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Slow-Build Wings

asw20c

Well Known Member
Hi All,
I started building my slow-build wings around mid-May last year. At the time I had just completed my empennage after about 5 months of effort. Based on that experience I (laughingly) thought I would be done with them by this past Christmas, or about 7 months of effort. I am now about 8 months into the wings and have only gotten this far:

https://photos.app.goo.gl/rXDyrwJdsAEKESEt1
rXDyrwJdsAEKESEt1


If you can't follow the link to the photo, or if it doesn't insert correctly, I'm at the step where you rivet the outboard leading edge to the spar assembly. 8 months and there is still so much to do before the wings are finished-fuel tanks, pitot, wiring harnesses, aileron trim, aileron servo, magnetometer, flaps, ailerons, and bottom skins. At this point I'm thinking it is entirely reasonable for it to take a full year to finish them. I'm curious; am I just a slow builder or do the wings really take this long to finish for most folks? I'm 15 months into the build and I estimate I have about 600 hours in the total project. Those are actual build-hours. I don't include head-scratching, cleanup, or other putzing around the shop hours. How much time/effort has it taken you slow-build guys to finish your wings?
 
Right on target. 3.5+ years for me start to finish, and this was my second plane. The first one took four years.

Take a deep breath and relax. There are a few really fast builders out there but you are in no way a really slow builder. At your pace I bet you beat my time, maybe by a lot.

You do have plenty of work ahead but if you keep on your current pace it will get finished and you will stand back in awe when it is done.

Plus...

Remember, it is never really finished. Last Thanksgiving I had over 100 hours on mine and I TOOK IT APART! It was time to paint. Seven hard weeks of work later I put it back together and flew it again last week.


* Just looked up on my log. 16 months, start to finish on my slow build wings with several months off for non building.
 
Last edited:
Hi All,
I started building my slow-build wings around mid-May last year. At the time I had just completed my empennage after about 5 months of effort. Based on that experience I (laughingly) thought I would be done with them by this past Christmas, or about 7 months of effort. I am now about 8 months into the wings and have only gotten this far:

https://photos.app.goo.gl/rXDyrwJdsAEKESEt1
rXDyrwJdsAEKESEt1

Newbie here so apologies if this is a dumb question, but are you supposed to build both wings at the same time? I would have thought one would build one wing first, and then the other. But then it never occurred to me to do both at the same time.
 
Newbie here so apologies if this is a dumb question, but are you supposed to build both wings at the same time? I would have thought one would build one wing first, and then the other. But then it never occurred to me to do both at the same time.

It's much more efficient to do both at once, for example, all the 100s of countersinks in the spars. Once you set up your countersink cages for the proper size/depth it only makes sense to do them all vs having to reset your tool all over again later. Also, once you have an efficient process figured out on one wing, you might as well do the other since you may forget how you did a certain step later and have to scratch your head to figure it out all over.
 
Last edited:
Hi All,
I started building my slow-build wings around mid-May last year. At the time I had just completed my empennage after about 5 months of effort. Based on that experience I (laughingly) thought I would be done with them by this past Christmas, or about 7 months of effort. I am now about 8 months into the wings and have only gotten this far:

The wings are mind numbingly repetitive and tedious but very satisfying once completed. Remember to take whatever time it takes to build them to your standards. There were week long + gaps in my wing building just because of the tedium and need to relax and step away to build up enthusiasm again. They are a long process.
 
Huh. Funny how we all have our own paradigms when it comes to how we approach the build. PHXFlyer said it never occurred to him to build both wings at one time. For me, it never occurred to me not to. I guess it is one of those symmetry things that tends to bug engineers.
 
Time to build wings

First time builder - It took 6 months to build the first wing and 3 months to build the second. At that point, I was able to work pretty consistently. Overall, I had 4 years and 2000 hours (including head scratching time) to get the airworthiness certificate.
Stay positive and enjoy the journey! Before you know it, you will be flying one of the best airplanes ever designed.
 
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