It is EAA Homebuilder’s Week! For those of you who do not know how to celebrate, the best way is to send your favorite homebuilder (ME!!!) tools or dark chocolate or both. I need reamers in all sizes. I could also use an engine and a prop if you feel like you really want to reward me for the joy you have found in following my build.

So the wings and fuselage are now officially in crating. That means that in a couple of months I will have to get them from Oregon to Colorado. I am considering taking a roadtrip with a couple of friends (girls’ trip to Van’s! – if you want in, let me know) and driving them back in a U-Haul. It will actually be cheaper and could be fun. We can talk about airplanes and also stop at all the fabric and yarn shops on the way back. What could be better!

For my non-builder readers, here is the vertical stabilizer:

For those of you playing along at home, I have a few sections that do not have any replacement parts needed. So the next goal is to finish the vertical stabilizer. It has a few pieces that need some extra work, but nothing in that section needed replacement parts. I went through and highlighted all of my plans on the digital copy so it is very easy to avoid the replacement parts for now. If you are really curious, and how could you not be, the blue highlights are parts to keep an eye on. The red and yellow are parts that are being replaced. Thank the heavens above that I only have these issues with the empennage and that I dragged my feet on building so I don’t have to do any unbuilding. I feel for you all who are having to unbuild and do this with wings and fuselage, too. Thoughts and prayers, fellow builders in the trenches, thoughts and prayers.

Here are the rest of the empennage sections (so much better than IKEA instructions):

Accountability time: here is what comes next. Finish horizontal stabilizer. Then elevator assembly. Last will be rudder assembly and aft fuselage because they have the most replacement parts. Hoping to have that done by the time the wings and fuselage arrive. We shall see. The wings are going to take forever, so I am already emotionally preparing for that.

I know a few of you readers have decided to move to different homebuilds. We are all still family and I am looking forward to watching your builds.

As always, go buy some coffee at https://www.poweredbypilotfuel.com so I can afford to buy more tools!