Brief Description: Started building the wing cradle.
During the week I got word that my airplane was ahead of schedule and due to ship around May 5th. I was expecting mid-July so I really had to scramble around and take care of some business. Nafco needs builders insurance before they will fund Van’s so after getting in contact with Nations Air I was able to line up a policy with $75,000.00 coverage for the project. The premium is $350.00 per year. Now that my kit is coming in a couple of weeks I needed to get my wing cradle built. My brother-in-law Steve came over with his truck and we went to Home Depot for some lumber. During the day I spent about 6 hours constructing the wing cradle. I had to redo a couple of the braces because of interference with the airfoil cut outs. I did not have a nose rib to use as a template so I contact Dan Checkoway who is building a RV-7 and he offer some dimensional coordinates to make the cut outs. The cut outs did not come out very good so I ordered a nose rib from Van’s to use as a template. I am going to use a total of 3 panels of ¾ inch plywood for the cut out areas. I figure the wider the slots, the better the distributions of weight on the leading edge of the wing. I am even considering attaching a strap to act as a sling (hammock) for the leading edge. This coming week I am going to buy a couple of stands for the fuselage. I’m also going to get estimate from other trucking company’s to minimize the costs of shipping this beast to me.
