The past two days have been productive. I got a few more things done around the shop, including getting my air compressor purchased. This is one of the most important tools in the build process, because the riveting and drilling are done with air tools. So I needed something with some good reliability and enough capacity to perform the way I need it to. After doing a whole bunch of research, looking over reviews, and taking a look at my situation, I decided to go with the Husky 30 gallon, oil-lubricated compressor from Home Depot. This one has some good history, some good reviews and runs of off 120v power. I was tempted to get the 60 gallon version of this compressor that runs off of 220v power, but my current place doesn't have 220v power in the garage. I would've had to run that, plus with the chance that I may move again sometime in the not so distant future (just part of life in the military), I didn't want to struggle with that one. So this smaller one will work well for me I think. I've broken the motor in at this point, but I'm waiting on a regulator/filter I ordered to get here before I do the final set up... and decide exactly where I want to put it.
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| My Husky 30 gallon air compressor... my first air compressor! |
I also got another workbench built. I wanted a smaller, more portable one that I could pull out and work on top of and then stow away at the end of the night. It turned out great. I'm really happy with these work benches. They are the EAA Chapter 1000 workbenches and are really solid. I made a few small alterations to the plans, but they follow the same basic design.
So, the shop is at what I would call 90% at this point. Pretty exciting! I plan to run a few more power outlets tomorrow (under the advisement of my best friend Joe), plan out some sort of plans holder, clean everything up some and probably find about 30 other things I want to do. But I don't have much time... I got an email today letting me know that my empennage AND wing kits shipped today! They're supposed to be here Monday! I thought I'd have more time before the wing kit got here, so I've got to rush to figure out where I will store that while I work on my empennage. May have to give up parking in the garage for a while. I didn't really want to do that, but airplane parts take priority! :)
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| A shot of the shop from just outside the garage |
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| A little closer view of everything |
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| You can see the smaller, more portable workbench here |
I'm excited to work some more on the shop tomorrow... but I am EXTREMELY excited because it sounds like I'll be getting my first RV ride tomorrow! I went to the local Experimental Aircraft Association (EAA) Chapter's meeting last night and met a lot of people. One of those, a guy named Richard, owns a -6 he keeps here at the local airport. I got a chance to see it and he said he'd take me up on Friday. So, we're planning to go for a ride at 0700. After that, he is planning to do some formation flying with a buddy of his... so I MIGHT get a ride in a -7 as well! Very excited. There will definitely pictures to come...
