RV-1 Restoration Work Day #1
Dan and I had a real treat yesterday. We drove over to Jay Pratt’s RV Central and got to meet a bunch of great RV guys and gals. Oh – and we got to work on Van’s first airplane – the RV-1. The “RV-1” is a modified Stitt’s Playboy (homebuilt) that Dick VanGrunsven bought in the early 1960’s. He was unhappy with the performance, so he built new wings for it and put a bigger engine on it. After flying the plane for several years, he designed a new airplane from scratch and starrted the aircraft company and series of kits he’s known for today. Check out the RV-1.org website for details about the project.
We showed up at RV Central around 0845 and found a bunch of guys (and Louise) already working on the plane. Dan and I met Paul Dye and asked what we could do. He immediately put us to work on the ailerons. Dan had a big smile on his face as he remarked – “This is SO COOL. That’s what we are working on now at our shop!”. We had a few goosebumps as we thought about what we were doing. We were actually working on the progenitor to all the thousands of RV’s that are flying today! Doug R. kept grinning and saying stuff like “This is like working on the Bell X-1!”.
Dan and I worked on the right wing and helped remove, clean, and assess the condition of the aileron and flap. I cleaned the belly pan, and then we helped Doug and Walt repair the cowl where a crack had started.
Here are a few photos of the work. First off – Dan removing one of the flaps.
Burnishing the flap mounting hardware and removing nearly 50 years of rust, corrosion, etc.
Walt and Doug making a repair to the cowling. There was a crack in the very top part of the cowling, so they stop drilled the crack and fabricated a doubler to strengthen the area. Dan and I finished the repair by dimpling the doubler and cowl, then riveting the sucker in place with a dab or two of proseal for good measure.
You can see the little silver doubler on top of the cowl below.
Sorry that I didn’t get more photos. Will try to do better next month.
Special thanks go to Jay for hosting us and feeding us with brats and hot dogs. Dan summed it up quite well, as we drove off: “Dad – what a GREAT way to spend a Saturday morning”. I had to agree.
Update: Ernie posted photos of the day in his Picasa album.
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Glad to have you guys here. You were a lot of help.