This is the building log for my Vans RV-9A, an airplane I've been dreaming about building for years. I finally had a belly full of waiting for things to line up for that "one day" moment, and so in December of 2007 I jumped on a Southwest jet and flew out to the Van's factory in Aurora, OR to check it out. I toured the factory, looked at quite a few of the airplanes, flew in the 9A demonstrator for about a half hour, and wrote a check on the spot. Less talk, more do.

Here's my story - just click on the links to the left to follow the progress on any of the aircraft parts. You can click on any of the pictures in this log (in the building pages, not on the main web home-pages such as this one) to get a high-resolution blow up for closer examination, just turn off your pop-up blocker. This site currently only allows three photographs per entry, and one entry per day, so I've got a much larger number of photographs taken than you see displayed here - if you have a question about any particular item, please email me and I'll be happy to send you a picture of it - or send me a disk and I'll burn all my photos on it for you. This is very much a work in progress, and is subject to interruption at any (and seemingly every) point to deal with "real life". Please check back often for updates!

3-1-2010 update - Slowly but surely, work continues on my aluminum mistress. Currently I've got the flap drive mechanism installed and I'm starting the process of installing the landing gear attach weldments. The finishing kit should be shipped from Vans next week, so I can get the canopy done during the warm summer temps. 897 hours (26 months) and counting. My girlfriend Amy has named my project Esmerelda, because in her words "That name sounds kinda slutty and you're always with her..."