Are all RV-14 QB Fuse kits taildraggers?

[bobhope2505]

Just need a reality check. Working on my 14A QB fuse, and nearly everything is done for conventional gear. Gear braces for tri gear were included, but even nut plate rivet holes are dimpled where only called out for a taildragger, and the openings for the steps are covered by riveted plates. I understand leaving steps incomplete and letting the builder decide on the gear, but I don't get having to undo steps that need not have been done in the first place. Is this typical?

[Logan]

My -14A QB fuse seemed to have been built for either type of gear. Some steps were left undone when the choice was one or the other. I don't recall having to undo any work... only go back and do things where there were differences between the models. If you want to let me know which steps you are having to undo, I'll go check to see what I did.

[rvbuilder2002]

All RV-14 QB fuselages are both tail dragger and tri gear.
Any work (for either version) that would have been more difficult to do after fuselage assembly, is done at the expense of builders having to do work to configure to the model they are building.

[bobhope2505]

Thanks for the replies. The QB fuse is a work of art. A couple of builders and my adviser gawked at it for 30 minutes when it arrived. One called it "glorious." That said, it would have been nice to have the gear openings cut out when it was a flat piece of aluminum on the CNC laser cutter instead of me using a cutoff wheel on the bottom of my air frame. It doesn't look difficult...as long as my hands don't shake.

[Logan]

Don't worry about the cuts on the bottom. It was surprisingly easy. I made sure to cut a bit short (or long, depending on your viewpoint) and filed down to match the cutout in the mated skin. Easy to make perfect match that way. Hardest part was balancing the fuse.

[MED]

I used a nibbler to make almost perfect cuts. Only needed a few minutes with a file to clean them up.

[Rteem]

My 14 is also a QB, and I wasn't impressed with countless omitted steps and errors that caused endless frustration. I definitely ended up undoing and/or redoing work that should have been done correctly the first time.

YMMV, but I will probably do a slow build if I build another.

[bkervaski]

My 14 is also a QB, and I wasn't impressed with countless omitted steps and errors that caused endless frustration. I definitely ended up undoing and/or redoing work that should have been done correctly the first time.

@Rteem would love some details on your experience, mine is inbound and it would be great not to have to repeat what you went through. Specifically, errors you had to redo. Also maybe when you received your QB Thanks in advance for any help!

[Polar]

Originally Posted by Rteem

My 14 is also a QB, and I wasn't impressed with countless omitted steps and errors that caused endless frustration. I definitely ended up undoing and/or redoing work that should have been done correctly the first time.

I have heard this sentiment before, unfortunately. Would you care to elaborate? I'm still undecided regarding slow/quick build fuselage.

[MED]

My buddy and I are each doing RV-14As using QB fuselages and wings. Can't say much about the wings, yet, but we have been very impressed with the fuselages. A tremendous amount of work has been done for us and the quality has been excellent. Sure, you have to make some minor changes, like removing the step covers (drill out a couple pop rivets), but compared to the year-plus of work required to get to the same point with the fuselage, they are very, very minor. I highly recommend the QB fuselage if you want to accelerate getting in the air.