Inspecting QB upon delivery

[hydroguy2]

Originally Posted by Sam Buchanan

Four years is plenty of time to build a standard kit even when life occasionally gets in the way.
.......... Since riveting together the airframe only accounts for ~50% of the total project, a QB will save you at most 25% time on the total project.
........

Sam good point, unless a persons available time is tight. I went QB, mostly because I knew I had other irons in the fire. Back when I bought my QB, I had more money than time. When I started one requirement from the CFO was this airplane can not impact family time. There was times I didn't touch the project for months, SO to save 800hrs or 200hrs was significant. Now the $8000 extra I paid would be nice.

3yrs now, I'm probably the slowest QB ever.

What concerns me is that I'm brand new to RVs and if I have to rely on my own inspection of a QB kit, I'm not sure I would know what to look for from a quality control aspect.

My guess is, as a new builder you may not do as good a job as Metalcrafters. So from a quality control aspect, the majority QB's coming from phillipines are ahead of the first time builder quality(with minor fixes needed). YMMV

[Phil]

Keep in mind, it's not my intention to slam the QB's and I said that if I had it to do again, I'd buy another quick build. There is absolutely no doubt that it's saving me a huge amount of time and I will be in the air much faster.

That being said, I'd have a little different expectation for my next QB. So when it arrives, I would be expecting a lot of redo work instead of building through the process.

Phil

[Ray Williams]

My fuse and wing kit took the long way round: Phillipines > Oregon for QA check > Sydney. The day after I collected the 2 boxes from the shipping terminal in Sydney, I went to London for a month (new definition of frustration).

I had a very close look on my return and found the workmanship to be very good, but detailed checking of the inventory of 'bits and pieces' found more bits missing than I would have expected.

Vans was quick to respond and I am expecting replacements this week.

Hope this helps.

Regards, Ray

[Sam Buchanan]

Originally Posted by Phil

Keep in mind, it's not my intention to slam the QB's and I said that if I had it to do again, I'd buy another quick build. There is absolutely no doubt that it's saving me a huge amount of time and I will be in the air much faster.

I don't want to belabor the point, but until a builder has completed an RV the amount of time required for firewall forward, avionics, plumbing and painting cannot be fully appreciated. These are tasks the QB builder will spend as much time on as the standard builder. The "80% done, 80% to go" hurdle hits all of us.

I think the percentage of time saved with a QB over the current kits is often overestimated. Before deciding on the QB option, some time spent discussing this matter with builders who have completed planes might be worthwhile.

[Phil]

Not arguing that point, Sam... But I can promise you the QB has saved me at least a year of evenings and weekends. At my rate that's about 350-400 hours and another year I don't have to wait.

[hydroguy2]

Originally Posted by Phil

Not arguing that point, Sam... But I can promise you the QB has saved me at least a year of evenings and weekends. At my rate that's about 350-400 hours and another year I don't have to wait.

exactly, what I was trying to say.

[skyking902001]

Thanks all for the replys. At this point I feel somewhat better about the quality of the later QB kits. Will wait until the tail is finished to make a final decision on QB or SB.

Sky
8 or 8A?

[Phil]

Hey Sky,

That's a good idea.

I got one of the very first QB's from the new factory, so I'm sure they're going to get better. The more time you give them to get it sorted out, the better they're going to be.

Good luck with the build!
Phil

[climberrn]

Thanks for all the replies. I am looking forward to continuing the build. The shop has been closed since March, (due to waiting for QB, and work). Will be able to devote full time for the next few months.