Today was moving day. My dad, brother and a bunch of friends came over to help me move everything. We ran one load down to the airport with almost everything but the fuselage then came back for that. The liftgate was not wide enough to get the gear completely on, so we laid a piece of plywood over it to give us a little margin of error.
Here’s the fuselage all strapped down for the ride. It worked well and arrived unscathed.
Here’s some of the moving crew. Thanks to all of you for your help!
Several of the guys (including one local pilot who stopped by when he saw the moving truck) stayed around until evening and we got both wings mounted (but not torqued) and the horizontal stabilizer installed. Thanks guys!
Unfortunately, when hammering in the bolts on the left side, I ended up bending the gusset that ties the spar to the lower longeron. It’s a fairly gentle bend, so I’m going to try and bend it back before ordering a replacement. Fortunately, this part is fairly easy to remove. It would be a serious pain to damage a part that is permanently installed or hard to access.
Update: On the advice of another builder who follows my site, I called Van’s about this and spoke with Joe Blank. He said that as long as the piece wasn’t bent back and forth until it work hardened, it would be fine. Although this is exactly what I expected them to say, it was good to have some further piece of mind.
