Wendell Folks RV-8 Project - Page 69.

November 17, 2007:  These next photos are the last of the Saturday session showing the other antennas mounted on the belly of Wendell's RV-8.  This is an older COM antenna Wendell had on hand before the project began.   It has finally found its home.  The same pre-paint scheme has been done for the antennas as was done around the horizontal stabilizer.

The short antenna for the radar transponder is also under the belly.

The 75 MHz marker beacon antenna is now installed under the baggage area ahead of the battery location.

The last photo of the day is the windshield that was installed when I was in my second week of travel for my day job.  I realized I had not taken a photo of the windshield until now.

As I write this on Sunday evening, November 18th, this week ahead is a short week for us in the USA with our Thanksgiving Holiday coming up on Thursday, November 22nd.   Wendell and I have set Friday, November 23rd as the day to roll the airplane into the hangar in preparations for final assembly.  And did I mention that he has the aircraft registration back from the FAA?  That only leaves the final assembly and the DAR inspection to go before the first flight.  Stay tuned, things should really happen fast after we get into the hangar.

November 23, 2007:  This is the Friday after Thanksgiving and this is the day the airplane moves to the hangar.   But before we go, there is a bit more to do on the rudder.  The tail light/strobe assembly was installed in the lower rudder cap.  Two 3/16" drainage holes were also drilled in the bottom of the cap.  One at the front for the possibility of rain water to drain while in flight, and another hole below the tail light for those times when the airplane is parked and caught out in the rain.  That is always a possibility at Oshkosh when camping out, etc.

The photo above does not show the 1/8" clearance between the rudder cap and the tail wheel mounting pipe.  Before you could say let's roll, we were clearing the floor of the shop and heading out the garage door with me up front and Wendell driving from the rear.  I commented to Wendell when we were half way from the shop to the hangar that I should be taking pictures of the move.  His reply was to take pictures when the airplane is in the hangar ready for the next steps.  We leveled the fuselage in preparation for the wing installations.

Before the wings go on, the fuel tank floats had to be installed.  It wasn't much longer after taking this photo that I realized the wing fairings would need to have plate nuts installed in the skins at the wing root.  So that process was also begun.  The idea of mounting wings today went by the wayside for now.