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North to Alaska! Summer may seem a long way off but now is the time to begin planning your flight to Alaska. The only significant delay is in obtaining the radio license for your airplane and yourself. We were never asked for this documentation while traveling in Canada but it is a legal requirement. More importantly the planning gives you hope while you're grounded by the gray days of winter. My wife and I completed the trip in our RV6A last summer. It was a delightful trip which I need to repeat because the weather in Alaska did not allow us to see everything on our list. (Charlie Kaluza in the fabulous EAA 105 March newsletter)

Plane in crash rode turbulence
The turbulence was bad all the way over the Tehachapi Mountains to Mojave on Saturday morning, shaking the six planes as they knifed through the sky. Jasbir "Jess" Mallian's brand-new Harmon Rocket II kit plane, with only six hours in the air, came through the rough ride fine. Pilots and their passengers piled out and enjoyed breakfast. Then they headed out for Bakersfield through the infamous Santa Ana winds. Only five planes made it back. (Bakersfield Californian)

RVator nominated for Bingelis award
Martin Sutter retired early, at age 51, and began what essentially is a full time non-paid career of helping builders complete their homebuilt projects. Additionally, he started an RV-8 project and completed the major portion of the airframe. He sold that uncompleted project as he and wife decided the RV6 better suited their flying needs. Martin began helping Bob Avery, of Avery Tools, and taught classes in metal aircraft building, and instructed many first time builders on the proper techniques. (EAA 983 March newsletter)

The pre-inspection up close
Larry Mills has been working on his RV-6 for eight years and he really is seeing the light at the end of the tunnel. It was time for the Pre-Inspection so last Saturday we met him at his hangar at Anoka County Airport. The usual suspects showed up: Tom Berge, Alex Peterson, Jim Lenzmeier, Pete Howell, and me to record the event.(Doug Weiler in the VAF Mn Wing March newsletter)

Advice to dreamers
At 39 years old, Steve Raddatz has been involved in aviation only since 1996. But don't let his age and time spent in the field fool you into thinking that he's too young to have much experience. In that 10 years he has more than made up for lost time and has built a variety of kit aircraft, including three RV-8s, a Pietenpol Aircamper, a Sonex, a Harmon Rocket, and an RV-10, and he is currently building another RV-8 and an RV-10. (Sport Aviation - March 2007)
Related Links:
So you want to build an RV
In the Mags index

Map and stuff box
Back when I was designing the panel, I thought about a map holder but didn't really find the Van's map box feasible for me. In searching for a place to put my charts, registration and other 'stuff' I made this little contraption. Today I got to install it in the plane for the first time while the winds were howling. It installs on the spar channel cover and the vertical support just ahead of it. Note, I installed about 8 nutplates on the spar channel cover so I could add some map lights. That way I can remove the front face and gain access to the stuff buried in that channel. Works pretty good although I'll probably remake it so that it is deeper and then the charts will fit a little better. That longeron is messing with the charts sitting nicely against the skin. I'm also going to add a place to put my mp3 player on it as well as the Lightspeed headset controller. That wire you see hanging near the key switch is the 3.5mm input for aux music. (Scott Will on VAF)

ARCHIVES See a list of previous RV Builder Hotlines organized by date and subject. (Go)

PICTURE OF THE WEEK I'm a sucker for first-flight pictures. I wish I got more of them (hint). Jim Percy had his first flight in his RV-7A this week. I've put together a Flash slideshow of images. (More)