Thoughts on Building Assistance

[Nedimbek]

acpilot,

Go to http://md-ra.com/
You will find all of the information there.

[acpilot]

Nedimbeck

Thanks for the link

[Canadian_JOY]

A few thoughts to add here...

MD-RA can delegate pre-cover inspection to a DAR in the US. It's a royal pain in the keester to set it up if you're doing something other than a 'factory' program like Glasair's Two Weeks To Taxi. And it's not cheap. I don't think it would make sense to jump through all the hoops of a DAR delegation from MD-RA unless one was doing pre-cover on the entire airplane.

If you're wondering about assistance, have you found an EAA or RAA chapter in your area? If not, get hooked up with one. Often there's somebody (or several somebodies) who would be quite happy to give you some "hands on" experience building their aircraft. If you were in the nation's capital you could come out to our EAA chapter and help build our chapter project.

One doesn't necessarily have to go whole-hog when it comes to assistance. Check your local area, find out what resources are locally available and then go from there.

Also, don't underestimate the value of purchasing a partially-completed kit. As long as it's well built and well documented, particularly vis-a-vis the MD-RA, you can save a bunch of time and effort.

[SMO]

The MDRA (Ministers Delegates - Recreational Aviation) controls the process of inspection in Canada. Happy reading: http://www.md-ra.com/en/

[SMO]

I expect you can find someone locally to offer this, however if not, you are welcome to come up to Salmon Arm. I can show you the tools I used to build my Rocket, we can drive a few rivets (I have lots of scrap), play with some fiberglassing, discuss various aspects of building, show you my plane, and weather permitting go for a flight.

I don't consider myself a master craftsman, however the professionals who have inspected my plane have been complimentary so it seems acceptable. There were a few things I did more than once to get a decent end result (still have some of those scraps around also).

[KatanaPilot]

I started to build an RV-10 from partially built kits I bought from a couple of sources. The build quality was not great and I didn't initially have the skills to fix someone else's work. I sold all of the kits after deciding to start with new parts.

I attended an EAA SportAir workshop on RV building during AirVenture a couple of years ago. The class was crowded, the instructors skilled but stretched pretty thin, the tools were poor quality and I came away knowing only a little bit more than I did at the start. I wasn't impressed.

I later traveled 2600 miles to Eugene, OR to attend the Synergy Air Fundamentals class on a Saturday and then start a new RV-10 empennage the following Monday. I learned more in the first four hours of the Synergy fundamentals class than I did the entire two days at EAA. The class was reasonably priced, the class size small, the instructor was knowledgeable, patient and right there the whole time. Synergy provided lunch and Van's gave a $50 coupon for a parts order. I had a lot more confidence coming out of that class and we built a really nice empennage and tail cone in the following two weeks.

I enjoyed working with Synergy so much I went back a few months later and "quick built" an RV-10 fuselage from a slow build kit. Took three weeks and the build quality exceeded the quick built fuselage one of Synergy's customers had ordered. We used the QB fuselage as a 3D "model" when the plans were not totally clear.

I put the RV-10 project on the back burner and bought a partially built RV-7A project. I had that shipped to Synergy and we have been working on it since January. In retrospect, I should have started new. We had to rebuild the tail feathers, the canopy and even the QB flaps. We should finish it next month and then it will be truck shipped back to Locust Grove for final assembly, inspection and Phase I test flying. I would have flown it at Synergy but the weather in the PNW is lousy for several months - so it was more cost effective to bring it back home to fly.

Synergy has plans to open a facility in the S.E. U.S and I plan to complete the RV-10 with them there.

If you can't tell, I'm a huge fan. Yes it costs more, but for a first time builder like me, there was no way to achieve the build quality I wanted without the assistance of a company like Synergy. There is almost nothing they haven't seen (my Bill Lane plenum was an exception). If the technician you are working with has a question or concern, they reach out to the others in the hangar. Someone there usually has the answer. They operate as a team, they all look over each other's projects and they take great pride in helping you achieve your goals. Not only are they technically competent, they are patient and great teachers. It's a unique combination of talents.

They are a wonderful group of people, I look forward to traveling to Oregon every time and I can't recommend them highly enough.

I can't answer the challenge of required Canadian inspections, but I suspect Synergy may have a solution for that.

[FlyinRhino]

Any idea when the plan on opening the shop in the SE?

[KatanaPilot]

My understanding is it will be around June or July of next year. The challenge right now is finding a suitable facility that they can get up and running by then. They have identified the location and we have been working with them on finding the right hangar. Thanks for asking!