This is the complete reprint of an 11 part series by RV-7 builder Dan Checkoway which was first published in KITPLANES magazine from August 2005 through June 2006.

In it, RV Builder Dan Checkoway begins our journey through the gritty details of working with metal and provides an excellent step by step metal working.

From the Author:
In this series, I hope to pass along the education I received at the blunt end of a rivet gun and, equally important, from my friends and colleagues who have built metal airplanes as well. (Never underestimate the value of help from friends and those who have gone before.) While I have helped lots of people on airplane projects, I myself have only built one plane. And it wasn’t even a scratch-built or plansbuilt plane—I built it from a highly evolved kit. I say “evolved” because the guesswork has largely been eliminated from the process. Essential parts are, for the most part, pre-cut, pre-formed, and in many cases match-drilled. It’s amazing how easy building a metal plane from a kit has become!