Jim Streit RV-9A · · PAGE 1

November 26, 2005:  Jim bought his empennage kit in 2001 and has builder number 90073.  Jim and Eddy Fernandez have been working together on their projects and much of what you see here is similar to what you may have seen on Eddy's pages.  Jim is ahead of Eddy on the windshield work, but has yet to assemble his engine, which is still in the shipping box in the living room.  Yes, Jim is single, and his wings and tail are stored in his bedroom.  There are also plenty of parts stacked along the walls of the living room.

I had forgotten to take a close-up photo of the rivets on Eddy's airplane, and I was glad to see the same quality of workmanship on Jim's fuselage rivets.  This is the skin overlap on the turtle deck behind the baggage area and canopy.  All of these rivets were set from the inside with a back-riveting tool and the bucking bar on the outside.

Inside the cabin is a portion of the interior and one set of seat cushions that hint at the first class accomodations that will be part of Jim's finished RV-9A project.   Jim told me of his first airplane project which was never completed, Jim Bede's BD-5.  Bede's company fell on hard times and Jim could not get the remainder of the kit.  He also was involved with a Long-EZ and found that was not for him.  Van's airplanes have found a willing market of builders who can see their way to a completed airplane.  Jim reminded me that the "travels section" of my web site is what keeps him motivated to complete his airplane.

The canopy work is looking good and is ready for riveting soon.  Jim has added a sealing gasket to the roll bar to cushion the canopy frame when the canopy is closed and locked.  He still has to put in the correct number of spacer washers to align the windshield with the canopy plexiglass.

Some other things of note in this photo are the areas that are being reworked down the sides.  Jim has installed some small "J-stringer clamps" to secure a long plastic tube that fully encloses the rudder cables.  You can see the forward end of one of the plastic tubes in the photo below.  The black tubing is the static air line to connect to the air-operated gauges on the instrument panel.

A small black tie-wrap secures the tubing to the "J-stringer" at each location.  From this camera angle, you cannot see the tab of the "J-stringer that is riveted to the outside skin.  The inside skin is shiny from the Imron paint that is used for anti-corrosion protection.  Since this is coastal Florida, corrosion is an issue here for all pilots. 

Here is a good look at the rudder cable tubing on the passenger's side of the airframe behind the baggage wall.  Jim got the idea for the tubing when he rode in another RV-9A and said he could hear the rudder cables slapping the sides of the fuselage.   I just noticed the plywood work platforms in his tail cone.