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What's the "worst part of building?"

N

ncarmon

Active Member
Ok, after uncountable hours today doing prep work and having too much time on my hands to think about it while I was working, I've decided that:

"I detest roughing up parts with the red scotch pad" :eek:

It is the worst part of building. I love everything else. Drilling, dimpling, clecoing, edge dressing, painting, riveting. It's all cool. I love it.

I just detest using those red scotch pads.

What part of building do you detest?
 
In my infinite experience as someone who's working on the tail kit, hands-down, it's priming for me. Even with the rattle cans, cleaning and then spraying, trying to avoid the fumes, etc.
 
Well, apart from a specific task (which for me is deburring), I hated those -12 long rivets on aileron pushrods. A real **** to drive correctly.
 
fuel line

probably fabricating, bending, routing & fastening the fuel lines elicited more swearing per unit of time than any other task. close second: baffles/cowl/FAB.
 
I hated Preping Fiberglass parts for paint

I did not mind making the fiberglass parts as I thought it was pretty creative to form the more complex parts sculpting them out of clay. (No, I did not like it enough to want to build a whole plane from fiberglass.) The constant sanding, filling, priming, . . . . . repeat process was what I did not like. There always seemed to be some more sanding followed by more priming which showed more imperfection causing more sanding and then priming . . . . . you get the picture!
 
Canopy!

Drilling, deburring, scotch brite, dimpling, riveting, etc. is pretty straight forward and you can think of what comes next during the process. You can even sit outside in the sun, when the weather is nice, while your wife works on her tan. :)

I did the priming in batches. Prepped everything and than painted the empennage, the wings and the fuselage as a batch. It takes half a day to do a batch and than you can start putting it together, so suddenly you are no longer taking baby steps but big leaps.:cool:

Now the canopy is an other story! I spent all day yesterday, bending, installing, measuring, bending, installing, bending, etc. and I am not there yet. On top of that my wife than asked me: what have you been doing all day? :mad: I am going to use Sikaflex which is more forgiving than using the screws, because you can vary the bead thickness a bit where necessary. With the screws you would have to use washers, which will look terrible. On some builders website I found, 265 hrs was what he needed just for the canopy! Bwahhhh :eek:
 
Be Careful What You Say...

Remember, You will eventually have to sign a form 8130-12 that says you built this airplane because it was so much fun!
 
Mel said:
Remember, You will eventually have to sign a form 8130-12 that says you built this airplane because it was so much fun!
Click to expand...


Not that it was so much fun but that it was for educational purposes. But it was a lot of fun to build. It is more fun to fly.
 
Edges

I despise the edges most. The long straight edges are not the problem, it's the nooks and crannies in ribs or other parts with round sides and all those little ears sticking out. Fortunately I'm nearly finished with the Fuse and won't be worrying any more about that.

Second would be the prep and prime thing, but since that is an optional step, I can't really gripe too much about it.

Of course, I still have lots of things to do, some of which I could despise more than edges.

(I really don't despise any of it, but it's all relative.)
 
SAME PROBLEM

I feel exactly the same way! I have just take the frame apart from wing number one and have prepped all of the ribs to the point of scuffing with the "red pads from ****":mad:. I scuffed 3 Saturday evening and 2 last night - then quit to build the mounting brackets for the wing to hang from the floor to ceiling posts. I love all the other parts of building, but am trying to figure out how to "sub out" the scuffing job.
 
The worst part for me...

Was/is the wheel pants. Because I had to stop flying to work on them. :eek:

They are still not finished, because my hand go tired of sanding and I wanted to get back to flying. :)

So I covered them in a layer of risen and put them back on the plane. Sometime this spring I will get back to them.:p

Kent
 
Having the project come to and end! Although I love l flying my 6A, I sure do miss the building process....
 
The worst part is not being able to afford to fly while I'm building. I just want to be done so I can get flying!!!!!!
 
Doing anything right the second time

Ugly rivets, dinged skins, missed operations, operations that should of been done later. But, I love building!
 
Spending 20 hours working on something and have to start all over after cutting something wrong. i.e. empenage parts.

I don't know what we're cleaning but I can't say I ever used a piece of scotch bright on the whole thing...
 
Canopy or cabin top first worst, filling a zillion pin holes second worst.

There is a fine sense of accomplishment (or relief) when its all done.

Funny how once it's done, we forget about the bad parts and miss the whole thing enough to foolishly start a second build, then wonder why on earth, we did?

It is an addiction but a mostly healthy one.:)
 
What's not to like

I, for one, have enjoyed every minute of the build. My son and I went the standard build route and I find it very interesting, relaxing and enjoyable. The RV8 project was my idea and I knew absolutely "nothing" about airplanes. My son is an A&P and he has taught me a lot. We are currently at the stage of taking the fuse completely apart and getting ready for the machine countersinking and dimpling before final assembly of the fuse. We have been at it, on and off, for just about 14 months and I can not wait to see this fly.

Given the chance, I would do it ALL again ... :)
 
Sounds like QB guys.

1) Sealing the Tanks and Riveting with Proseal.
2) Anything that involves fiberglass dust.
 
So far it has been a toss up for me. I am building an 8A and getting the landing gear weldmets to fit in the fuselage was a real bear. But hands down I think that installing the canopy and getting it and the fiberglass skirts to fit properly wins the prize! IT WAS A PAIN!
 
Slider Canopy. I can remember multiple evenings when I would go out in the shop, stare at it, circling the fuselage like a cat, turn the lights out and go back inside and forget about it for another day.

It got easier once I got the hacksaw and oxyacetylene torch out.

The stinky stuff in the fuel tanks was a distant second.
 
Painting

Getting up at 5:00 A.M. to paint, because I had to have temps under 80 degrees, so that the paint wouldn't flash to quick.

With four different colors; and yellow that could easily require six coats, compared to two for gray & one for black....

Painting and especially all the taping became very monotanous after the first few weeks.

Anyone that thinks their RV is done,,,,,,,, without paint (or an extra 6-11,000 bucks), is only kidding themselves! :D

L.Adamson
 
ncarmon said:
Ok, after uncountable hours today doing prep work and having too much time on my hands to think about it while I was working, I've decided that:

"I detest roughing up parts with the red scotch pad" :eek:

It is the worst part of building. I love everything else. Drilling, dimpling, clecoing, edge dressing, painting, riveting. It's all cool. I love it.

I just detest using those red scotch pads.

What part of building do you detest?
Click to expand...

The canopy is worst for me. The rest of it is fun, the canopy I hate. dd
 
My Worst Part of Building

Hands down..the sinking feeling you get after doing a good job only to realize that 2 chapters further along in the manual you realize that you should have done something else first.!!:mad:.....so you disassemble, rework ..and do it again...
 
Depressing :-(

Dudes, this thread is DEPRESSING! All you guys saying the canopy is BAD BAD BAD and I have a) yet to do it, and b) need to modify the stock Vans frame (or make a custom one) to incorporate the Tom Clark fastback. And I haven't got a *clue* what I'm doing at the best of times. Man, I just want to go cry... :(

I do get to fit my Classic Aero seates next though, since I just flipped the canoe, and that is kinda cool :D
 
DONT SWEAT IT

AntiGravity said:
Dudes, this thread is DEPRESSING! All you guys saying the canopy is BAD BAD BAD and I have a) yet to do it, and b) need to modify the stock Vans frame (or make a custom one) to incorporate the Tom Clark fastback. And I haven't got a *clue* what I'm doing at the best of times. Man, I just want to go cry... :(

I do get to fit my Classic Aero seates next though, since I just flipped the canoe, and that is kinda cool :D
Click to expand...

MAN THE CANOPY IS NOTHING BUT FUN. The best part of the project for me... so much fun i did the glass work for a friend. really not an issue..id rather do the canopy than plan the wiring,maybe i should have gone GLASS;)
 
Yeah, I'm not overly concerned!

Slow and easy will do it. I have a nice slightly tinted Todd canopy ready to go; its the extra work involved with the whole Tom Clark thing that will have me scratching my head for a while.

I was hoping to re-organize the workshop layout tomorrow to make room for when I will need to fit the empennage, but it looks like I need to go skydiving instead now. :( (Summer here in NZ and all the tourism tandems coming through. Two weeks away from the office and I'll bet I work harder and need to go back for a rest!)

Merry Christmas everyone! :)
 
Breaking (yet another) budget estimate.

Of course like most new RV builders I started building with an ABSURDLY low budget estimate of the total project cost. In retrospect I now see that my initial financial projections were based on an amalgam of naivety and wishful thinking. :p

When I started building I had absolutely NO IDEA of the myriad aircraft components, tools, services, and sundry items I would eventually need to get the aircraft finished. How was I to know that Vans wasn't going to give me a seat harness or a joy stick handle. :rolleyes:

So initially I just literally invented a sum that sounded reasonable in relation to my financial means and worked backwards from there. And of course I was comforted to some degree by Vans la-la-land website cost calculator.

But as building progressed and I kept plugging the purchases into Kitlog, the costs kept spiralling....and the budgets kept being broken. In fact the moment I became emotionally adjusted to the reality of a higher budget figure I would realise that the real figure was higher still...and so it went. I should have stopped counting so I didn't have to keep lying to my wife. :D

Actually I found that the cost of building was somewhat analagous to ageing in terms of being reluctant to accept the horrible truth. For instance, just when I had finally emotionally adjusted to being in my forties (other people were middle aged...not me) I found I was turning FIFTY! And by the time I finally came to grips emotionally with the fact that I was really in my fifties (but still refusing to believe I was middle aged, mind you!!!), I discovered I had hit SIXTY! Do you catch my drift.

Incidentally, I sort of missed middle age by self denial and went straight through to old age (do not pass GO....go straight to jail).

Building....I just love it (except the canopy of course). But the cost of building...phew, that's the ugly part. ;)
 
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More of us!!

Captain Avgas said:
I discovered I had hit SIXTY! Do you catch my drift.

Building....I just love it (except the canopy of course). But the cost of building...phew, that's the ugly part. ;)
Click to expand...

Hey, I just realized that I'm 62 as well!!:eek: No really, it's such a privilege to actually even get to do this stuff.

Now I miss building so much, I'd do ANY part of it over again.

Regards,
 
clecos! ............. clecos! .......clecos ....... did i mention clecos lol

worst for me is waiting until i can fly it. i have enjoyed every aspect of it. i am lucky though, i have lots of time to spend on it.
wing kit day before thanks giving(never ate my turkey until 4 days later, couldn't find the time, i was busy building my rv7a! LOL I am ready to rivet the skins on. ailerons, flaps etc all done, just skins then the dreaded tanks.
truly an impressive kit! absolute quality workman ship in the pre punched pieces! utterly amazing.
fred
 
RV10Rob said:
In my infinite experience as someone who's working on the tail kit, hands-down, it's priming for me. Even with the rattle cans, cleaning and then spraying, trying to avoid the fumes, etc.
Click to expand...
Hey Rob,

Wait until you get to the fiberglass cabin cover of the RV-10 fuse. You will look back fondly of priming--well maybe not, but it will be a close second as to the worst part of building the -10.
 
The worst part is trying to locate all the parts in the kit! Parts for the same structure may be located in several different subkits, and to find hardware, you may have to search through a bunch of bags. I know, this mis-organization helps keep the kit price low, but it is sure a pain to have to look through parts lists and sub-kits and a dozen bags time after time to find the parts you need.
 
To me the worst part was when I realized my QB 6a was going to indeed take a "little" longer than the 1000 hrs that the intro material claimed. This was about 500 hours into the build with 95% left...

I live within 15 mins of Van's so was often over there for parts, advice, bitching, etc. I learned to not bitch about the time it was taking, else I'd get "Jerry, the reason you're so slow is you're thinking too much." The perp(s) shall remain unamed...

Strange, but I find myself missing those long garage days...

Jerry
 
What's the "worst part of building?"
Click to expand...
Not building... when you don't have a PPL yet, or a tail kit yet, or all the tools yet, or the time, or the $$.

That's the worst part for me.
 
doing it. The gitrdone sindrome is hitting close to home right now. I will go a week and bang out a bunch, then the next week I just go around it a couple times and then depart. Last week I did manage to fit in the seats(CAD aviator) and fit in what I wanted for the rudder peddles. I stuck in the panel and put my throttle quad in possision. I have to say this was a big boost for me to getrdone.

I have a definate worse part of building, all the gadgets out there for the RV. What to choose. I decided that I can leave everything off and the plane will still fly. So what did I do. No.1 I have a tipup canopy so that made my decision much easier, I'm leaving all the gadgets off. I feel it will make the final inspection easier and life as a whole much easier. Not only that the budget is better and the time line much faster. With the tipup I can get to the back of the panel faster and easier. So if I need that gadget later I just open the canopy and the way is open, not on my back.

Another nicety is the fuse stand, that has made life so much better. The dimpler DRDT is a cool thing, don't know what I would have done without that wonder.

I did pull all the stuff out of the original setup on the brakes and replaced with the Grove system. That goes from the masters to the wheels, I sprang for the magnesium wheels. The nose wheel is grove as well. I'm putting my money in better systems than a gadget, they cost so much. I'm putting in the 180 engine with constant speed prop. I want power to go.
 
Prepping for paint and painting

My build partner and I were building two RV-9A's side by side in the same garage. We would complete one task and move to plane #2 and complete the same task in less time. This was working great until.....the wiring and prep for paint began on plane #1. We were so involved with the prep that to consider working on plane #2 for paint prep was discouraging. Over 600 hours later, plane #1 was prepped, painted and flying. I am so glad that we concentrated on just one plane at a time for prep and paint that I cannot place into words. We could have worked for another year to get them both ready for paint. This way, we are flying the first plane but...now know what miserable tasks lie ahead of us on the prepping of plane #2. And, some unnamed jerk wants to paint this second plane like a Bengal Tiger. Like that is going to be easy! You think prep and taping for a normal paint job is fun, this ought to be major fun. We took December off to fly Phase I of plane #1 and will begin the wiring and prep for paint of #2. I am looking forward to getting this done but I sure dislike this part of the build.
Now I know why aviation paint shops charge what they do. They earn it!!!

Pat Garboden
Ozark, MO
RV-9A 942PT (reserved) tip-up wiring and paint prep stage

Todd Wiechman
Wichita, KS
RV-7 emp

RV-9A 942WG slider (flying)
 
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