Hi, I'm David Mack. In 2006, I decided to build my own Van's Aircraft RV-7 200+ mph two seat homebuilt aluminum airplane and this is a log of the experience.

Sunday June 29, 2025
Wire Cleanup, Heater Control, Top Skin Riveting
(1.0 Hours Electrical, 3.0 Hours Forward Fuselage)
4.0 Hours Total

I finished cleaning up (tie-wrapping) the wire bundles in the forward tunnel. I also put some RTV under them to hold them in place.

Then I finished installing the heater control.

Then I installed the forward top skin and squeezed the front row of rivets.

Then my wife and I bucked almost all of the top skin skins. This involved me laying in the foot area. Unfortunately we "smiled" (dented) the skin on one of the rivets on the center line. Oh well, that will get hidden with filling and paint later. Also, the GEA 24 unit was in the way of three of the rivets. I need to temporarily unbolt it to give me access to those rivets.

This work is licensed under Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International