Matt's RV-7 Project

I found eight cans of the precious paint at the Wal-Mart on 135th in Olathe. This is apparently the only place in my area that reliably carries it, because I've checked every other hardware store and Wal-Mart around here. At least I should have enough to paint most of what I need, and I know where to get it now if I run out in the future. I also cancelled my online order since the stuff from Wally World was two bucks less per can. Whew, at least that frustration is over with.

P.S. I actually called Rustoleum to see if the hardware store guy who claimed that my paint was discontinued was right or not – the customer service lady just laughed and said "oh no, we're still making tons of it." So nuts to you, Westlake hardware on 23rd in Lawrence.

I bet I've been to at least twenty hardware stores and Wal-marts in three different counties over the last couple weeks, including at least ten today, looking for paint for the interior of the airplane. I know exactly what I want – Rustoleum #7221, also known as Dark Pewter Textured – but I couldn't find it anywhere. This despite the fact that when I went to buy a test can a couple months ago, it was all over the place. At one store I visited, the guy told me he thought that color had been discontinued by the manufacturer, which would suck mightily since I already paind for an expensive interior that's supposed to match it.

So after wasting the entire day looking fruitlessly for the stupid paint, I went home and looked for it on the internets. I found one place that supposedly has it for sale, and placed a hundred-dollar order for a dozen cans. With my luck, they'll call me on Monday to tell me that they no longer have any to sell me, but until then I guess I'll work on other stuff.

I did a bunch of deburring of subpanel parts tonight, which wasn't worth a photo.

I called the EAA today to sign up for their builder's insurance program – you know, so in case my house burns down or gets knocked over by a tornado, I don't completely lose my considerable investment. All was well and good until the guy asked me for my N-number. I was all, "Que? It's just a pile of aluminum, not an airplane, and it doesn't have an N-number." No good, he said, you have to reserve a number before you can get insurance.

So, I spent the ten bucks and reserved a number online. I let Mary suggest a few numbers, and picked the one I thought was easiest to pronounce over the radio. Voila:

The digits are a meaningful date for us, both our initials are MB (how handy), and it's easy to say "niner mike bravo" in a hurry. As a bonus, it even has a 7 in it, as in RV-7.

I also registered a new domain name – as soon as the DNS information propagates, you should be able to access this site via www.n709mb.com.