6 February 2018, the kit is ordered, on my birth day ! I am still not fully ready to start building but it’s symbolic. The crate from the empennage kit, big and intimidating, reaches Savièse end of April. The excitement is at its height ! It will be delicately stored in the workshop, waiting to be opened and the construction started. The all aircraft structure consists of 4 kits, the empennages, the wings, the fuselage and the finishing kit. The 3 remaining crate will be ordered according the progress to avoid filling up the workshop and to split the costs. Then it will be time to think about the engine, the propeller, the avionics and all the rest but we are still not there.
In June we are travelling to Britany with Vasita to attend the VCF (Van’s Club de France) meeting. A yearly gathering of passionate people having built or building a Van’s Aircraft. The welcome and the atmosphere are always very friendly. At the end of the month I’m flying to Washington to follow an RV aircraft assembly course and aluminium basic work. The immigration officer is very surprised when I inform him the purpose of my visit is to follow an aircraft assembly course, incredulous when I tell him this course lasts 2 days !
28 August 2018, the big day is here, step one from the first page of the builder’s manual… After having read and re-read the instructions, mesure and re-mesure, marked the part to be cut, the saw bite in this first aluminium corner as close as possible from the cut line, the file refine the cut and the polishing wheel finishes it… Success !
It’s a small step, but a giant leap for me…