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pointless complaint

J

jwilbur

Well Known Member
Been working on fitting the cowl. Need to get this off my chest.

<gripe>

The cowl plans are essentially useless. The fiberglass cowl quality is terrible.

</gripe>

That feels better. Hope everyone else is having a frustration-less weekend.
 
I think you should give up now. Nobody ever makes it past the cowling anyway.

J/k. Follow your intuition young Jedi. Personally I thought the cowl was more time consuming than the canopy. 1000 iterations of fitting, sanding, filling, repeat. Might help to get a few beers in you and just go to town.
 
As far as I'm concerned the bottom cowl was the worst part in the kit. So far off (too long) that I do not understand how it could have been made in a mold. I actually looked to see if I had somehow shortened the engine mount. The good news is, it's just fiberglass. You can fix it with cloth and epoxy, and patience.
 
I hope my newly learned skills on the cabin top interior will help with the doors and cowling... if not I'll try and find some counseling and a support group.
 
By far

BobTurner said:
As far as I'm concerned the bottom cowl was the worst part in the kit. So far off (too long) that I do not understand how it could have been made in a mold. I actually looked to see if I had somehow shortened the engine mount. The good news is, it's just fiberglass. You can fix it with cloth and epoxy, and patience.
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Haven't been this frustrated since that first encounter with proseal and trying to get it out of my hair.

As for the cowls, once I realized following the plans was a ridiculous proposition and accepted that the forward portion right behind the spinner would require a lot of re-glassing, it's starting to go better (i.e., less frustrating). There's just no amount of sanding or cutting possible to have the two halves meet cleanly together up front. NO CHANCE. And trying to get the bottom cowl positioned before the rear of the top cowl is cleco'ed in is impossible to do and not have the top shift around (as instructed in the plans). There's a lot of glass work ahead for me on this, but I don't hate fiberglass work (too much) so it's all good.
 
Think of all the old school homebuilders who wrapped their engine in plastic, then chicken wire, then plaster or foam, then they glassed it! 4 months later they had a 25 lb cowl!
 
I can't say I have much experience with this, but I have seen a guy do the whole cowling fit in <10 hours at least a dozen times. I haven't read the plans, but I'll see if I can figure out the technique.
 
Jesse said:
I can't say I have much experience with this, but I have seen a guy do the whole cowling fit in <10 hours at least a dozen times. I haven't read the plans, but I'll see if I can figure out the technique.
Click to expand...

I can believe the fit part specifically can be done very quickly. If I had known before I started what I know now, I could have done it in 10 hours. As it is, I'm not much beyond that right now and close to finished with the fitting part. But does this less-than-10-hours you mention include all the fiberglass work (air ramps and all the re-glassing to clean up the gaps where it comes together up front?) I'm expecting a good 20-40 hours more for all that.
 
Are there better options?

Like the Show Planes cowl?

The few comments I've seen on here seem to indicate they are better made, they look better and the tolerances are closer.

Any other possibilities?
 
It will look easy in the morning. Take a break. Cut your finger, stub your toe, forget about the "instructions".

Wake up refreshed. Get to work.

Now I feel better.
 
jwilbur said:
Been working on fitting the cowl. Need to get this off my chest.

<gripe>

The cowl plans are essentially useless. The fiberglass cowl quality is terrible.

</gripe>

That feels better. Hope everyone else is having a frustration-less weekend.
Click to expand...

Welcome to the club! With the fiberglass parts, there are plenty of opportunities to frustrate yourself. Especially when many of us start, we are novices with the task at hand.

If you can find a local RV'er that can look over your shoulder and/or take a break. Everyone one wants to complete their build asap, but sometimes it just works better to take a few days off.

A mistake I made added a good thirty hours to the build regarding the cowling, Like somebody else stated, it's just fiberglass and you can fix anything with enough time and patience.
 
my cowl is close to perfect

I think it is one of expectations. compared to my rv-4 cowl of 1990 this rv-7 cowl is perfect. yes my fit is not perfect but it was all my fault. the two halves get in each others way to know what to do and one change cause unexpected changes. I can tell that if I had cut it right the two halves are exact matches
 
As someone else said find someone who has already done this to show you the process. I have built four and helped with a few more. Other than the pin holes I think it's a good product. It needs to be long to make sure it can be trimmed to a good fit for everyone. If you were local I would be glad to help you but I'm sure there are some builders in your area that can assist.
 
So After getting the bottom cowl fitted I realized the gaps in the front where the circular portions meet is about the same size and shape as the portions I cut off in step one in the plans. The scrap bits fit surprisingly well. If I had skipped step #1 and #2 (cut bottom portion to get a perfect semi-circle on the top cowl) I wonder if I would have prevented some angst. ... My cowl is gray and smooth - different from the pink ones I see on many build logs. Maybe Van's has improved the stock cowl for the RV10 but has neglected to change the plans. Just a guess.
 
May take you up on that!

Pat Stewart said:
As someone else said find someone who has already done this to show you the process. I have built four and helped with a few more. Other than the pin holes I think it's a good product. It needs to be long to make sure it can be trimmed to a good fit for everyone. If you were local I would be glad to help you but I'm sure there are some builders in your area that can assist.
Click to expand...

I live in south Arlington, I may take you up on that!!! It'll be a while though. Still working on the fuselage (Section 35 i think...)

:D
 
no matter what you have done, it can all be fixed with fiberglass. Anything that was cut out can be stuck back, or built back up. It is very forgiving. Put a dent in a wing skin and you are screwed. But cut a chunk out of a cowling and you can glass it back in and fill the gouges. With work you can have a perfect finish. Don't panic, just fix the parts that you botched and build on. With some skilled use of filler and sand paper nobody will ever know.

I am fitting mine right now - a very old 1990 RV4. I have big gaps at the front, and a ton of gelcoat, which I am sanding off. I will fill all the gaps with glass and flox it will end up with a perfect seam. I wish metal work was that easy.
 
By way of contrast, I'll mention that Glasair can't spend much time fitting cowls in their Two Weeks to Taxi program. They spent some cash to make cowl moulds that fit the "standard" engine selections very well. Then they spend some more money in vacuum moulding the cowls and priming them at the point of manufacture. Not only do the cowls fit quite well right off the bat, they also are virtually free of pinholes and other cosmetic issues.

I haven't tried to purchase a cowl from either Vans or Glasair so can't give a cost comparison, but I suspect the Glasair cowl is the more expensive of the two. I have to believe this is a case of "you get what you pay for' - you either pay for a better cowl with cash, or pay with your work hours to make it better yourself. In my current mode of building, I'm very glad I didn't have to muck around with our Sportsman cowling. It's hard enough building an airplane, let alone spending hours and hours filling pinholes that can easily and cheaply be eliminated at the point of manufacture.
 
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