Finishing kit trickling in

I received the notification of shipping from Van's last week, so the finishing kit is on its way. The paperwork showed a back ordered item, though. Apparently there would be some delay in the receiving of the tunnel wiring harness. I also noted that they are shipping via Baxter rather than ABF. I wonder if there has been some kind of falling out? Because, truth be told, every kit that I've received from ABF looks like it has fallen out of something on the way from Oregon. They don't treat the packages very gently at all, despite the big "FRAGILE" and "$$$$$" painted on the crates.

In any event, I touched base with the folks at the local Baxter (after tracking them down via their national phone number - the number provided by Van's was disconnected) early this week and was told to expect a call back from them when the package departed Chicago ("Which should be later today," they said on Monday) but I've not heard back from them. Having had recent experience with how long it can take to get a package from Chicago (remember the troubles I had with UPS?), I'm not yet worried.

I did get the wiring harness, though. It arrived via USPS a couple of days ago.

And last night, just as we were leaving to go out to dinner, the UPS guy showed up at my door. I was shocked to see him, and more shocked to see that he was delivering a very large and poorly wrapped package. Not expecting any deliveries, I was naturally suspicious. The return address provided no recognizable origin. To make matters worse, the package was beeping in that oh-so-clichéd way a package bomb beeps! Thank you for that, Hollywood.

I suggested to my well-insured spouse (by which I mean she has a lot of insurance on me) that she move away just in case. No sense missing out on the big insurance payment if worse comes to worst, right? It was at just about that time that the UPS guy got back to his truck and drove away, taking the ominous beeping with him.

Phew, at least that removed 'explosive' from the list of potentially bad things in the box, leaving only 'biological agent.'

"Honey, bring one of the dogs and have him give this thing a sniff!"

When the dog failed to immediately keel over from the effects of a malicious scent, I took a whiff myself. There's good news and bad news arising from that: while the box was redolent with an obnoxious odor, it was a smell that I'm familiar with: Pro-Seal. Could it be??

We fought a lengthy battle with the wads of packing tape that were loosely holding sheets of cardboard in place in the malformed shape of a box. Inside we found a cubic yard of those irritating foam packing peanuts. Pushing those aside in a way that guarantees that we will still be finding vestiges of them four years from now, we found a mile of bubble wrap with an RV-12 fuel tanks ensconced within. Yes! The smell of Pro-Seal was indeed an indication that my Van's-built fuel tank had arrived. Although... because of the way it was shipped, I don't think Van's built it. Someone is doing it for them. The work looks great, though, so more power to him. It feeds my prediction that there will be quite a few people going into the business of developing and selling after market parts for the RV-12.

Immediately recognizing the danger of allowing Egg to have six months worth of bubble wrap to torture me with from her incessant popping of the bubbles, I proactively announced that the tank would be required to stay in the wrapping until such time it is installed in the airplane.

At which point I will conveniently forget to bring the bubble wrap home.

Yes, I'm like that. It's how I roll.

I delivered the wiring harness and the fuel tank to the hangar and retrieved the plans, tools, and parts that I will need to construct the flaperons in the comfort of the Schmetterling Home Office. I'll start on that over the weekend, but in the meantime I have refined my drawings for my current favorite paint scheme.

The inspiration:

The "roundels" on the top wing will be decals costing about $100 each. As such, I don't think I will put anything on the bottom of the wing - no one sees that anyway when it's on the ground.