On the same trip as my visit to Van’s Aircraft, I attended an EAA Sportair RV construction workshop at Aircraft Spruce’s Corona CA store. The workshop was conducted by Tom Emery. Tom is an excellent instructor, and he teaches prospective builders what they really need to know to get started on an RV. We spent Friday afternoon talking about primer choices, sheet metal basics, what tools are really required, and other similar stuff.

On Saturday we started with a small practice project, then proceeded on to Van’s practice airfoil kit. The practice project is designed to provide experience in the techniques discussed on Friday, and also to illustrate common errors in plans reading and tool use. The work area was set up in Spruce’s warehouse.

The work area was set up in Spruce’s warehouse.

The airfoil section kit is supposedly a RV-4 flap section. It isn’t prepunched, so measuring and layout is required before assembly. The frame is pretty basic – a spar and two ribs.

After assembling the spar and ribs with pop rivets, stiffeners positions are marked, then the stiffeners themselves are cut, finished and match-drilled to the skin. After match-drilling and deburring, stiffeners are back-riveted to the skin.

The spar and ribs are then riveted to the skin using a variety of riveting techniques – squeezing (both hand and pneumatic), pop-rivets, and traditional riveting using a gun and bucking bar. The forward edges of the surface are then rolled using a 1″ pipe, then pop-riveted together (sorry, no pictures), completing the project.

Is the class worthwhile? Yes, I think it is – especially if you have no previous metalworking experience. I had done a little work on a previous RV project attempt, so not everything in the workshop was new to me. It was, however, a good opportunity to ask questions of an expert, and also to make mistakes in a more forgiving environment. After all, you don’t want to buy any more replacement parts from Van’s than necessary! If you do sign up for a Sportair RV workshop, I recommend starting your RV as soon as possible thereafter – these skills are perishable, so don’t let them slip away.