Folks,
I have run across a partially built 7A QB kit and have a few concerns which I hope y'all can help me with.
First, the seller has about 350 hours into the project. He has completed the empenage (250 hours) and started on the fuselage (100 hours). Wings are still in the crates as Van's shipped them. Will this amount of work already done keep me from earning the repairman's cert? Do I need to do anything particular to improve my chances of getting the repairman's cert?
I have been told several times that the instructions on the empenage kit hold your hand and guide you through things step-by-step, unlike the instructions in the other three kits. This will be my first airplane build and my first time working with sheet metal, though I am pretty handy with tools. How much of a hinderance will it be to dive into this project with the empenage already done? Will taking the EAA SportAir RV workshop give me the skills I would have gotten from building the empenage? Other ideas?
Finally, exciting as this possibility is, it has the downside of accelerating the need for cash. Would it be reasonable to build this with a basic VFR panel and then, after flying/enjoying/savoring the plane for a year or so, gut the panel and replace it with the IFR panel that I really want? Or should I build the IFR panel from the outset?
Thanks,
-- Art Z.
I have run across a partially built 7A QB kit and have a few concerns which I hope y'all can help me with.
First, the seller has about 350 hours into the project. He has completed the empenage (250 hours) and started on the fuselage (100 hours). Wings are still in the crates as Van's shipped them. Will this amount of work already done keep me from earning the repairman's cert? Do I need to do anything particular to improve my chances of getting the repairman's cert?
I have been told several times that the instructions on the empenage kit hold your hand and guide you through things step-by-step, unlike the instructions in the other three kits. This will be my first airplane build and my first time working with sheet metal, though I am pretty handy with tools. How much of a hinderance will it be to dive into this project with the empenage already done? Will taking the EAA SportAir RV workshop give me the skills I would have gotten from building the empenage? Other ideas?
Finally, exciting as this possibility is, it has the downside of accelerating the need for cash. Would it be reasonable to build this with a basic VFR panel and then, after flying/enjoying/savoring the plane for a year or so, gut the panel and replace it with the IFR panel that I really want? Or should I build the IFR panel from the outset?
Thanks,
-- Art Z.