knows it too.

But every week, several folks signing up for the RV Builders Group on Yahoo report they’re either considering or just starting their projects, and when I chat with them, I realize that everybody needs a primer (not the paint kind) on things. This is for those of you  who have already decided to build an RV.

Let’s assume that you’ve already made the decision about whether to buy a quick build or slow build kit. (By the way, vaunted RV builder Sam Buchanan had a very insightful point on a discussion going on this week on the RV List. If you order a quick build kit, it only gives you a leg up on building the airframe. Once that’s completed, you and the slow builders now take the same route the rest of the way) .  Let’s also assume you have the unqualified support of your spouse and family. And let’s assume you’ve researched the general guidelines surrounding being a homebuilder. Oh, and there's that money thing.

That leaves us at just a few points: where can I get help, how much space do I need and what do I need to buy? OK, maybe there’s a few more than that, but for the purposes of getting you started on the right track, let’s concentrate on just those three this week.

WHERE DO I GET HELP?

Years ago, before there was much of an Internet and such a thing as pre-punched kits, people used to build RVs by looking at the plans, maybe stopping  by an EAA chapter and then they, well, did it. Heck, before that, they were building straight from plans! We call these people  “real builders.” Now, you have almost instantaneous access to almost any solution to almost any problem, and with more than 4,000 RVs flying and thousands more under construction, it’ll be hard to feel alone as you build; unless, of course, you want to.

I won’t  bother going into the value of the EAA and the local chapters, for it's unlikely you’ve gotten this far without hearing of them. And there’s also magazines.  These are some of my recommendations. First, Kitplanes is rapidly becoming an indispensable resource for the homebuilder, if only to provide something to read to provide inspiration.  Sport Aviation from EAA also falls into this category. Columnist Lauran Paine Jr., by the way, is an RV-8 builder and pilot. Other magazines provide at least some direction for the homebuilder – or at least the pilot – and these include Plane & Pilot. I also enjoy Pilot Getaways because it provides me with "builder motivation."

Motivation? Why? It's a plane. It's cool. It looks like fun. I'm motivated and ready to go. Yeah, OK, me too. But there are going to be times when motivation sags a little bit. Think of your project from the very moment you open the box as a series of small projects. Read about others' first flights, go to the airport and get a ride in an RV periodically as you build. Watch videos. You Tube is your friend.

One reference book you simply must order is FAA AC43.13. It is, basically, the bible of aircraft construction and it will tell you what the acceptable practices are for just about anything you'll be doing on the plane. As you go along in the project, you'll find yourself dog-ea ring more and more portions of the manual. In addition, again as you get farther along, you'll probably be buying one or more of the books by the late Tony Bingelis, published by the EAA on firewall forward and engines etc.

But perhaps the biggest revolution in homebuilding has come as the result of the Internet. In fact, many builders make sure there’s room for a laptop in their work area, both for asking questions and looking at other builders' sites.  The oldest of these support groups is probably the RV List, operated by Matt Dralle. It also the most controversial, given to flame wars and off-topic brouhahas, the atmosphere for inspired the alternatives that have now become more useful for pure RV information and collegiality. On the other hand, if you're into AM talk radio, you'll find like-minded souls on the RV List.

For Web sites,  Doug Reeves’ Van’s Air Force site is probably the king of the hill, mostly as a result of the forums section where dozens and dozens of posts are made each hour. Doug also monitors the world of RV news and usually posts an update on his front page every evening. There’s so much material on this site, that’s it’s almost impossible to find it all without a search engine. The solution, of course, is Google, using Van's Air Force as one of the key phrases. The forum section does have a search function. The advertisements are plentiful, but the depth of material is astounding. Don't miss the set of articles, some of which are already linked in this article.

There’s also the RV Builders Group on Yahoo, which I took on after Doug – who started his enterprise, actually, with a Yahoogroup – decided to shut down the RV-7 group (and some other model-specific Yahoogroups) and consolidated them at VAF as the forum software proved its mettle. It is not as busy as either of the other two sites,  but the Yahoo RSS feed is superior and there’s very little non-RV conversation taking place there. And Rivetbangers,  is a  growing and comprehensive site whose main focus is the forums.

You also may be interested in various regional builder groups online and offline. In Southern California, for example, the So-Cal group on Yahoo is very active. In the Ohio Valley area, the same can be said for the Ohio Valley RVators group on Yahoo.  In the U.K, the rvsqn site on Yahoo is among the most active. In Ontario, Canada – a hotbed of RV activity—you’ll find the Ontario RVAtors group, and I enjoy the Tennessee Valley RV Builders Group.

Builders groups are important for you to discover – and soon – because you’ll find one of the best parts about building an RV isn’t just the airplane, it’s the people you meet while building the airplane. In my neck of the woods, for example, we have the Minnesota Wing of Van’s Air Force, which has a meeting every quarter.  These groups are invaluable. Now, Van’s has a list of RV related Web sites and groups, but it’s not very comprehensive because Tom Greene, the president of Van’s, has dictated that  sites with ads cannot be listed (except for the Van’s Air Force site). That’s fine, but a lot of the best sites that don’t want to ask for contributions, use Google ads, for example, to defray their expenses for keeping up the fine work. They don’t get listed and you don’t find out about them. Plus many of the links don’t work. VAF has a links page, but it’s heavily advertiser related, and it leaves the builder sites to – you guessed it – Van’s. See the problem?

Fortunately, many of the primary builder sites that are out there have extensive links pages. I can’t possibly list them all, but I’ll give you some of my personal favorites and if you follow them all and take enough time exploring (hey, what else are you going to do while waiting for those boxes from Oregon to show up?), you’ll eventually start running into the same ones. Aside from those already mentioned, I give a nod to the RV Builder’s Hotline – of course I do, I run it – which is a Web site archive for a weekly, free newsletter that  takes the best threads of the support groups and the news in the RV world and aggregates it into a single spot. For specific models, Dan Checkoway’s RV-7 site has become the de facto instruction manual. But before Dan, there was – and, of course, still is –  Sam Buchanan’s RV Aircraft Journal, which documents Sam’s RV-6. Since the RV-10 has come along, Tim Olson has put together a fabulous site called myrv10.com.. RV-9 fans will find Smitty’s RV-9A particularly useful. It also has a very good links page, even though I don’t think the Hotline is on it. Hey, do something about that, will ya, Smitty?  Kevin Horton’s RV-8 site “One rivet at a time” is extremely comprehensive and functional. Again, great links and Kevin’s RSS feed is one I keep an eye on.

I also would suggest – off the top of my head – Dave Parsons’ dualrudder.com site and Mickey Coggins’ RV-8 site as well as Randy Lervold’s RV-8 site. Randy, by the way, runs EAA Chapter 105, which used to be the “home wing” of Van’s Air Force. They put out a sensational newsletter.

Other non-model-specific Web sites I find very helpful are rvuk.co.uk and a new one in South Africa --  RV Club SA, under the direction of RV builder Rudi Grayling.

Believe me, those are just some of the many Web sites that are out there and I apologize to those of you (especially those of you who have added RV Builder’s Hotline to your links pages!) that I didn’t mention. Shoot, maybe I should have a links page afterall.

HOW MUCH SPACE DO I NEED?

Van’s instruction section – I think it was Section 5 – is right when it says you can never have too much space. I’ve heard of RVs being built – but I don’t know how – in big-city apartments. I also, of course, see plenty of them going up in hangars. Me? I’m building in a typical two-car garage in the suburbs of St. Paul, Minnesota. It’s just your typical suburban home; nothing fancy and certainly nothing with an abundance of space. I chose the garage because, well, I didn’t want to pay for a hangar and, besides, you can build a lot faster the closer the project is to where you live.

So far – I’m on the finishing kit – I’ve been able to build my airplane in the garage and still get my wife’s car in the garage in the winter, which is the most important thing in my house. I haven’t hung the engine yet (because I haven’t bought one yet) and I don’t see any way of doing it in the garage so at some point – probably soon – I’ll have to move it to the airport.  My wings, once they were built, are down in the “family room,” or at least what use to be the family room in the finished basement. It helps if you have a large window that you can remove the panes and get the wings in. Or a walk-out door. My garage is 18 x 21 but once you add in the lawnmower, air compressor, work bench, golf clubs, snowblower, baseball equipment, old plastic pots etc., well,  let’s just say it’s a lot smaller.

Use of space is simply a matter of use of creativity. After you read this article, get out there and be creative!

The first thing you’ll need to do – unless you’re loaded with money (I hear some RV builders are, actually) and have one of those neat set-ups that I’ve seen in the exhibit halls at AirVenture – is a solid workbench. Nothing fancy is needed and the prevailing wisdom is the plans that Chapter 1000 have made available (drawings) are more than  adequate.

Van’s points out, by the way, that you’ll need as much workspace regardless of whether you’re building a slow-build or a quick-build kit.

WHAT DO I NEED TO BUY?

We’ll get to tools in just a second, but the first thing you need to buy is a weekend at a SportAir workshop. The EAA runs these and any of them are valuable, but in particular the RV Assembly class is really a must. A few years ago at Oshkosh, one EAA volunteer running a sheet metal workshop said “if the first time you work with sheet metal is when you start working on the empennage, you’ll be buying a second empennage.” He was right. The workshop will show you a number of techniques you’ll need to master and send you home with the confidence to say “I can do this.”  RVers such as Ken Scott of Van’s and Dan Checkoway teach or have taught these classes. Yes, they’re a little pricey, but that’s something you probably need to get used to as well.

Even if your last name is Vila, you’ll be buying tools during the first few years of your airplane project; lots of tools. In fact, you may be spending more money on tools during the first year than you will on airplane parts. I’ve always said $2,000 is probably a bit on the conservative side of things.

Perhaps the biggest expense at first will be the most important – an air compressor. You can’t build an airplane without an air compressor to power the tools. Don’t go cheap here. And don’t go with an oilless compressor unless you really don’t like your neighbors and unless you’ve always wanted to learn how to say “fasten your seatbelts” in American Sign Language.

Be careful when talking to people about air compressors. People  really love their air compressors and will tell you that the kind they own is the kind you’ve just got to have to keep from falling out of the sky. Oh, by the way, I own a Husky Pro, 135 max psi, 26 gallon, 5 hp  air compressor (Home Depot, about $400 I think).  It’s more than adequate for the task, although it will cycle fairly quickly when using die grinders and doing a lot of drilling. I don’t think I’d use it for painting (but I probably won’t paint my own anyway), so you might even want to go bigger.

There’s plenty of threads on the various boards about air compressors. One going on this week at Van’s Air Force, for example,  looks at the suggested minimum specs. That brings up another aspect of tools. Don’t think in terms of minimum. You can get buy with that philosophy. But probably not for long. Trust me, I tried.

I read the Section 5 (or maybe it was 4) of Van’s manual – the one that talks about tools etc. – and I got the impression that maybe I could save a few bucks by not ordering the way-too-expensive Scotchbrite wheels. Wrong. I lasted until the second part of the empennage, and then went and bought a bench grinder and the medium 3M wheel. The wheel itself is up to around $50 but it’s invaluable for deburring and polishing. I actually have two on the same bench grinder. The medium is one side, the fine is on the other. I use the latter after using the former. And the “fine” Scotchbrite is good for polishing up scratches etc.

A smaller die grinder is also recommended on the tail kit, although it’s use is probably limited to using the small Scotchbrites to do the inside lightening holes of various parts on the empennage. You’ll use it a bit more later in the kit, so it’s a nice to have thing.

An air drill is also highly recommended. You can use an electric drill or a cordless, but in many cases the drill bits don’t turn fast enough and you’ll get elongated holes. I use a 2,600 rpm Sioux air drill.

After you drill a hole, you’ll need to deburr it to prevent cracking and stress points (you can read about this in the early part of the Van’s manual. I’m trying not to be repetitive), so a hand deburrer  and a deburring bit will need to be ordered. There have been some advances in recent years. Some people swear by the Burraway tool, which apparently does both sides of the hole at once. I can’t recommend it – or not recommend it – since I don’t own one, however.

The ribs for the various components of an RV are stamped out of sheet metal. The stamping process tends to bend them a bit so they won't lie quite flat. Unfortunately,s ince the holes are prepunched, that means the holes probably won't line up with the skins either. So you have to do two things. First, "flute" the ribs (put little creases in them) and for that you'll need a pair of "fluting pliers." They run $15-$20. You'll find the biggest need for these when you get to the wings and build your leading edge and fuel tanks, but you'll find some minor fluting is needed before then.

You'll also need to bend the flanges of the ribs just a bit. You could do this with just your fingers and brute strength, but hand seamers are recommended. Again, anywhere between $15 and $20.

OK, we’ve got the drilling, straightening and deburring out of the way, we’re not talking about priming here, so what’s left. Ah, yes, riveting.  If you’ve never used a riveting gun before, you may be wary of using a riveting gun and bucking bar. Eventually you’ll get used to it after you make enough mistakes. This is the time to make those mistakes. You’ll first be faced with buying a 2X or 3X gun and this is another  area where you can get confused in a hurry by listening to too many people. Read this item in an RV builders group newsletter, then pick one. Don’t think  too much about it. Just pick one. You’ll learn to use it regardless of what kind you choose. And, by the way, I’m not getting into warnings about using these drill bits or not using air hammers etc., because presumably by now you’ve seen all those elsewhere or, if not, you will)

There are two basic kinds of rivets. Flush head rivets are exactly what they say and go on the outside surfaces of the plane (and elsewhere) where you want smoothness and good air flow (or, for other parts of the plane, clearance), and universal head rivets. Both get bucked the same way, you put a rivet “set” in a gun, put it on the “manufactured end” and put a bucking bar on the other end (the “shop head”) and “buck.” So you’ll need rivet “sets”. These are simply the things that go in the rivet gun. Get a few, including an “offset’ rivet set which allegedly helps you get into tight spaces (see an example) to rivet. You’ll mostly use this on the wings and if you’re like me, won’t find it particularly helpful. But buy it anyway because maybe it’s just me.

Be sure to by a swivel head universal rivet set. I recommend it over the "mushroom" kind. Cleaveland Tools, a few years ago, carried this next to the picture of thing, "recommended by many, but not by us." They couldn't be more wrong. It'll save a lot of dings. Maybe they were concerned about poor riveting technique, but this item is absolutely indispensable to me. (Here's a Word document on riveting technique, by the way)

There are, especially with the empennage, lots of areas where you can “squeeze” rivets by hand. Initially, anyway, this is the method you’ll feel more comfortable with. So you’ll need a “squeezer,” probably.  Funny. This is another area that spurs debate. Hand squeezer vs. pneumatic squeezer. Like many other areas, the decision on this often comes down to “do I want to spend money?” vs. “do I want to spend more money?”. Hand squeezers run over $100. Pneumatic squeezers can run $500 or $600  (and you’ll need to buy squeezer rivet “sets” for these too).  Folks swear by the pneumatic, but like other tools, you can build a plane without one if you want.

For hand squeezers, I use a Tatco squeezer only because when I was in the position you may now find yourself in, I camped next to some Ontario RVers at Oshkosh and a man who said he’s built four RVs recommended Tatco. So I bought a Tatco. They were sold by Cleaveland Tools (and maybe still are), although after I’d already bought the Tatco, Cleaveland came out with its Main Squeeze, which now appears to be the most favored hand squeezer.

The squeezer – and the pneumatic squeezer too – have another job. Dimpling. You know by now, hopefully, that dimpling makes the  indentation in aircraft skin, into which the flush head rivet goes. Using dimple dies in a squeezer, makes the dimples. You’ll need a set of #40 dimple dies and this will be the ones you use most often on the plane.  A #30 set will also be used and, if you want to spend the money now, a #8 and #10 dimple will be required for the screws on the wing kit.

Dimpling skins with a C-frame tool

For those areas where you can’t reach with a squeezer to dimple, a C-frame tool is the answer. It’s just a contraption that allows you to insert the same dies you’d use in a hand squeezer and then use it to reach holes that need dimpling, usually on skins. For this there is a way-too-expensive (in my opinion) option of the c-frame (actually, it’s not much of an option, you’ll have to buy one). Both Cleaveland and Avery sell these, but there’s a new one that came on the market a few years ago that apparently is worth the money. The DRDT-2’s convenience and effectiveness appears to be unquestioned. Like a pneumatic squeezer, you’ll just have to decide for yourself. But you’ll be spending anywhere between $120 and almost $400 here. See? It doesn’t take long to add up. Sorry.

Clecos are one of those things you can’t have enough of. If you buy one of those “starter” kits, you’ll get a handful of clecos.  Advertising that the starter sets give you all the things you need is borderline fraudulent. A handful of clecos will be mostly useless. They’re expensive, about 30-35 cents apiece but, like I said, you might as well get used to it. I bought 100 clecos to start with – buy mostly the 3/16 (#40 hole – silver) ones and maybe 50-100 of the copper colored (1/8”, #30 hole) ones and you’ll be fine to start. Then, for the next year or so, whenever you make an order with a tool supplier, order another bag (usually 25). When you get to the wings, you’ll need LOTS of clecos. I ended up with about two plastic-milk-jugs full of the silver. You can always sell ‘em when you’re done. Buy cleco pliers too. Get two. You'll lose one.

The Van’s list contains a host of other hand tools you’ll need. These include aircraft snips (for cutting sheet metal), which you won’t use that often,  a microstop countersink cage and bit (order one for a #30 and a #40 to start),  Vixen files, and, of course drill bits (#40 and #30 you'll use a lot. A #10 and a #12 and a #19 will also be needed fairly soon. Buy regular sizes from aircraft tool suppliers only, also buy a couple of 6" and 12" #30 and #40 bits). You won’t really need a rivet cutter as indicated, however.

One word about the microstop countersink cage and bit. Sounds precise, doesn't it. Be careful! It's not. This is a tool you'll need to practice on and this is a good time to do it. Buy a cage with ball bearing construction. Cheap stuff doesn't work here. The countersink, by the way, replaces the "dimple." In some cases, what's being "dimpled" is too thick to be "indented"...so we countersink and actually remove metal in the shape of the rivet head instead. There's more about that in the early sections of Van's manual (you ordered preview plans, right?)

A band saw is helpful, but not necessary in the empennage kit if you're looking to save now and spend later. You can make what few parts you need to make with a hacksaw and file if you don't particularly mind using a hacksaw and file. But a bandsaw zips up the work a bit at the emp stage, and I think it's pretty much a needed tool at the wing stage when you're making a few doubler plates.

I bought a Harbor Freight Tools band saw and if you buy this model, especially if you live in the northern climates, buy a bunch of replacement blades because in the winter they snap like crazy. If you really like this particular model, stop by the garage and take mine home. My dad passed away in 2004 and I'm just now getting around to cleaning out his workshop and he had a really nice Delta bandsaw. It was a good reminder to buy quality stuff.

Bench press drill. Yeah, get one.

As I’ve indicated, there are other tools that you will find quite handy. And these include, by the way, a little gizmo to help you drill out bad rivets. This is another one of those areas where you can just eyeball it with a regular drill and drill bit but this will help you drill right in the center of the manufactured head, so that you can snap it off and remove a bad rivet. And, trust me, you will have bad rivets. On the other hand, you will have to quickly learn when to drill out a rivet and when not to because you can quickly make a bad situation worse, even with this tool. Me? I don't drill out 1/8 rivets in doubler plates. I just don't. Too much of a chance of making a real mess.

There are plenty of areas to get RV-related information, but on the tools front, consider broadening your kitplane horizon. I say this because Zenith Aircraft has a lot of good advice on sheet metal tools and their use. When you take a break from your tool ordering, leaf through their site  for some very good articles.

With a few exceptions, I haven’t put a bunch of links to tool sellers. Any of those Web sites listed above will have them. I will put in a plug, however, for Avery Tools and Cleaveland Tools. Both of these folks are RV builders and both are the type that will come to the phone if you have questions, or at least answer an e-mail. You’ll also see them at RV gatherings, often donating door prizes and such. You won’t see that with some of the other folks, no matter how good they are. Personally, I  like personal service and high quality and given all the money I’ll end up having to earn and spend on the project, I don’t really mind spending a few extra dollars to get it.

Incidentally, fall  -- specifically September – is a great time to buy tools. Many of the RV tool suppliers gear up for the air show season, which ends around August. By September, they’re looking to reduce inventory and you can usually save a lot of money. So look around. If you can get to Oshkosh during AirVenture – or any other major fly-in – you can usually get some “deals.”  But be careful! There’s a lot of cheap tools out there and a lot of suppliers who sell cheap tools. Ask for recommendations. And then avoid them! It’s not worth the savings.

Others strongly recommend E-Bay and while I respect their opinion, many of the experts I’ve seen speak and talk say be very careful when buying tools on E-Bay.

Remember, this may be a  boxload of parts now. But in a few years, it’s going to be carrying you and, perhaps, your loved one. Is this really where you want to cut corners?

And finally, tools I heartily recommend. Protection. Ear protection. Eye protection. Lung protection. This isn't the area to go cheap by a long shot. Get up to Home Depot or Lowe's or Sears or whever and pick up a good 3M organic respirator, and good hearing protection. Buy about a half dozen safety glasses. You'll be leaving them all over the place and losing them anyway.

WHAT ELSE?

You'll need to plan for a building log to document your progress and, basically, prove to the DAR that you built the thing. There's lots of threads on bulletin boards out there about whether you need pictures or whether the pictures need to include you in a few of them. Forget that. Why wouldn't you want a picture of you building something? This is you we're talking about here! Building a plane! Trust me, when all is said and done, you'll want a scrapbook of some sort about the greatest construction project you ever undertook in your life. Imagine that getting handed down to the next generation!

There are a few ways to go here. Kitlog Pro not only keeps track of your progress and creates an album (with pictures) for you, it also allows you to organize your expenses and contact records, and also includes some PDFs of documents you're going to need. It's a little pricey, in fact it's gone up about 25% since I bought it, but I'm happy with it, for what that's worth.

There is also ExperCraft if you want to maintain an online log. This is a fascinating product developed by Rob Riggen of Vermont. Rob also developed the tools that allow the RV Builder's Hotline to be produced and distributed each week. The cool part about this is it not only creates a log, it also creates a Web site for you. And if you've added up the numbers in this article so far, you'll love this part: it's free.

There's no way in an article, you learn everything about planning for the actual start of construction of your project. That's what the reference links are for. This is an exciting time for you and, possibly, there's a bit of apprehension mixed in. Rest assured there's an RV community waiting to help. Just remember: pass it on!

FOR MORE INFORMATION
I've set up a small Amazon store with some recommended books etc., for the purposes of this article. Any purchase made their helps support the newsletter. But don't feel compelled. Still, there's some books there that I highly recommend.

See also:
Brian Myette's Web page on RV Tools