Side skins reinforcement completed

To comply with Service Bulletin 12-11-09 from Vans.
This was a necessary step before completing the fuselage painting. Here are pictures of the skin doublers once installed:

On the left side:

On the right side:

Now we are ready for the paint shop but we will have to wait for milder temperatures to proceed.

Painting in process

Given the time of the year, this process might take longer than usual, however we are well on our way with many small parts like the cowlings, the tail cone fairing, flapperons, rudder, Vertical Stabiliser and anti-servo tabs already done. The big things are still ahead: fuselage and wings.
We took the opportunity forced on us by SB 12-11-09 requiring to remove the Main Landing Gear (MLG) to put the fuselage on a rotisserie concocted by Terry. Here is how it works:
Firewall and tailcone end are attached to rotating supports

This allows to tilt the fuselage while painting, making the painting of the bottom more comforatble for the painter.

Here the fuselage is in the paint booth, waiting for priming.

The cockpit is all taped/masked with plastic sheets that are specially made for gun painting as they will keep the paint mist attached, preventing the mist to turn into invasive dust.
Here is a view of the cockpit with the Skyview under heavy protection:

The preparation is labor intensive and in the Experimental spirit, I am doing it all, with some help here and there!

I am an empty nester!

My bird has gone away and I feel lonely!
It all started this way, one morning a guy eager to show off an RV-12 in his hangar shows-up with a big trailer:

Once wrapped expertly by Terry, the bird takes to the highway:

And ends-up 45 minutes later at the place where it is going to get a double make-over: painting and Service Bulletin 12-11-09 implementation:

Why mixing painting and the SB?
Good question!
The idea comes from my painter Terry (aka Claude Monet) who owns the shop above:
As we have to take the MLG off and as the engine is not yet on, we have a perfect timing to put the fuselage on a "rotisserie" and therefore make the painting "easier" (we have to go easy on Monet's back!).
For the time being though we are in the blue regarding the delivery of the SB kit. After some investigation, I found that my friend Kim whose RV-12 is flying will receive the kit before me and, talking to him, he is willing to swap his kit with mine as he is going away for a couple of months and will not work on it right away. Problem is, VANs did not have Kim's RV-12 on the flying list but he had them update their files and we are now hoping for the best...
Still, getting back in my workshop the same day, I felt lonely and sad... My companion for 2 1/2 year was gone!

Not to worry, it will be back to mount the engine which is waiting for this by the garage door.

Santa Claus came early

Look at what I found in my workshop today:

This is one big box, let's see what's inside:

Another box! What is it, what is it?

It's an engine, it's a Rotax, I am the father of a Rotax 912 ULS!
I  could not have dreamed of a better Christmas "gift"!

My take on the Landing Gear Fix

This is what I shared on the VAF Forum to cool down the controversy about this critical Service Bulletin
Happy people never complain but in the context of this discussion I find it worthy to tell how lucky I feel:

I started almost 2 1/2 years ago, at the time the avionics was D100, Garmin GPS etc... As a green builder it took me enough time to get to the avionics kit to fall into the "Skyview hole", a six month delay and uncomfortable wiring retrofit but very satisfying glass panel result. Because of this delay I find myself with a plane that still has the fuel tank on a shelf and the brake lines filled with air (easy to purge!).
I forgot to mention that after pondering building or buying the fuel tank I opted to build based on the wise advice of a fellow builder (i.e., if you build it you know the screw-ups that are inside, if you buy it you don't)... and bingo, the fuel tank mod came just before I started building it. Had I bought it the modification would have been almost as aggravating as building the whole thing.
... And another one: because the news of the avionics update came so early (albeit at the cost of VANs credibility for a release date), I was aware that new wing connectors would replace the flimsy ones I was supposed to build which also saved me some work to be undone later.

Now I am waiting for the engine kit... and I cannot help wondering what kind of trouble is looming with Rotax?

Bad news and good news

This morning I find on VAF Forum that VANS is issuing a Service Bulletin to take care of a Landing Gear problem that led to skin wrinkles following loosening of the landing gear fasteners. This is the VAF Forum posting:
http://www.vansairforce.com/community/showthread.php?t=93410
I will receive the retrofit kit associated with this service bulletin in the future (as the SB is not official yet no official information is available from VANs concerning the schedule of shipping.
The bad news is that I will postpone my fuselage painting until this retrofit is done. The good news is that it did not come after painting and engine installation which would have resulted in a more difficult work. As the fuselage has to supported on stands while the landing gear is removed, it is preferable not to carry the weight of the engine during this phase. If my engine which is scheduled to arrive in one or two weeks arrives before the retrofit kit I will have to postpone engine installation too.
Overall, I consider myself lucky compared to the builders who are flying now: they will have to take the fuel tank out, purge the brake lines, get rid of the paint around the rivets that need to be drilled out, etc... all things I don't have to do.

I received the filter I had ordered from VANS following the mishap related earlier while installing the Auto Pilot roll servo. I decided to use one tie wraps each to secure filter and plug and I am happy with the result, easier to do and safer on the capacitor as the associated tie wrap needs less tension than the one used to secure the plug.
 Here is how it looks now:

I also secured the plug with a smaller tie wrap also used to route some wires.

A bad day in the workshop

I was working on the installation of the Autopilot Pitch Servo, a difficult to reach area with lots of challenges to pass your hands as well as the parts. I was practically finished, just tying the Molex plugs and Noice filter to the housing of the servo when I heard a click... The connection of the wires to the noice filter had broken under stress.
This is the noise filter resting on the instruction's drawing after a post mortem:

The issue is that the tie wrap pinpointed on the drawing is insufficient to secure firmly both filter and Molex plugs.
More details on the damaged filter: