Need to rant / vent a little

[snopercod]

Originally Posted by AlpineYoda

...do you think that maybe, just maybe, then could have included a warning 30 $#%&ing pages ago to NOT assemble everything in final form??????

I feel your pain. When I built my Lancair, stuff like that happened all the time, even though I read through the manual several times. Worse yet, since it was the first version of Lancair, important "critical" modifications kept coming out for many years. Heck, thirty years after I bought the kit, I'm still having to correct errors in the plans. It's an adventure.

[AlpineYoda]

Just found an old manual from when Van?s was building houses, not planes.

Step 1, frame house
Step 2, nail door frames to framing
Step 3, nail roofing material to top of house
Step 4, remove doors from house to allow space for windows to enter house
Step 5, nail windows to framing
Step 6, nail doors back to framing
Step 7, remove doors to allow space to remove windows for adjustments
Step 8, mark locations of all roof tiles, remove roof
Step 9, remove windows
Step 10, dissemble all framing
Step 11, sand all wood parts smooth
Step 12, reassemble

[Sam Buchanan]

Originally Posted by AlpineYoda

Just found an old manual from when Van’s was building houses, not planes.

Step 1, frame house
Step 2, nail door frames to framing
Step 3, nail roofing material to top of house
Step 4, remove doors from house to allow space for windows to enter house
Step 5, nail windows to framing
Step 6, nail doors back to framing
Step 7, remove doors to allow space to remove windows for adjustments
Step 8, mark locations of all roof tiles, remove roof
Step 9, remove windows
Step 10, dissemble all framing
Step 11, sand all wood parts smooth
Step 12, reassemble

Looks good to me! Just grateful that I've been able to live in a wonderful house for twenty years that I would most likely never have if Vans hadn't built it.

[TimO]

This was sort of suggested above, but, you will run into many frustrations and if you follow the rules for hardware, occasionally you will also find some listed hardware may not fit perfectly for your needs.

I would strongly suggest buying some nut/bolt bins...those maybe 30-50 drawer cabinets where you can store hardware, and keeping on hand maybe a minimum of 4 of each size AN3 and AN4 bolt, drilled and undrilled. Some sizes you may even want 10 of each or more. But get a large stock of additional bolts. Same with nuts. Buy 25 or 50 of AN364, AN365, AN310, and those small MS nuts and many others. Same with lock washers, internal and external teeth, and flat washers both Light and standard. I've expanded mine over the years to go all the way up to washers and nuts all the way thru size AN7, with many bolts in the AN5 size, and a couple in AN6 and AN7. The large ones are very rare and you have to know exactly where you need them, but for the small ones, while you are building you will want quick access to the proper hardware whenever needed.

And with rivets, buy a good quantity of each size and type rivet. Don't settle for just what comes in the kit. They're cheap by the pound, so buy some of every length and size and just stock your own bins. It's the easiest way to keep the project on track and not pay tons of extra shipping cost. Hardware cost is never a waste. Shipping cost is. There are also some places where you may prefer to use Stainless screws, so buy all the various sizes of A526C screws. When you do wheel and tail intersection fairing maintenance, you're going to go thru those all the time. So buy some of those by the 100 ct to save money. You will easily spend a couple or even few hundred in hardware, but over the life of the plane you will find many opportunities to use the parts.

Other suggestions: Snap bushings in all sizes, nutplates in all sizes, blind rivet extras of many types, INCLUDING cherrymax rivets for the occasional time you just can't the access you want with a bucking bar. Then there's adel clamps in all the sizes, especially extras for the engine mount tubes. Its quite a list, but to me nothing is more frustrating than not having the parts on hand and waiting for UPS, especially when you find the issue on a Friday and you plan to work on the kit all weekend.

[Ralph Inkster]

Some fun I have with new visitors to the hangar when they ask how long it takes to build the project. I say it takes about ?X? number of months to put it together, the first time, but I have literally built it 6 times before it?s done.

I get shocked expressions out of them when I hint that the plane is probably worn out before it flies.

A build tip I got a long time ago - & mentioned by others here - you should have a good supply of castigated nuts (obvious) to use for trial fitting & paint them a loud color, red or bright yellow (stand out) to use for fitting & obviously replace at final assembly.

Be patient. It will end.

[No_0ne]

Originally Posted by AlpineYoda

Just found an old manual from when Van?s was building houses, not planes.

Step 1, frame house
Step 2, nail door frames to framing
Step 3, nail roofing material to top of house
Step 4, remove doors from house to allow space for windows to enter house
Step 5, nail windows to framing
Step 6, nail doors back to framing
Step 7, remove doors to allow space to remove windows for adjustments
Step 8, mark locations of all roof tiles, remove roof
Step 9, remove windows
Step 10, dissemble all framing
Step 11, sand all wood parts smooth
Step 12, reassemble

You forgot the "prime if desired" step. Then comes the "latex vs. oil-based" primer wars ...

[BobTurner]

Originally Posted by Ralph Inkster

....you should have a good supply of castigated nuts (obvious) to use for trial fitting & paint them a loud color, red or bright yellow (stand out) to use for fitting & obviously replace at final assembly.
.

For myself, I always kept a roll of red plastic tape handy. Any assembly that was temporary - hardware store parts, not at final torque, etc, - got a ‘flag’ of red tape. That included temporary hose installations, too.
PS +1 on Tim’s post on just biting the bullet and ordering spare hardware from the get-go.

[Ralph Inkster]

My point was that it?s nice to have hardware conveniently on hand specifically for temporary usage, loudly marked (painted) so it is well flagged that it has to be replaced for final assembly. Painted meaning these temp fasteners can be used over & over again. I disliked tape markers because sometimes they fall off, or someone like a buddy comes along and inadvertently knocks it off doing something close to them. Tape is useful for other situations, but not on nuts in my shop.
Best thing is develop a process for temp fasteners that work for you & come time to get that second set of eyes to inspect your work, tell him what to look for.

[mike newall]

Originally Posted by Ralph Inkster

A build tip I got a long time ago - & mentioned by others here - you should have a good supply of castigated nuts (obvious) to use for trial fitting

I edited...

However,

https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/castigate

Man - them nuts must have done something real bad Dude !!!!!

[Ralph Inkster]

Ha, Honest... I typed AN310. Must be the IPad ranting