Picture 1: ( located at hangar F12 at Salt Lake Airport #2)  Here's the fuselage with the wings and tail assembly (emmpenagae) attached temporarily; i.e. they, along with the turtle deck, are easily removed at this time for other interior assemblies that are not in final form. It is exciting to have it actually look like an aircraft. I've coaxed a few of my EAA buddies to get in and get the feel. The wings and emmpenage required a series of measurements to assure alignment: is the verticle stablizer centered and truly verticle; is the horizontal stablizer square to the center line of the fuselage and the verticle stab; is the chord line at the angle specified in Van's specifications; are the wings in true alignment looking straight through the fuselage as though it was invisible; is the angle of incidence according to specs? This may sound tricky, but I think it's working out according to the plans manual. One thing for sure: it's always pure fun to work on the project and very satisfying to see it coming together. (notice the wing above the RV8, this is Carl Wengel's Odyssey.... his flies!!)

Picture #2: the gap on the right forward side of the fuselage is the baggage hold door position. This is the actual last step of the fuselage assembly sequence. This part curves and tapers toward the center line of the plane and therefore requires a bit of trimming/adjusting/nudging/etc.

Picture#3:  Side view of the tail section. The masking tape shows where I might have a yellow stripe added to the base color.  Hey, it's never to soon to visualize the final product!

e-mail Mike Guarino

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