It’s been a while since I have posted an update. It does not mean I have not been working on my project! I have and making good progress. All of my work logs are logged on the EAA Builders log. You can see these details by visiting this link.
Here’s a quick update on where I am at and the major milestones I have completed in the past 3-5 months:
Had the fuselage longeron landing gear attachment service advisory completed. This involved having a surgical welder perform the steps outlined by the Christen Industries service advisory.
Had the fuselage structure and misc tube structure parts (i.e. tail features, elevator, rudder, landing gear, etc.) media blasted and powder coated. Metal Prep in Rockford, IL was used and they did a great job.
Moved the entire project from my lake house which was 2 hrs from home to my hanger which is now 15 min from home. Hoping for much higher productivity now!
Performed the steps required to join the front and rear spar halves for the upper wing. These spars were procured recently from Aviat.
Completed all the upper wing ribs. Most were completed by the previous builder I purchased the kits from, but I decided to build the compression ribs again with the notch for the sold anti-drag blocks. It was fun to build these and took some time.
Here are some pictures of these milestones. I’ll update the next milestone here, but feel free to visit my build log site on the EAA website if you want to get daily (I hope!) updates.
The Eagle II build does not require too much as far as power tools, etc – at least at this point. Like any project, good accessible workspace that is persistent is important. I decided to build the infamous EAA table and a smaller table that I use for small activities. I like to have everything mobile in my shop so that I can reconfigure the layout when I need to, for cleaning purposes and getting things in/out of the shop. I will be building my plane in a 1.5 car garage which luckily I should be able to dedicate for the lifetime of the project.
Here are some photos of the tables, shop, etc.
EAA Table Materials
EAA Table Final Assembly
EAA Table Complete
The Eagle II manuals are very detailed and provide you a list and even instructions on building additional support apparatus that you need. The plans called out for four (4) rigid saw horses which are used when joining the upper wing spars. Here are a few pictures of the saw horse construction and final product.
Saw horse construction
Completed Saw Horse
Completed Saw Horses
Aside of a number of hand tools, chisels, Dremel, etc. I have not yet purchased any new power tools. I did have a Harbor Freight desktop band saw and a Grizzly desktop belt/disk combo sander which I would imagine I’ll use during construction. I’m sure I’ll acquire tools as I need them which may delay the project a little based on the order and delivery time frames, but not being in a huge hurry to finish it makes this just fine.
Ha, that’s a question that is asked very often. I have no idea! It all depends on how much time I get to work on it. Unfortunately, right now the build won’t take place at my primary home which is rule #1 of “building your own airplane” broken. As with everyone, life gets in the way sometimes and for good reasons. I’m not in a hurry and plus I could always use more time in my Super Decathlon before graduating to the Eagle. I guess we will have to see after I get some momentum going.
It all started about 35 years ago when I saw my first Christen Eagle flying at a local air show. I was about 12 years old at the time. I loved biplanes and I also loved the Eagle’s paint scheme.
Fast forward those 35 years and here I am building the airplane I have dreamed about all my life.
Deciding to build a Christen Eagle is the easy part. The tough part is determining how to procure the kits. There are a few options, the easy but very expensive option is to purchase the kits from Aviat Aircraft. Another option is to find an Eagle that needs TLC, specifically a rebuild. And yet another option is to try and find a partially built Eagle or even possibly one that is still “new in the box” ready to be assembled. My preference was to find the “new in the box” kits, but I quickly realized that might be a dream. I was luck and ended up with a partially started build with plenty of work left to do. My inventory of Eagle kits/parts/pieces was based on bulk purchases from two private parties. The first purchase included about 60-65% of the aileron, upper and lower wing kits (901-903). Nothing built – the parts and pieces were in a handful of cardboard boxes. The second purchase included more – just about everything for kits 901-914. I have some redundancies with the wing kits, but it’s working well so far as I inventory everything and finding gaps.
Both trips required a 1-way commercial airline ticket and Uber to a moving truck rental place and then about 15 hrs of driving back home. For the heck of it, I decided to try two different moving truck companies, the Penske truck was by far nicer (it had cruise control). It was quite a bit larger since the 2nd trip included the fuselage and more things.
So, what’s done and what is left to do? Here’s a list based on the Eagle kit numbering system:
901/Ailerons – They are completed. I actually have 3 sets of them. If anyone needs a set of ailerons, let me know!
902R/Lower Wing Ribs Kit – The lower wing ribs are built. Need to inspect them and identify any hanger/storage rash.
903R/Upper Wing Ribs Kit – The upper wing ribs are built. Need to inspect them and identify any hanger/storage rash.
902/Lower Wing Kit – The lower wings have mostly been built. The right lower wing does not have the leading edge sheet metal on yet, but the left lower wing does. There is some hanger/transport rash that I need to resolve as well as redo the drag/anti-drag corner blocks which were done per the original specs, but I plan to redo with single blocks.
903/Upper Wing Kit – Nothing has been done with the upper wing kit (other than the ribs).
904/Fuselage Kit – The turtle deck sheet metal has been completed and most of the nut plates have been put on the fuselage.
905/Landing Gear Kit – The landing gear and tail wheel has been mounted on the fuselage. There is some storage rash on the main gear which I think I’ll need to have stripped and re-painted. Additionally, the tail wheel looks to be dry rotted, so it may need to be replaced.
906/Tail Structure Kit – The rudder has been mounted. The hinges have a little surface corrosion as does the vertical stabilizer. I need to figure out what to do in these areas, maybe some light sanding will do the trick. I may need to consult an expert on this.
907/Fuselage Equipment Kit – Nothing has been done.
908/Cockpit Equipment Kit – Nothing has been done.
909/Fuel System Kit – Nothing has been done.
910/Electrical Kit – Nothing has been done. Many of the components need to be replaced due to corrosion. I’ll have to figure this out when I get there.
911/Instrument Kit – Nothing has been done. The only thing that came with this kit is the panel, I’ll be needing to purchase the actual instruments.
912/Navcom Kit – Nothing has been done, but much like kit 911, not much is there as far as parts. I’ll be needing to purchase and possibly fabricate a few things.
913/Seat Belt Kit – Nothing has been done, but I have everything.
914/Fuselage Panels Kit – Nothing has been done, I am missing most of the panels, but the seller has them and will be shipping them to me.
915/Canopy Kit – Nothing has been done, but I have confirmed everything is there (it’s still in the Aviat crate it shipped in originally!).
Here are some pictures of the above before I started any building:
Wing Kit
More wing kit pieces
Wing kit parts
Upper wing ribs
Anti-drag block (needs to be retrofitted)
Canopy kit
Anti-drag blocks (need retrofitting)
Lower wings
Right lower wing
Landing gear (might need some TLC)
Rudder hinge and brace (surface corrosion?)
Pushrods (some corrosion on threads)
Fuselage
Fuselage hatch
There are more parts, pieces, etc., just wanted to share a sampling. That’s it for the intro, look back often for build updates.
