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Fuselage

Me and my RV-8 fuselage

Building the new match drilled fuselage is a much easier, quicker process than before.  A lot of the hard parts to build, and difficult spots in the construction, have been fixed.  I will talk specifics about the RV-8, but much of what is in here is applicable to other aircraft too.  I don’t want to repeat the instructions, one step at a time.  Instead, I will give you my little comments and suggestions on things as you go through the directions.  

This section is organized in the same order as the plans.  So stick to them, and reference these pages as you go.  Remember that Vans wrote the directions for the general builder, but personalization is what Experimental Aircraft are all about.  If you are building some other kitplane, a lot of the ideas or techniques may still help you out.

You will build the substructures first, then deal with the skins.  At this point everything is pretty sturdy, and you will do the initial fitting of the landing gear, then move on to some interior parts and finally attach the empennage.  From here on, it really doesn’t matter in what order you accomplish the rest of the tasks.  But there are a few considerations.  Once you mount the main gear, it is a climb into the cockpit.  I would recommend waiting on final installation of the turtle deck, F-825 Aft Upper Skin, until as late as you can stand.  It is a lot easier to reach over the side than to crawl in from the luggage compartment when running wires or installing the battery box.

You still have to install:

And you still have to hang the wings!





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