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2 weeks ago | 
kitplanes.com | Paul Dye
While some of the KITPLANES editorial staff was busy in Florida last week at Sun ’n Fun, I stayed home—because we had some days warm enough to do canopy work! The result: The F1 Rocket project looks much more “airplane-ish,” and I’m quickly reaching the point where it might make sense to put it on its gear and think about mounting the engine. If we get to that point, it opens up a vast array of work that can be done—firewall-forward connections, baffle work, and installing the cowling.
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4 weeks ago | 
kitplanes.com | Paul Dye |Faa Dar
As I said last month at the start of the “Eating the Elephant” series, this isn’t a series about how to drill holes or hold a Cleco plier. It’s a guide, from an experienced builder, about how to think about the build and, perhaps, offer ways to push through actual and perceived roadblocks. Because they’re inevitable in every build. Probably like you, I hate backing up, turning around and undoing things that I had to work hard to do in the first place.
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1 month ago | 
kitplanes.com | Paul Dye |Faa Dar
We’re still marking time on the fuselage of the F1 Rocket while waiting for winter to give way to spring and temperatures to reliably stay warm enough to work on the canopy. After a week or two of engine work—replacing all of the rubber seals on the Lycoming that has been pickled for 25 years—I opened up the box of fiberglass parts and pulled out all of the tail feather tips.
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1 month ago | 
kitplanes.com | Paul Dye |Faa Dar
When you’re building an airplane that requires lots of “custom work”—one that comes from an older kit or plans and not from the modern realm where everything is provided (and fits)—it’s extremely helpful to visit other builders or owners of the same type to see what they have done and pick their brains for problem areas (with the kit—not their brains). The F1 Rocket project is a good example. I spent a few hours with a friend who had the cowling off his own Rocket, camera in hand.
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1 month ago | 
kitplanes.com | Paul Dye |Faa Dar
Any pilot who has been flying for a few years has run into this situation: You cancel a trip for some reason—weather, most often—and as things develop, it turns out that you probably could have flown as you had planned. We tend to look at these situations and say, “Well that was a bad decision. I got that one wrong.” But this is absolutely not the right way to think about it.
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1 month ago | 
kitplanes.com | Paul Dye |Faa Dar |Thomas Wilson
I tend to be a bit of a loner in the shop, kicking around on projects while mumbling to myself—making it a bit hard for a helper to follow what I’m going to do next. But every once in a while, it’s fun to pull someone else into a process and enjoy some quality time with a friend and a motor!Such was the case last week when KITPLANES Senior Editor Tom Wilson stopped by for a few days to help change all the soft seals on the IO-540 we are prepping for the F1 Rocket project.
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1 month ago | 
kitplanes.com | Paul Dye |Faa Dar
When folks come to visit in our shop, we try to remember to offer them a bottle of water, especially in the summer. Most of the time, we then find half-empty bottles of water set down around the shop! What to do? Well, one area of the shop is dedicated to shaping and finishing metal—sanding discs, Scotchbrite wheels, steel grinding wheels, etc. Much of the time, aluminum gets pretty hot while you’re shaping it, so a little cooling will keep you from burning your fingers.
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1 month ago | 
kitplanes.com | Paul Dye |Faa Dar
Here’s a quick note that can make you feel good (or maybe worse if you don’t see it) when looking at a used engine. Paint wear on the nut that holds the oil suction screen in place is a good thing! It tells you that the screen has actually been removed and checked – at least occasionally. If you find the nut safety wired with no paint wear at all—as if it has been in place once the engine was built, then run away quickly, or at least be very suspicious as to how the engine has been maintained.
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1 month ago | 
kitplanes.com | Paul Dye |Faa Dar
I’ve done this once or twice—making the rear seatback fiberglass in an RV-type tandem fit nicely. This is on our F1 Rocket project, where the seatback consists of a rectangular aluminum lower section topped with a half-circle fiberglass upper dish. Getting the angle between the two pieces exactly right is almost impossible—and frankly, building up the flange that overlaps the rear bulkhead slightly makes the assembly more substantial anyway. Fitting it involves nothing more than fiberglass magic.
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2 months ago | 
kitplanes.com | Paul Dye |Faa Dar
How do you use Pro-seal and document the procedure with a camera? The simple answer… you don’t! Once the Polysulfide Sealant comes out o the can, anything in the area (including a camera or cell phone) is fair game for getting daubed or slathered with the stuff. So instead of pictures of the actual job, here are a few of how I set up, and what the start and finish look like—plus a few hard-earned tips for keeping things as clean as possible.
