RV-4 AIRCRAFT

This Page Last Updated : 05 December 2004 19:30

One of the coolest looking paint jobs on an RV-4--or any other airplane for that matter...

The RV-4 is an all-metal, fully acrobatic, 2-Place aircraft that will be powered by a 160-200 hp engine. It is another product of the venerable Van's aircraft production line. It is a tried-and-true design that has been around for many years and widely regarded in the homebuilt aircraft industry to be arguably, the best all-around metal homebuilt aircraft in the market. As least those have built and flown them, think that.

Van's aircraft website,:

vansaircraft.com

RV-4 website:

Van's Aircraft - RV-4

This page will chronicle the building of my RV-4 and serve as an addendum to my builder's log.

I bought a semi-complete RV-4 Aircraft kit from one of the civilian Flight Engineer Instructors at Little Rock AFB while I was there for cross-training on the C-130.

When I purchased this kit in Feb 2003, it was approximately 30-35% complete. the tail-feathers were complete, the fuselage was in the 'right-side-up canoe' stage, one wing was mostly together, needing some skinning, and the spar was started on the other wing. Many other parts, such as fuel tank, wing and flap ribs were formed, skins to tanks and flaps measured and cut, and assorted brackets and parts.

It sat dormant for months in storage in Newbury Park, until I was able to acquire space at the EAA Hangar in Camarillo.

In October of 2004, I have to transfer to NAS Whidbey Island (WA), and will probably be forced back into working in a storage unit again. The availability of hangar space looks as though it will be about 2-4 year waiting list, which means by the time I come up on the list, I will be gone.

This is what a completed RV-4 looks like:

Padres' RV-4. 'Padre' is an F-18 pilot from my first squadron back on the USS Midway. I happen to run into him at Point Mugu for the first time in about 12 years. He's now an RV-4 owner. What does that tell you when an ex-F/A-18 driver chooses an RV-4 for his personal aircraft?

This is another RV-4, but it has a sllightly different cowl because instead of having a standard aircraft engine, like a Lycoming )-320 or O-360, it has a Maxda 13B Rotary engine. It is one of the engine choices that I have, and will be considering of the next few years. The audio sound on this page is a Mazda powered RV-4.

This is a beautiful RV-4 finished with a mostly polished aluminum look. I am going to try to keep my aircraft finished with mostly polished aluminum.

RV-8 RIDE

A gentleman from the local EAA Chapter was kind enough to give me a ride in his RV-8, which is a slightly bigger version of the RV-4. Kent and I flew up to Santa Maria for lunch with a few guys flying Glasair III's.

A 'break' over the field...

A big grin on my face ...

EAA CHAPTER 723 - Camarillo, CA (CMA)

These are the EAA Chapter 723 hangars. Inside, we have a nice lounge area with lots of tables, chairs, couches, refrigerators, coffee pot, etc. There's an extensive library of books and videos available for use. The best part about the hangars is the equipment. There is a wide range of equipment for building airplanes,

An RV builder can spend a considerable amount of time prepping the shop in which he/she builds, making jigs for construction and making/modifying tools. I'm lucky in that the fuselage jig came with airplane (though I don't need it any longer) and the only other major jig that I require is the wing jig, which the EAA Chapter 723 already owns.

The tool that I have spent the most time on so far, is my back-riveting plate. I went over to Taylor's Steel in Oxnard (which is owned by friends in my Boy Scout Troop) and asked if they had a hunk of steel about 1/4-1/2" thick. Bob sent me to the scrap pile, and moments later, I had a hunk of 1/2" thick steel shaped like a flattened football about 18" long. I took an angle-grinder to it and about 2 hours and a gazzillion sparks later, I had the worst of the imperfections removed. A few days later, I spent an hour with the belt sander, then the random orbital sander. One side is now smooth enough to use, but I still want to get it polished.

So, what's a back-riveting plate, you ask? Most rivets are driven with the rivet gun and die against the head and the the bucking bar against the end of the rivet. The end of the rivet is deformed as it mushrooms out around the piece being riveted, holding the pieces together. See pictures and explanation below.

AMATEUR-BUILT AIRCRAFT GLOSSARY

I know that there are many of my friends and family who do not know a lot about airplanes, and from time-to-time, may wonder what some of the terms I use, mean.

Aft - Back, rear, stern...you get the picture

Back-Riveting - Back-Riveting is simply laying the pieces on a steel plate and using it as a huge bucking-bar.

Cleco - A clamp used to hold sheets of metal (or non-metal) together. It doesn't look like a clamp that you might be used to using. It is a small 1-2" device about as thick around as a fat pen. It has three protrusions from the bottom. Two of which have lips on them that will grab the underside of the metal being clamped and a third 'blade' that pushes the other 2 pins outward, when the cleco is released. The forcing out of the pins is what expands the cleco to prevent it from pulling out of the hole. Clecos are color-coded to distinguish what size hole they will work in. Cleco is actually a brand name, that has come to cover all such pin-type clamps.

Cleco-Pliers - A pair of pliers used for nothing more than installing and removing clecos.

Deburring - Holes that are drilled, or edges that are cut result in small metal snags that must be removed, lest they develop into areas where stress will concentrate and can eventually lead to cracks. It also keeps one from tearing up their hands when handling the metal.

Empennage - The tail of the aircraft.

Firewall - The wall that separates the engine compartment from the passenger compartment. The wall between your feet and the engine of your car is a firewall. Firewalls on aircraft are usually stainless steel to keep them from melting in the even of an engine fire.

Fore - Front...need I say more?

Leading Edge (LE) - A term that can be applied to a number of aircraft parts, and is used to reference the front edge or surface; opposite of TE (Trailing Edge)

Port - The Left side of a ship or aircraft.

Rib - A mostly flat structure of a wing that is oriented along from fore-to-aft line and are positioned along the spar. Make sense? I didn't think so. Okay, think of the ribs as the bones on the wing skeleton.

Rivet-Gun - A pneumatically powered hammer, much like an air chisel that has a variable throttle for controlling how much force is applied to the rivet being driven.

Spar - The main beam of the wing that carries the load of the wing. Think of the Spar as the spine of the wing skeleton.

Starboard - The Right side of a ship or aircraft.

Trailing Edge (TE) - Opposite of Leading Edge

LINKS & RESOURCES

The Experimental Aircraft Association (EAA) is an organization dedicated to the promotion of recreation and homebuilt aviation. It is a great source of information and support. Joining the EAA was the very next step after purchasing the RV-4 kit.

The Local EAA Chapter 723 is located at Camarillo airport (CMA)

http://www.eaa723.org

Another fantastic resource is the SoCal Wing of Van's Air Force (SoCal VAF) - This is a group of local RV builders and fliers who are very active and supportive of fellow builders. Ask a question, and someone here, knows the answer! Not to mention, just a plain cool group of people.