Van's Air Force
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Build Order
- Thread starter bhassel
- Start date
steve wyman
Well Known Member
Most of us early builders have come to the conclusion, that had they been available, we would have done them: 1.empenage/ tailcone, 2. wings, 3. fuselage, 4. finish kit, 5. avionics, 6. firewall forward. Actually, there are several items that I would do in a different order, but I would have to have, at least, the first 4 kits avaiable to do that. Hope that helps. Steve
Bob,
I agree with above sequence. You will also want to rearrange some of the tasks within the six main kits. For example, I delayed attaching the tail cone to the fuselage as long as I could because of workspace considerations. You will also want to hold off on riveting the rear window and side skins in place because being able to take them off greatly simplifies doing things in the tailcone, such as running control cables and wiring.
Good luck and have fun!
John
I agree with above sequence. You will also want to rearrange some of the tasks within the six main kits. For example, I delayed attaching the tail cone to the fuselage as long as I could because of workspace considerations. You will also want to hold off on riveting the rear window and side skins in place because being able to take them off greatly simplifies doing things in the tailcone, such as running control cables and wiring.
Good luck and have fun!
John
Possible...maybe, but not right
Hi Dave,
When building the fuselage, the plans require you to fit the stub spar sockets to the wing stub spars. You do this by carrying your piece of metal over to the wing stub spar and use a file on the socket to fit it to the spar end. Then you rivet the receptacle into the fuselage. You have to have the wings to do this. It is on page 21-10 step 9.
This sounds like an important step. To not do it would risk having problems later mounting the wings to the fuselage.
I don't know why no one else is picking up on this, I have posted about it everytime someone asks about build order.
Maybe someone out there has built the fuselage before the wings and could give a first hand account of how it worked out.
Tony
Hi Dave,
When building the fuselage, the plans require you to fit the stub spar sockets to the wing stub spars. You do this by carrying your piece of metal over to the wing stub spar and use a file on the socket to fit it to the spar end. Then you rivet the receptacle into the fuselage. You have to have the wings to do this. It is on page 21-10 step 9.
This sounds like an important step. To not do it would risk having problems later mounting the wings to the fuselage.
I don't know why no one else is picking up on this, I have posted about it everytime someone asks about build order.
Maybe someone out there has built the fuselage before the wings and could give a first hand account of how it worked out.
Tony
Dgamble
Well Known Member
Tony -
You're right, that does sound pretty critical! I'm not able to visualize the parts you're referring to since I haven't gotten past the tail yet, so forgive me if this is a painfully naive question, but...
Given the nature of the kits (they should be relatively close to interchangeable), do you think it would suffice to use an already completed wing from another -12? I know of one not too far from where I live that I could use as long as the only part being modified was my part from the fuselage.
You're right, that does sound pretty critical! I'm not able to visualize the parts you're referring to since I haven't gotten past the tail yet, so forgive me if this is a painfully naive question, but...
Given the nature of the kits (they should be relatively close to interchangeable), do you think it would suffice to use an already completed wing from another -12? I know of one not too far from where I live that I could use as long as the only part being modified was my part from the fuselage.
rv8pilotpaul
Active Member
Build Sequence
I built the fuselage before the wings; did not have any problems at all.
I built the fuselage before the wings; did not have any problems at all.
Dave,
Yes, I think that the stub spars from any wing would be very close dimensionally. I remember talking to Ken Scott at Van's when I was at the factory, he said he was building his fuselage before the wings, so I'll bet that he used stub spars from the shop to shape his receptacles.
I would call Ken Scott about this, he usually is on the builder help line.
Tony
Yes, I think that the stub spars from any wing would be very close dimensionally. I remember talking to Ken Scott at Van's when I was at the factory, he said he was building his fuselage before the wings, so I'll bet that he used stub spars from the shop to shape his receptacles.
I would call Ken Scott about this, he usually is on the builder help line.
Tony
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yankee-flyer
Well Known Member
Build order
I did Emp kit. wings, & fuselage, now working on finish kit. Wings were a lot easier than the fuselage and experience gained working on wings was good to have before tackling the fuselage. And yes, it's VERY handy to match the wing pockets to the stub spars. The wings were in ploace in about 10 minutes time (first try) with just 2 of us doing it.
Wayne 120241
I did Emp kit. wings, & fuselage, now working on finish kit. Wings were a lot easier than the fuselage and experience gained working on wings was good to have before tackling the fuselage. And yes, it's VERY handy to match the wing pockets to the stub spars. The wings were in ploace in about 10 minutes time (first try) with just 2 of us doing it.
Wayne 120241
