F1 Rocket Hangar

Speed...Speed and Looks...Looks and Speed!

  • The Airplane Builder
  • F1 Rocket Info
    • F1 Rocket Specs
    • F1 Rocket Build Tips
  • F1 Build Log
  • About
    • Disclosure
  • Stewart 51 Hangar
  • Resources
  • Ask Mike | Contact

RV8 Tail Kit Unboxing

September 23, 2013 by admin Leave a Comment

Today marks the beginning of another Van’s RV-8 … Harmon Rocket II … F1 Rocket and this is the unboxing of the new parts.

For more details about the evolution of an RV-8 tail kit to an F1 Rocket check out my post that answers “What is a Rocket?”

RV-8 Tail Kit – Unboxing

The Van’s RV-8 tail kit comes in 2 boxes as you can see in the picture below.  If you happen to be wondering about the mess, I was in the midst of packing up my house and getting ready to move across the country for a new job that I was starting in the new year.  Not only that, but it also didn’t stop me from starting up a third homebuilt plane project which you can see part of on the dining room table in the background.  For that project I was building wing ribs for a Staaken Z-21 Flitzer.

RV8 Tail Unboxing

One of the best things about receiving the RV-8 tail kit boxes is the “Fragile High Dollar Aircraft Parts” labels.

RV8 Tail Unboxing 5

Van’s sure knows how to pack the parts for shipment. The smaller box contains all the ribs, composite tips, lead weights, hardware etc.  These parts are all bundled and wrapped with paper to prevent damage.  The larger box contained the outer skin surfaces, spars and stiffeners for the empennage, as seen in the lower picture. All these parts are very tightly packed together and I have no idea what kind of “Duct Tape” Van’s uses but this stuff is TOUGH!!  One word of advice, be careful pulling it off because it will want to pull the blue protective film off the aluminum.

 

RV8 Tail Unboxing 2

 

RV8 Tail Unboxing 3

My wife / co-adventurer Jo-Anne was also very excited about our new acquisition of parts.   Look at that big smile!

Happy Jojo

Getting the spars and stiffeners unwrapped.

RV8 Tail Unboxing 4

 

Please comment, I love to hear from my readers.  Thanks again for coming along for this ride, you make my work worthwhile.

 

Filed Under: Empennage Tagged With: Empennage, Parts, Unboxing

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Profile Photo 1 Hello - My name is Mike and I'm a true believer that if you can imagine something, it's just a matter of bringing it into reality.

Categories

  • Empennage
    • Elevators
      • Left Elevator
        • Trim Tab
      • Right Elevator
    • Horizontal Stabilizer
    • Rudder
    • Vertical Fin
  • In My Travels
  • Primer
  • Tools
  • Uncategorized
  • Wings
    • Ailerons
    • F-404 Bulkhead
    • Flaps
    • Fuel Tanks
    • Leading Edge
    • Left Wing
    • Rear Wing Spar
    • Right Wing
  • Workshop

Tags

Ailerons Anti-Hang Up Guide Countersink Dimpling Doubler E-606-PP Elevator Empennage F-404 Bulkhead Flaps Fuel Sender Fuel Tank Hinge Horizontal Stabilizer HS-3101 HS-3201 Jigs Leading Edge Main Squeeze Mods Oshkosh priming rear spar Rib spacing Riveting Rudder Rudder Brace Horn Screw-ups Spar spreader bars Stiffener Tools Trap Door TrimTab Vertical Fin VS-001 VS-002 VS-803PP VS-808PP W-407B W-407C W-407D Wing Wings Workshop

Copyright © 2025 · Beautiful Pro Theme on Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in