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How many hours a week do you work on your plane?

C

cwoodyfly2001

Member
On a average basis how many hours a week are you guys (gals) working on your RV? I have an idea of how many hours I could work on a plane and starting to think it might be a 100 year project if I start..
Thanks Chris
Bonney Lake, WA
Hope to start a -7 in a few months
 
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I average about 12-14 hours a week. Started in July '05, now awaiting fuselage to arrive with the emp and wings done.
 
Dear (don't know your first name),


I averaged 37 minutes per day over a period of 5.5 years on the construction of my RV-6.

Best,
Doug
 
Only six weeks into it, I am averaging about 15 hours per week. Honestly I was thinking I would only manage around 8 but I'm pleasantly surprised. I haven't heard one complaint from the wife yet, so things are working out nicely. :D

Go for it Chris! I live pretty close to Lake Tapps.

Jeff
 
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I am on the eight year plan. I started out with a goal of 10 hours a week (LOL!). Life got in the way. My goal changed to have a plane, a wife, and a child who recongnizes me by the time that I flew her. I'm down to around five hours a week and have learned that this is not a sprint...I am in it for the long haul.
 
Been flying for 9 years. I now have 1,976 flying hours on the airplane.

It took 8.5 years to build. I had 3,000 man hours in the SLOW BUILD not prepunched airplane.

8.5 years X 52 Weeks / year = 442 weeks
3,000 man hours / 442 weeks = 6.8 hours / week

I remember many 20 hour weeks finishing up.

I spent 26 weeks in Japan on a total of 4 business trips that spanned 18 months. I also remodeled my 2nd exwife's house, spent a week in the hospital, and one month off work due to injury. So I did not work on the airplane every month during that time.

The time it took to build (and the money) is now spent flying and maintaining.

IF the airplane was given to you, take the money and time that you would spend to fly it and put it into building it.

I gave up watching televison to find time to build. I also had a full time job, and went to school 20 hours a week for 3 years during the same time frame.
 
I would love to average 10 hrs a week but with travel it is hard to do some weeks. I make up for it other weeks. I am building a slow build RV-8. I hope the pre punched fuse will help me stay around 1800 hrs for completion. This does not include time spent dreaming and researching.

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FP07012007A0005B.jpg
 
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Let's see....I took 18 months for my QB, and put down 1040 "contact hours" (that's hours spent in the shop, hands-on with the project) in my log from start to first flight. I guess that works out to about 2 hours per day, every day. Of course, I had some time away in there on business trips, so I probably spent 3 - 4 hours every building session.

Your mileage WILL vary!

Paul
 
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I started almost exactly 2 years ago, and have logged 466.5 build hours so far - for an average of about 4.5 hours per week.
When I get done remodeling this house and finish some other tasks I hope that will increase some!

T.
 
Quick Build

Picked up the QB kit on Feb 2nd flew September 12th, the same year. Busted my a&& building. I would not recommend anyone doing it this way, the first three months was fun immersing myself in the project after that it became a grind. But worth every minute!
I averaged close to 50 hours per week with a few weeks off in the middle.
 
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My .02 worth is that "it takes what it takes". Anytime I start thinking I will have a task done in "X" amount of time something happens to push that back. Sometimes I can say I work around 20+ hours a week. Other times I am lucky to get 1 hour in per week. Things happen to keep you from working that you have little control over. I am sure whenever I finish I can look back and average out the number of hours per week or per day I worked on the kit but that average does not hold as a true statement when I look back at the over all picture. Some days or weeks just are impossible to spend any quality time on the project while other days or weeks you are able to knock out huge chunks. You just have to keep chugging along and do what you can. Then one day you walk out to the shop and can't find anything else left to do but start the thing up. I am a long ways away from that day but am very much looking forward to it.

As always YMMV.
 
how much time?

Here are the questions I should have asked myself when I was starting. They are the three project management questions always asked... What resources, when is it due, what is the scope of the project. Oh and yes how bad do you want it? That is 4 questions isn't it... but hey, that is scope creep. Read on you will get the idea.

1) How much money am I willing to spend?
There is the quick build option $
The panel can be built sort of like the quickbuild option $
The engine can be purchased in bolt in condition $
The Plane can be painted by outside professionals $

2) What does the plane need to have to make me happy?
This seems to be the panel and the paint job question. I could have saved myself 30,000 and 2+ years here.

3) How soon do I need it?
I ended up buying a Citabria to have something to fly while I complete this project.

My status: 5 years into building a RV-7A. I would make it a RV-7 next time. I am out of panel space and the budget for electronics would draw attention even in the Paul's space program. I had originally estimated $30,000 and 1 year to build. Oh Yea I?m cool and fast :rolleyes: . There is no quick built and little rebuilt stuff in the plane. I put in 8-10 hours of "contact time" every week. I now have over $60,000 that I dare to admit to my wife, and we had to move to an airpark. I now have an apartment over the hangar for visitors and friends, and... Well, I would do it all again.

(Almost ready to fly, no paint)
 
I spend about 20 hours per week on the airplane.
But about half of that is walking around the garage looking for one of my two cleco pliers. :(

Mark
 
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I averaged about 16 hrs per week building a QB over 18 months with about 1300+ hours of shop time. Some weeks were more hrs, some less.

Roberta
 
Still 2 years to go

All I know is that when I started work on my RV7A slo-build I was telling people I'd have it finished in 2 years (and I believed it). Now, three years down the track....I'm still telling them I'll have it finished in 2 years (and I still believe it).
 
Slow build RV-8A QB

Average time spent first 27 months (pre-retirement) 2.5 hours per week :(

Average time spent last 4 months (post-retirement) 6.8 hours per week :)
Average wind chill in unheated garage/aircraft factory for last 4 months - 30 degrees!

Total time to date is 406.5 hours in 30 months. I only log hands on construction time. Tail and wings completed and fuselage is 85% complete. Ready to order finishing kit.

Targeted completion date - Labor Day 2007! This means my average shop time will need to increase to 16.8 hours per week. Should be easy once ice melts around house.

Al Thomas
N880AT (reserved)
 
average time per week

Chris,
I have been putting in about 12hrs a week on my slow build -8. I got slowed down over the holidays due to a promotion (hopefully will pay for more airplane parts :D ) and the holidays. I just recieved my wings so I am trying to get back into my routine. I use the sleep deprevation method -getting up at 5am and putting in hour or so before work (I live :15min from work). I also get 5 to 10 hrs on a good weekend (not always).
My 2 cents.
 
Nothing but time..

Let's see....

I'm 4 1/2 years into a slo-build and currently doing wiring/ avionics with about 1050 hours hands-on (double that for research other indirect time). Just looking at work remaining, I plan on doing engine install this Spring/ Summer, then wrap up next winter.

I also had a relocation last year and about 4 months of no work, so overall, I'm averaging about 250 hrs/ year. Keep in mind that I have a 3-year old and a full time job, so there's a life involved there.

Kind of OT, but has anyone really done a study of what a typical RV looks like on a network diagram? Given enough resources (hours and $) I always wondered how fast a team could really assemble one from a slo-build.

Jim
 
Hi Chris,

It took me two years to complete my 7A with QB wings and SB fuselage.
I worked on it almost every weekend during that time, at least 8 hours per day
sometimes much more. I worked on it every day during the week for 3-4 hours
as well. Not married so I could do that.

Once I started building I was hooked, it became my "main thing" at the cost
of everything else. I ended up gaining about 10 pounds during that time too.
Social life was stunted as well. Was it worth it? Absofrickenlutely!

Good luck!
 
12.5 per week

Hi Chris
I was putting in between 10 and 15 hours per week. I try and work 1.5 hr per night during the week and 2 to 4 hours on Sat and Sun. I normally get up before my wife on the weekend and as long as I leave time for her, she's ok with my build time. I'm hoping for a QB in about 2 years or 1500 to 1900 hrs
Having a heated 3 car garage attached to my house sure makes it easier than having to run out to the hanger every night or weekend.
An accident has slowed me down to zip but I'm hoping to get back to work this summer.
Right now I'm in the planning stage again.
Russel Koch
RV9A
 
I'm 1 year into the project (almost to the day) and have 400.5 hours in so far. I've had several 4-6 week periods with no time at all, and a few weeks with 15 or 20 hours. I came into this slow build project figuring on 5 years, and if it takes 2,000 hours, I'm right on schedule!
I really enjoy it, and would like to spend more time in the hanger, but (pick one): too hot or cold (30x40 pole building-zero insulation, heat, or cooling); wife to keep happy (together time, honey-do projects); and brain-sucking TV!
I know, if I were "serious" about this, I would give up TV. I've tried to convince the wife to get rid of the dish, and forget about cable, but she won't allow it. Giving up TV is as hard as losing weight...
 
Hi Chris!
It took me 4.5 years to get my RV4 to the now 'readytoflywithoutpaint'-status. The 4 has no QB options, and the Huns are not familiar with inches:eek:)
I wrote down every minute, including head-scratching, cleanup of the shop/spraygun/....and have around 4000 on the hobbs now. The math is up to you.
My shop is door to door with the living-room, my 'second job' (to earn money..) around the corner, and, most of all, my wife was able to suffer in silence.
The main thing is: How good is good enough? You can double the time on many things when you're looking for perfection, and to find the golden way is sometimes hard. That is especially true when it comes to those things like canopy, cowl, fiberglass fairings and so on.
Hit the shop door running, build little projects at a time, don't even think of building a whole aircraft, try to keep your wife happy, have a plan in mind when you open the door, keep the shop organized and clean, and be aware that you will spend less and it will come together faster than expected (LOL!)
If you stay away too long, it simply takes too much time to become familiar again. I was happiest when I made the project part of my everyday live. You can't get it out of your brain, anyway.

I would do it again! Have fun, Dirk (VAF 768)
 
one thing I would like to see is a rough guide telling you what percentage of the way through the typical RV project you are when you get to each subcomponent. e.g., when you're done the empennage, what percentage of the work is this (obviously a very rough estimate)? Similarly, when you finish the wings, the fuselage, etc? Mileage will obviously greatly vary, but probably not by as much as the variance in building hours. Someone who works slower (faster) will likely work slower (faster) across the whole project, so the whether you work slow or fast, each sub-kit should be able to give you a rough idea of what percentage of the work you have done.

I thought about surveying people's build logs on their websites and taking some average values to compute estimates of these percentage values. I think Vans should say something "When you finish the ***, you're about ** percent done the project (assuming you do a typical engine and VFR avionics configuration)."
 
prkaye said:
one thing I would like to see is a rough guide telling you what percentage of the way through the typical RV project you are when you get to each subcomponent. "
Click to expand...
"When you can sit in the cockpit, look out over the engine and prop, and wiggle the controls, you are 45% complete." (I was told this by "Rocky" Rockwell [RV-3 builder / flyer]) back in 1988 while I was building.

Many others have said that when you think you are 90% finished, you still have 90% of the time to spend finishing the project.

From experience, everyone is different as they have different time constraints, budgets, tools, and skills.
 
From experience, everyone is different as they have different time constraints, budgets, tools, and skills
Click to expand...

That's certainly true, and it explains why some people build in a year, while others take 10 years. But the total number of tasks to be completed in a project is constant... doesn't depend on skill and time constraints (those factors just affect how long it takes you to complete those tasks). Some tasks are bigger than others... what I am thinking of is something that says, "these tasks account for roughly 10% of the total work, these tasks for 20%, etc etc". That way, regardless of how slow or fast you work, you have some more objective way of tracking your progress.
 
Hours per week

Hi Chris,
In the realm of Vansairforce.net you're nearly my neighbor. I'm on Bainbridge Island. My weekly work effort varies quite a bit because I have other hobbies, self employment, family and a C-172. The average is about 8 to 10 hours per week (some weeks 0, others 18 to 20). Sometimes a small problem is encountered and I sit in my shop on a stool and ponder solutions. When I say "problem", this usually means that something could line up or look better with more effort. The perfectionist side of me causes slow-downs.

Brian Vickers, RV4 finishing
Bainbrige Island, WA
 
Obsessive-compulsive

I don't know if this is unique behavior, but I will get extremely motivated and work 30 hrs per week on it (I am not retired), exhaust myself, take 2 months off flying model airplanes, start to feel bad about lack of progress, work 40 hrs per week on it for 6 months, get REALLY burned out, take the entire summer off at the lake riding jet skis. Back to building feverishly. After spending the entire month of December building a deck and jacuzzi, I am now working on the plane 50 hours per week, expecting that hospitalization is imminent!

I think this is what they call an obsession!
 
One thing I stress in my Forums is building times. The building process is divided into 19 EQUAL time segments. 10%, 20%, 30%, 40%, 50%, 60%, 70%, 80%, 90%, 91%, 92%, 93%, 94%, 95%, 96%, 97%, 98%, 99%, complete!
I can tell at this point who has built before. Everyone ELSE laughs.
 
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N674P said:
I'm 1 year into the project (almost to the day)
I really enjoy it, and would like to spend more time in the hanger, but (pick one): too hot or cold (30x40 pole building-zero insulation, heat, or cooling); wife to keep happy (together time, honey-do projects); and brain-sucking TV!
Giving up TV is as hard as losing weight...
Click to expand...


I am about 1 year in to the day as well.

This is how you should be building though. Weather is not an issue.


http://img167.imageshack.us/my.php?image=picture134rw7.jpg

Sorry for the crappy pic., my camera is VERY cheap.
 
Captain Avgas said:
All I know is that when I started work on my RV7A slo-build I was telling people I'd have it finished in 2 years (and I believed it). Now, three years down the track....I'm still telling them I'll have it finished in 2 years (and I still believe it).
Click to expand...
Whoa! Welcome to my life.:D I am just like you, believing the 2 year myth (for me) until I found myself STARING at fuel tanks for nearly a year before I actually began the task. It turned out to be pretty much a non-event and I should still be finished this summer (hah!):rolleyes:

-mike
 
Enjoy the process and dont worry about the time.

I WILL fly my 6 in the next month or two after 8+ years. I started out with a 5 year plan. I started logging every minute it took for every process and assembly. It frustrated me when things did not go as planned and I found that to be no fun. After a while, I quit loggin my time and did not worry about how long. There is no requirement to log your time, only document that you actually built the machine, which can be done very simply with pictures and records.
There are documented studies that show if you have a real job, and a family, the maximum hours you can devote to ALL of your hobbies is 500 hours per year, max., 250 is more realistic unless you are retired or extremely devoted.
My RV6 cost aprox. $80K to build, 8 years of my life, and one wife. Worth every penny and every moment spent. I can always get another wife ;)
Enjoy the process of building or you will be one of the many empenage kits for sale.
 
I usually get about 4 hours a week, if I'm lucky. No kids, but a job, a fixer-upper house, a 100lb dog, and a social life are all vast timesinks. If my house wasn't falling down, I could probably justify disappearing into the garage on weekends. I lose a half hour a day to the dog. He needs walking and reminding who's boss, or I'm in trouble. Then there's that whole marriage thing.

Some days I just can't work up the motivation to go out there, especially staring at the possibility of more failure (on my 2nd rt elevator and 2nd rudder). Some days I try to hurry, and that just generates mistakes. I'm slowly coming to terms with the fact that it's not a race. I just keep telling myself that by the time I'm ready, Blue Mountain will have gone through 2 or 3 versions and I might be able to hang a diesel on the nose.
 
Echo

I can say the same thing as many of you have already said, i.e., enjoy the building phase. It's supposed to be for "recreation and education." And don't get a guilt trip if someone else builds their similar RV in X,XXX hours. I realized a few years ago that some people count time in different ways. Back in my missile days, we called it FAIT labor (Fabrication, Assembly, Inspection and Test), but that doesn't count engineering, design, procurement, etc.
Anyway, enjoy the ride...
In my case, I started the empennage in 2003, my Dad had a stroke in 2003, and I quit working on the RV in 2004 to help take care of my Dad. He passed away in March, 2006, and as soon as the estate stuff is settled (I am the Executor) I fully intend to get back on it. I do want to fly it before I die, but I don't plan to kill myself building it :) .
I say consider it a hobby, not a job.
MTC...
Don
 
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It's so hard to compare the progress of two builders. People are so different in their approaches to problems, their methods for solving said problems, and their end product.

A local guy named Paul built the RV-8 that graces the front of Van's website. That plane makes it around quite a bit and anyone who has seen it knows that it's a beautiful aircraft -- definitely in the top 1% of all RVs built. It did take him however quite a while (I believe it was eight years, if I remember correctly). He built *multiple* sets of elevators until he felt it was just right. He used no blind rivets in the construction...not even on the lower surface of the ailerons. Paul's goal was to build an award winner, which is precisely what he did.

I know other guys that have whipped out their airplanes without a problem...very quick. They have a different standard for the end result -- not that it is unsafe, but they simply had a different goal. Theirs was not to win awards, but rather to go flying.

So the number one thing that is going to make you decide on time to build is your end goal. Good = shorter build time, Perfect = longer build time. That's an accurate statement if you're a first-time builder or an 8-time builder.

Also, enough can't be said about the complexity of the systems. If you're going to go dual batteries, dual alternators, every wiz-bang efis gizmo in your panel and inverted oil it's going to require time to get everything installed.

My goal was to go flying in good looking (but not award winning) airplane. I hope to do that before too long.

I have to say that I really enjoy the task of building. It has been quite a journey. Yes, as strange as it seems...I have made quite a journey in an airplane that has never left the ground. I can't imagine what it must be like to fly one after all of this.

Only time will tell how accurate my signature is... ;)
 
Well said, Jamie. Your thoughts remind me of what my EAA Technical Counselor said on his first visit. "You need to decide early on if you want to build a show plane or a plane to fly...and then do it." I think that's good advice.
Don
 
RVbySDI said:
My .02 worth is that "it takes what it takes". Anytime I start thinking I will have a task done in "X" amount of time something happens to push that back. Sometimes I can say I work around 20+ hours a week. Other times I am lucky to get 1 hour in per week. Things happen to keep you from working that you have little control over. I am sure whenever I finish I can look back and average out the number of hours per week or per day I worked on the kit but that average does not hold as a true statement when I look back at the over all picture. Some days or weeks just are impossible to spend any quality time on the project while other days or weeks you are able to knock out huge chunks. You just have to keep chugging along and do what you can. Then one day you walk out to the shop and can't find anything else left to do but start the thing up. I am a long ways away from that day but am very much looking forward to it.

As always YMMV.
Click to expand...

I'm there, I really don't know how much time I have on my Emp so far. I estimate 100ish hours, but I'm purposely not keeping track. It'll take as long as it takes. A year into this project, and I'm still telling people the same thing, "about three years".
 
One thing to keep in mind, the sooner you start the sooner you will likely get done. I have been working on mine for about 1 1/2 years and averaged right at 10 hours per week the first year. I'm a little behind that average currently but tht is kind of how it goes. There have been periods where I have not worked on the plane at all for a 4 - 5 weeks and then other times when I have been able to work on it 30 - 40 hours in a week.

I get more done when I work on it when I have the free time. If I try to squeeze in a half hour here and there when I'm real busy with work or life in general, that is when I end up with small mistakes or a practice part.

As others have said on here "I think it will fly on Thursday", just not sure which Thursday. :)
 
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