Experimenter is a magazine created by EAA for people who build airplanes. We will report on amateur-built aircraft as well as ultralights and other light aircraft.
Issue link: http://experimenter.epubxp.com/i/307497
EAA Experimenter 27 each time resulted in nothing getting done during my recupera- tions. The lack of funds precipitated by layof s and medical bills made it dif cult to keep the project fi nanced. I tried to fund this project as I could af ord it, but I had to dip into my retirement to pay for the engine and prop, and again to pay for the panel. "Angie and I also decided in the middle of this daunting project to remodel our bathroom. I am a DIY'er, so of course, time spent cutting tile is time not cutting aluminum. The fol- lowing spring, we decided to make another house addition; a three-season porch that we have always wanted. That led to landscaping around the new porch, which led to landscaping the front of the house. "I also endured the sudden loss of my brother just two years short of the airplane's completion. I was really looking forward to giving him one of the fi rst rides…that was very de-motivating." While this was a slow-build version of Van's kit, Bob's kit was one of the fi rst that was built completely using "matched- hole tooling," including the fuselage. Bob said, "This made it a 'faster' build in that it 'clecoes' together right out of the box. Almost eight years of building is certainly not a record for the longest build, but still it was double the time I had originally expected it to take. Funny how everything seems to double; the fi nancial contribution to this project was exactly double of my original projection as well. "My explanation of why it took me this long to build has been—life kept getting in the way. That's my story and I'm stickin' to it. The clock keeps ticking away as we take on projects and struggle to complete them; that's just the way life works." True Love was painted using Sherwin-Williams automotive silver right out of the can, and the red color is Dodge Viper red. Bob explained the color scheme: "I wanted a P-51 look about it, but I intentionally did not want to duplicate or model it after an actual aircraft. I wanted a civilian look to come through as well. I wanted the silver to look as close to polished alumi- num as possible, with the rivets still visible. From even a slight distance, you would swear you were looking at polished, bare aluminum. A friend that I went to high school with owns an auto body shop in my town. We had lost touch over the years but were recently reacquainted. I started asking him about his comfort level with aluminum, and he said that he had done several aluminum cars. I did as much of the grunt work as I could but deferred to his and his brother's expertise in fi nal prep and shooting the paint. I brought it to him in pieces at a stop between my garage and the hangar." Being a true Minnesotan, Bob isn't slowed down by winter. He said, "RVs are loud and cold without any insulation, and I like fl ying in the winter; so I chose to put in an interior despite the weight penalty. I had Classic Aero Designs build my leather seats with seat heat." Otherwise, Bob didn't stray from the plans. "I didn't want anymore unknowns than are already inherent in an experimen- tal amateur-built aircraft," said Bob. "That's one of the reasons why I picked an RV; you can't miss with this highly proven kit. The maze of wiring behind the fi rewall was a challenge for Bob. Bob works at fi tting the sliding canopy. Success! Bob's digital instruments light up and function like they are supposed to. E A A E X P _ M a y 1 4 . i n d d 2 7 EAAEXP_May14.indd 27 5 / 5 / 1 4 3 : 1 8 P M 5/5/14 3:18 PM