Time to build?

I'm wondering how long it's taken some of you to build your 9 ? More specifically, slow build with full IFR panel.

danboy said:

I'm wondering how long it's taken some of you to build your 9 ? More specifically, slow build with full IFR panel.

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5 years Day VFR. For full IFR panel add 2 more years I guess.

I built the tail in 2 months. About 6 months for the wings. Over a year for the fuselage. Now working on the finish kit for the last year. I've been at it for exactly 3 years, putting in steady build time, but less recently due to travel, family stuff, etc. I probably have a year or more to go. I gave myself a 5 year plan, so I'm probably just a bit ahead of schedule. Slow build, VFR, fixed pitch. The slow parts of the build are when you have to make decisions like panel, electrical, engine, prop, and the instructions tend to get quite terse after the tail and wing kits.

Hmmm. 7 years.
First year finished tail and got the wings and fuselage up to equivalent of quickbuild purchase. Thought I was on a 3 year track.

THEN LIFE GOT IN THE WAY.

Restarted 2 years later and worked inbetween significant business travel. 4 years on finishing fuselage, scratchbuilding panel, wiring, canopy, engine and Fw fwd, cowl (ugh), and all the rest of the fiberglass (double ugh)

And yes I know I did a 7 not a 9, but they are close enough for this.

5 years to the month for me. The tail kit, wings and fuse went by pretty quickly. The canopy took forever, but I didn't start that until I moved the plane to the airport. Then the wiring, fiberglass work, etc. Those things took a good 3 years. (If you have someone around who knows what to do and can help, the learning curve will be much less steep.)

Not sure what you mean by "full" IFR panel. I have dual Dynon 10" Skyviews and a Gamin SL30, which will do IFR. Adding a certified GPS setup shouldn't impact the build time too much.

I was able to work fairly consistently, but once you move the project to the airport, your ability to work on it drops down drastically. You just can't step out to the workshop to work for an hour or two each evening.

Time to build..

Everyone has answered in calendar time rather then build time. Depending on how much a person works on the project will have direct bearing on how LONG it will take. I've seen 1 yr to 12 yrs... so that really isn't helpful in answering the real question.

I did QB Fuse and wings.... hands on build time to first flight was 1660 hrs.

rv9av8tr said:

Everyone has answered in calendar time rather then build time.

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It's irrelevant either way unless you can view the final product. The number of years in building can vary enormously. The number of hours in building can vary enormously. But more to the point is the fact that the quality of construction can also vary enormously.

An RV built in 1500 hours that is a dog only tells you that 1500 hours by that builder was not enough.

Agreed, but for the most part that would be at the extremes of scary or OSH winner. The vast majority aren't at the extremes. It takes X hours to complete Y tasks, plus or minus a few variables. I'd bet build time will look a lot like a bell curve. Telling someone how long it takes in calendar years is completely useless.

I'm admittedly s-l-o-w ...

My not-so-Quickbuild took 6.5 years and 2700hrs. Two significant factors above others: a) I HATE do-overs with a passion ... I' d rather take twice the time and do it right the first time than scrap the first one and reorder parts from Vans, b) cash flow ... My build coincided with my daughter attending a private college on the west coast. There were times I was simply held up by my bank account. The good news? I am totally pleased with the product ... Passed my DAR inspection with no squawks.

2040 Hours. Spread over 12 years. 1500 hours were in the last two years after retirement. Before that job, and a cross country move interfered greatly. It is a VFR panel with Dynon 180, slider. Time includes polish and paint prep for fiberglass parts.

Flying now for 53 hours.

90054
N709RV

2 years, 7 months, 21 days, 16.5 hours.
~ 2450 hours including a number of BBQ and planning hours...
Includes 4-6 months fixing things from the prior three owners that we didn't like.

Mine was a slow build and it took four years and two months from start to the first flight. This was for a day/night VFR ship that was unpainted on the first flight.

Select your options wisely as they all add time.

Replacing the engine, cowl, etc. after a nasty prop strike added another 398 hours.

Replacing the Dynon D100 EFIS and D10 EMS with Dynon 10" SkyView added probably another 200 hours.

That does not include painting, which I had done by a pro.

I'm at almost 5 years now, and close enough that I think I can estimate 1800 hours total build time to first flight, give or take 50. I'm hoping that happens in the next 18 months.

rv9av8tr said:

Telling someone how long it takes in calendar years is completely useless.

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Mike, that is perhaps debatable. I personally find the comments on actual build times in years to be more interesting than the feedback on shop hours.

To my way of thinking workshop hours are just one dimension in the much more complex picture of actually completing a project.

Problem with Calendar time is that you're adding on a whole new set of variables to the "how many raw hours does any particular person take to complete a task" variable. Some people have no kids and a reasonable job and get out into the shop almost every night/weekend day (me), while others have kids, jobs that monopolize their time, big house projects, theirs or their family health issues, etc., allowing them to only get to the plane sporadically. Others just have issues with motivation.

At least with an hours number, you can plug it into your own schedule and estimate semi-decently how long in calendar time it'll take you.

With my plane, I'm logging every hour of build time nightly. I don't log surfing/web research. I've gotten the impression that I'm a bit slower than average since I already have almost 500 hours in since April and have completed the tail (minus fiberglass), much of the QB wing work and maybe 1/3 of the QB fuselage. I guess I think a lot before jumping into a task. For me, the 1st time on a particular task is often twice as long as the 2nd for the same task.

I did quick build for an IFR ship with a Sam James cowl (which probably added a couple hundred hours).

1525 hours over 3 1/2 years. This included prep and painting (and two cross country moves).

Keep the project in your garage at home and do SOMETHING every day, if only 20 minutes of clean-up. Only move it to the airport when you are ready for last and final assembly.

Six years, day VFR panel and an alternative engine (Wilksch WAM-120 diesel).

I think the alt engine added over a year - as soon as you go "off plan" the hours add up - especially if you build a cowl from scratch!

Dave