Matt's RV-7 Project

My Hooker harnesses arrived today. I went with the five-point system and the rotary buckle. They are wicked looking and certainly seem to be a step up from the stock Van's belts I had in my last RV.

I won't need these for a while, but some folks in the RV community were putting together a group discount and I didn't want to miss out on the deal. Saving 30% made these belts only marginally more expensive than the basic set from Van's. Awesome.

I spent another couple hours inspecting the fuselage tonight, still going through the plans and marking off what's done and what isn't. Not much there worth photographing. I did get curious about the amount of twist in the QB fuselage, so I got out the digital level and took measurements at three stations, starting with the center spar carrythrough:

At the seat back bulkhead:

At the tail:

Yup, pretty straight I'd say. While I was back there, I put in the remaining rivets that secure the aft bulkhead:

Going through the plans, I came across the F-757 gussets, which have to be modified by cutting a notch with a 2" radius out of one end. I trimmed the edge off the lid to a butter container and it came out to just the 4" diameter I needed. Mmm, partially hydrogenated corn oil. I just marked these parts and didn't cut them – I'm thinking of breaking down and finally buying a bandsaw, and this might be the piece that pushes me over the edge.

I clecoed on the aft top skin to see how things were going to line up:

I have some misalighment at the top of the F-706 bulkhead here – I think the top fuselage J-stiffeners are pushing it out and deforming it enough to keep the prepunched holes from lining up. These guys seem to have been left way too long so I can trim them myself, but the plans are unclear. I'll ask Van's about it tomorrow.