Welcome to Sam Buchanan's RV6 web
site! I hope you will find this site to be informative and entertaining as you continue to
gather information about the RV series of kit-planes. I solicit
your comments and suggestions on this site as long as they are fairly nice and you use
good grammar.
Sam flies with Van's factory
instructor Mike Seager
(and the RV6 survives!)
Ground-bound no longer!
Update 10/1/99; N399SB has now accumulated 25.0
hours and is free to go when and where she wishes due to the completion of the test phase.
I suppose this is a logical place to end the twenty-two month saga of how several crates
of aluminum parts became a fully commissioned aircraft. In actuality I realize that the
saga has just begun since no homebuilt aircraft is really ever finished as long as it is
in flying condition.
Profuse thanks go to the hundreds of readers who faithfully followed the
construction process of my RV6. I hope your projects, either present or future, bring you
great enjoyment and fulfillment.
See ya at a fly-in......
P.S. Check the Front Page for updates as the hours
accumulate on N399SB.
The empty nest.......
Disclaimer! This site describes the construction of
N399SB only! It is in no way a depiction of construction practices and sequences that are
officially approved by Van's Aircraft or anybody else that knows what they are doing. If
you follow the construction steps shown in this site specifically for the construction of
your aircraft, you are a gullible individual indeed! Every custom built aircraft should be
frequently inspected by folks who are competent in the construction of fast little
airplanes, and the construction logs herein depicted are for your entertainment only.
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The intention of this site is to give you an overview of what the RV6 kit is all
about from the viewpoint of a builder (empennage kit begun 10/28/97). You will be privy to
my many triumphs and displays of ingenuity and also the occasional "UH-OH!!"
Since I am more interested in building an airplane than managing a web site, the
construction notes will be brief but hopefully helpful. This site will maintain a
standard of decency that will be suitable for viewing by all members of your family so the
rather, uh, well, innovative phrases and characterizations that can follow a major booboo
in the shop will be deleted from the record prior to publishing. |
Why an RV6?
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Of all the kits on the market, why build an RV6? To answer that question you must
examine the traits you desire in your Perfect Plane. Do you want to go fast? Do you want
to travel? Do you want to be able to takeoff and land on short grass strips? Do you want
an airframe that is built with established methods and will last a long time? Do you want
an aircraft that can loop, roll, and not come apart in the air? Do you want a plane that
offers a good value for the money spent and a fair chance for good resale? You
don't want much, do you! However, the RV series of kits enable you to achieve all of the
above goals and give you the incentive to live in your shop for a quite a while in the
process. Actually, most RV builders consider the construction phase of their plane to be
well worth the effort and besides, you emerge from the shop with flesh and beady little
eyes that have been protected from the ravages of the sun for the past couple of years and
hands that possess the skills needed to BUILD ANOTHER PLANE!!
And so you ask, why the -6 and not the 6A? Because all real planes have big round
engines and the little bitty wheel on the tail! I haven't figured out yet how to get the
big round engine on the RV6, however.
sbuc@hiwaay.net
Who is Sam Buchanan?
Back to "The RV Journal" Front Page
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Table of Contents
RV6 Home
Who is Sam?
The Hangar
Getting Ready to Build
Odd 'n Ends
Building the Tail
Horz. Stab Log
Vert. Stab Log
Rudder Log
Elevator Log
Uh-Ohs
Building the Wings
Wing Spars
Wing Assembly
Flaps
Ailerons
Fuel Tanks
Building the Fuselage
The Finish Kit
Aviation Articles
Flight of Rediscovery
The Beat Goes On
The RV Journal
Front Page
Talk
to Sam
Total Construction Time as of 7/31/99 (aircraft at airport):
995.25 shop hours
(doesn't include all the hours spent thinking
about the project!)
Tail kit complete
93.75 hrs
Wings complete
179.25 hrs
Fuse complete
243.75 hrs.
Finish kit complete
205.5
Painting complete
124.0 hrs.
Firewall Forward complete
92.5 hrs.
Panel complete
56.5 hrs.
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