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/101874
Brian Huth (back to camera), Matt Smith and Hal ft two parts together. Brian is one of EAA's IT Network Administrators and Matt is a Database Administrator. With just a handful of build sessions behind me so far, I've already learned a lot. For example, I've learned that a cleco, a temporary fastener used to hold two parts together before they're permanently attached with a rivet, is the unsung hero of every sheet metal build. I've learned that deburring, the process of removing sharp edges from metal parts and cleaning the area around a newly drilled hole, is surprisingly easy, and also very important—a lesson that came at the cost of just a couple of drops of blood (mine, luckily). I've learned that rivets can be "pulled" by hand using a big squeeze-handled tool, and immediately thereafter learned that I like pulling them with a pneumatic rivet gun quite a bit more. I've learned that understanding the 51-percent rule is one thing, but actually feeling it in your wrists and elbows is another. I've measured, marked, punched, trimmed, drilled, clecoed, deburred, and riveted. I've broken drill bits, drilled holes the wrong size and in the wrong place, and pulled a rivet or two that needed to be drilled out and redone. I've made some mistakes, but I've done a lot more right than I've done wrong. My respect for those who build airplanes has only increased as I've begun learning the single most important lesson of this project: I can actually do this. There are more people out there like me. I'm sure of it. People who could be builders but just don't know it, or may not yet believe it. Granted, none of them are going to be as wonderfully spoiled as we are, with a great workspace, all the tools we could possibly need, and more hands than we know what to do with, but a tremendous amount of support is as close as their nearest EAA chapter. It's just a matter of finding them, and taking a little time to show them that everything they've ever thought about their ability to build an airplane is probably wrong. EAA's mission statement is to grow participation in aviation, which means, in large part, that we want to help make more pilots. It seems to me that one of the best ways to make more pilots is to make more builders. Most people already get the idea that building an airplane can easily be more affordable than buying one. It's up to all of us to help them understand that it's not just affordable; it's also accessible. After all, I'm doing it. EAA Experimenter 51