Bob needs bucking up

Spent most of the winter waiting around for the fuselage to show up, cleaning up and organizing the hangar (nee garage), buying a few tools, looking at Web sites, reading preview plans.

So there was no reason to be surprised when the truck showed up with the crates.

We unloaded, put it in the garage, opened up for a quick peek and then closed it up (I had to go to work).

I had a little more time to spend this evening looking at the drawings and the plans (man, there's twice as much as for the wings), and skimmed through a few things. And then it hit me the way it did in the day's before my first son was born: am I up to this?

There sure are a lot of parts there. And just reading about bending longerons is enough to make you take up soccer.

BC

You can do it!

Bob,

YOU CAN DO IT!!!

There's a steep learning curve for first-time builders like us, pre-punched or not. But I swear -- and a la Hans and Frans, hear me now and believe me later -- after every step you'll look back and think, "What the heck was the big deal?!" You have to admit, you've already got lots of accomplishment under your belt with the tail & wings. Just keep doing what you've been doing.

Those longeron bends are EASY, just wait and see. Lots of boneheads (like me) have built these things. It can be done, and the reward is worth all the headaches and confusion and humiliation and pain. Truuuuust me, it's worth it.

Remember when your wings were just individual parts? In a while you'll be sitting there a mile up, world whizzing by at 200mph, and you'll be looking out at the rivets on the wings, looking around you at the canoe you'll have built, looking out of the canopy that was "soooo hard" to cut, and you'll be laughing your ass off in sheer joy.

Just take it all one step at a time, and you'll be flying the canoe before you know it.

)_( Dan
RV-7 N714D
http://www.rvproject.com

Checkoway is absolutely correct!

Bob, years ago I built a Cassutt racer from scratch and thought that there is no way this box of spruce strips and chromemoly tubing is EVER gonna fly! Never, ever! A strange thing happened about two years later on a Friday afternoon....suddenly there were no more parts to add on, no more spruce strips or mahogany wings skins to glue.......just gas to pour in!!!!!!!! You don't mean!!!!!!!! YeSSSSSSSSSS, tomorrow we fly! Fly we did, a day I'll never forget along with my first solo, the birth of my first son........well, anyway, you get the picture. Just shut up, pound rivets and enjoy the trip before it's over. Yes Virginia, the parts bin will soon be empty.
Regards,
Pierre Smith

Bob,

Sometimes when you look at everything, it looks overwhelming. So DON'T!! Start out by working on something simple. Take it one part at a time. Pretty soon, multiple parts come together to make up one big part. Confidence grows and you're on your way.

I try to make a point to do something on the airplane just about every single day, even if it's just ten minutes of work........set a plate nut, trim a skin, etc. Pretty soon, it all comes together.

And if you find your momentum slowing down, go to Dan's web site and check out his flying videos, or come back here and we'll help you out!

Hey Bob,

Been there, thought that ;-) It seems so friggin' overwhelming to look at that collection of parts and think "Holy crap, I have to put THAT tohgether ?" Trust me, just as everyone else has said, you'll get there. None of it is that hard, including those longerons. I remember watching George's construction videos wondering how I would ever be able to do it. And the wiring scared the hell out of me (I'm a software guy. I didn't know an amp from a paper clip).

Just keep pluggin away a little at a time. It really is kind of neat when you start to realize you don't have any parts left to install and you need to move the plane to the hangar. That happened to me last spring.

You will get there, and you will be surprised at how "easy" it was. You'll think "...why did that scare me so much. That wasn't hard at all..."

And that comment Dan made about being a mile up at 200 mph, he is right !! You'll be laughing your ass off.

Cheers

Thanks, forlks. You're all like my coach.

OK -- deep breath -- I'm going in......inventory time.

Cover me.

Blam blam blam!

I remember the exact spot you're at Bob. When I unwrapped all of the fuselage parts I was thinking I was in over my head. Just pull out the firewall parts--they go together like a jigsaw puzzle. Don't worry about the big pile o' parts. Just work on the bulkheads one by one. Check out Dan's site along the way for helpful advice on assembly. After six months of mostly 1-2 hour days, I can't believe I have a huge aluminum canoe in the garage.

Dave

Well, and YOUR site too, Dave, as you know. Very helpful.

This morning, before having to go to work, I started the inventory. Pulled every piece of packing paper out and folded it up all nice and neat. Inventoried two skins and then realized I've got to make more storage space before I continue.

Then I noticed it. If you break down the two sides of the big box, they're perfect shelves. 7 feet long and 14 inches deep. Reinforced every 16.25 inches (just a little over the distance on center of your basic garage stud). You can store a lot of parts on a garage shelf like that. So I'll pick up a half dozen 12" brackets on the way home and build a new shelf.

I did notice that Van's is no longer using much plywood/wood in their crates...only one side is "real wood", the rest is now pressboard. Not much use for pressboard other than to start the occasional campfire.

Oh by the way, I pulled out the instrument panel (smaller than i had anticipated) and stood it vertical on my workbench against the wall. First time in the project I actually made airplane noises.

Oh, by the way, while pulling the parts out and putting those first two skins in the former family room , a moment of clarity finally surfaced. On the wings, I noticed that corrosion had developed along the cut edges of some of the wing skins which I found odd because they were stored inside.

As I was placing the skin at the same spot I stored the others, it hit me. The family room -- errr, former family room -- is in a finished basement. It's just carpet over the cement slab. No moisture barrier (hey I didn't do it, the person that owned the house before me did, and while I'd like to do it right, why should I spend a bunch of money now when it's full of aircraft wings and parts?). The skin rests essentially on the thread over the slab.

As with any slab, there's moisture there and I'm sure that contributed to the corrosion, minor as it is.

So a simple layer of plastic took care of that. D'uh.

BC

You made it through the wings. You'll be telling us all at Oshkosh "Ain't no thang!". Do it, Bob!!!

Roberta

Bob:

My fuselage kit arrives tomorrow morning. After I finish up my flaps and pushrods (hopefully by week's end) I'll be diving into the fuse kit. Keep in touch since we'll be working on the same parts for a while.

Nothing -- NOTHING is stopping me now.

The secret to my motivation is the people around me -- my wife who is so supportive of this endeavor, my parents who are cautious but proud, and my friends -- oh man....the fellow RV builders around me are incredible. In particular, Mike Stewart. This guy would give you the shirt off his back if you asked him for it. Heck , he let me left-seat his RV to and from West Virginia -- how many builders/flyers would let someone do that to build time? Will I do that for someone? It wouldn't be easy.

The most striking thing about his letting me do that was that I had *no* idea the morning of the departure that I was going to be PIC for the flight. I walked around to the right side of the plane, loaded my stuff in and climbed up on the wing. "Nope, you're on the other side", he said. And this isn't the only time he's let me do it.

I guess the short of it is that for me it's the people that make RV's so incredible. Surround yourself with these people...you'll always have an unlimited supply of motivation.

Jamie in Atlanta.

Super Mike

You only need to talk to "Super Mike" one time to know that he is a really good person. I kid about the "Super Mike", the six banger, but he really is a super resource, always ready to help, super enthuiastic and a super guy.

When I read the previous post, I had to add my two cents in thanking Mike and thinking how I would never get to meet Terry.

Building RVs is the glue that brings a lot of really good people together, in fraternal friendship, to achieve a common goal. I encourage everyone to stop and enjoy the personal moments.

Thanks,

Robby

I remember that feeling, as I thought Oh my Gosh!! where will all of these parts go?? Don't remember when that was, but it now has an engine, the electrical works, and I may get it out of the basement in the next two weeks.

It can, and will be done. I have sent in registration to get my reserved N68AK applied, and things are looking up.

Never give up, it really is fun, and I guarantee, others have been there before.