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  #1  
Old 07-17-2014, 11:16 AM
pastranafan5 pastranafan5 is offline
 
Join Date: May 2014
Location: jonesboro, ar
Posts: 63
Default 7A build time

Vans says 1500 hours build time for the kit. I'm wondering how long people have spent on the empennage. Also how long for the individual sections, like the horizontal or vertical stabilizer. Any help would be appreciated.
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  #2  
Old 07-17-2014, 11:30 AM
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BoilermakerRV BoilermakerRV is offline
 
Join Date: Jun 2009
Location: Danville, IN (West of Indy)
Posts: 199
Default I wish!

My log shows the following:
Empennage: 306 hrs 17 min
Wings: 680 hrs 47 min
Fuselage: 132 hrs 33 min
TOTAL: 1119 hrs 37 min
I don't have any more detail than that. I'm obviously on the slower end of the range. Wings are 90% done and I've just started the fuselage.

Don't let the relative success (or failures for that matter) of others get you discouraged. The time to build varies WIDELY from person to person. I think the record for any kit is about 90 days. Others have taken 15+ years.
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  #3  
Old 07-17-2014, 11:47 AM
pastranafan5 pastranafan5 is offline
 
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Location: jonesboro, ar
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Thank you. I'm just wanting to see if I'm in the ball park. Being new to this I'm still kind of skeptical whether I know what I'm doing or not, lol.
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  #4  
Old 07-17-2014, 11:49 AM
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blueflyer blueflyer is online now
 
Join Date: Nov 2008
Location: Shreveport, LA
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I don't log my build time, but I would say it took me 4-5 months to get the tail finished and about a year and a half now to get the wings done (still need to do the ailerons and flaps)

I don't work consistently. sometimes its weeks between work sessions. I usually work anywhere from 1 hour to 3 hours at a time. I just work when I feel like it, and stop a work session when I get tired.

Sorry I don't have more accurate information. Others will have better info and will chime in here I'm sure.
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  #5  
Old 07-17-2014, 11:54 AM
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BoilermakerRV BoilermakerRV is offline
 
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Location: Danville, IN (West of Indy)
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Quote:
Originally Posted by blueflyer View Post
I don't work consistently. sometimes its weeks between work sessions.
+1 to that. The 1100+ hours I've logged to date are since September of 2009. I think there was even a stretch of 12-18 months where I did nothing. I was moving and changing jobs during that time. Life tends to get in the way sometimes. I'm lucky, in a sense, that I'm single with no kids. On the other hand I know that many a wife or girlfriend have been sources of motiviation for builders everywhere. No disrespect meant.

Build on!
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  #6  
Old 07-17-2014, 11:54 AM
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rv7boy rv7boy is offline
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You'll find that build times are totaled in differing ways. Some just count "touch labor" (fabrication, assembly, inspection and test), while others count "overhead" time like time in the shop which might include tuning the TV channel or popping the top on a beverage or actually time studying the plans.

As they say, YMMV. And remember, it's for education and recreation, not a time and motion study!

Really, "BoilermakerRV," do you really log time to the minute?

P.S. I probably should not be replying to the OP since I have taken over 11 years and haven't even finished the wings yet. Of course, I did help take care of my dad after his stroke and then I had two heart surgeries in 2009. So I guess I do have some area for an excuse or two.
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Last edited by rv7boy : 07-17-2014 at 12:03 PM.
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  #7  
Old 07-17-2014, 11:58 AM
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Yeah, time will be all over the place. My first build was about 2.5 years. Many long hard days. My second build I think is going on 7 years and just chugging along happy as a clam that I already have something to fly.
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  #8  
Old 07-17-2014, 12:03 PM
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BoilermakerRV BoilermakerRV is offline
 
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Quote:
Originally Posted by rv7boy View Post
Really, "BoilermakerRV," do you really log time to the minute?
Yes, I do. But as they say, "there's an app for that". I use Timesheeter on my iPhone. I can't help it, it's the engineer in me.

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  #9  
Old 07-17-2014, 12:12 PM
BillL BillL is offline
 
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Location: Central IL
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Don't worry about the times. And certainly DONT RUSH. This is where you learn to pace yourself, read plans, learn how to do things, and most of all learn to THINK. The plan get worse and you progress and you will get smarter. That will pay off as you progress through the project. I bought a project in process and I had a lot to learn.

Rushing will lead to typical emp problems like

oops, i smacked the frame simpler and made a new hole,
oops, I was back riveting and tried to rivet OFF THE PLATE.

Go easy, steady, and the skill learned will save the time and make the progress appear like magic.

It is building, not assembly, and certainly not a competition.
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Lord Kelvin:
“I often say that when you can measure what you are speaking about,
and express it in numbers, you know something about it; but when you
cannot measure it, when you cannot express it in numbers, your knowledge
is of a meager and unsatisfactory kind.”
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  #10  
Old 07-17-2014, 12:33 PM
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Jerry Cochran Jerry Cochran is offline
 
Join Date: Jan 2005
Location: Sherwood, Oregon
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Default I'm Like Boilermaker

When I started my QB rv6a back about 14 yrs ago, Van allowed as how it would be done in 1000 hrs. Being a numbers type of guy I religiously recorded each minute as per "Boilermaker" above.

Please note I recorded not only hands-on time, but every bit of manual reading, head scratching, staring at plans, trips to Van's for parts/advice (10 miles away), etc. In other words, everything I had to do related directly to the finished project

I stopped counting at 3000 hrs... 6 years to first flight then another 6 months to tidy up fairings and prep for painting. A WAG would be 6000 hrs, equivalent to 3 yrs full time work. Yeas, I am slow and anal.

Would I do it again? only if I were 14 yrs younger. But, there are quite a few very nice RV's that one can buy for the same cost or lower as building. If you love to build go that route as many have. Otherwise, buy a good one.
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