About to Throw in the Towel

asw20c · #1 08-18-2019, 05:38 PM

I have been working on my slow-build wings for almost 2 1/2 years. About 8 months of that time I was making little to no progress because of two back to back problems I encountered (with my pitot system and bottom skins), but eventually I overcame both and had been very happy with the quality of my build. Today I finished building my flaps after about 2 months of effort (they're beautiful, by the way) only to realize that they are both junk. I misinterpreted the plans and ended up getting the rod-end subassemblies mirrored and installed backwards. In other words, the left subassembly was assembled in the right flap, and the right in the left flap. They fit fine. And it is completely irrecoverable. It kept nagging at me that the location of the nutplate didn't seem right, but I was sure I had followed the plans correctly.
There is no way to fix this problem except to buy all new parts and hardware and start over. I'm so frustrated and angry about losing this much time on the project after having just gotten past the difficulty of the bottom skins that I'm tempted to walk away from the project. It seems I'm doomed to keep working on these **** wings in perpetuity. It's that or admit defeat and lose all the time and expense of this project so far.

bkervaski · #2 08-18-2019, 05:40 PM

They will go faster the second time around ... take a break then build on!

snopercod · #3 08-18-2019, 05:48 PM

Chin up, man. I took 27 years to finish my Lancair. In my defense I took ten years off to build a house, but even so... What convinced me to finish it was when I realized that it wasn't worth squat unfinished. All that time and money I had invested would be flushed down the toilet if I wimped out. So I sucked it up and finished the project five years ago and have been having fun ever since. Don't let it go...

Desert Rat · #4 08-18-2019, 06:02 PM

Something like that can take the wind out of your sails on any project, not just an airplane. One way or another we've all been there.

For what it's worth, my buddy damaged one of the flaps on his RV6 and vans sold him a new assembled one for less than $400 bucks. If you can't stand the though of rebuilding them from scratch, it might be worth a call to Vans to see if you can fix it with the checkbook and move on, just for the psychological boost.

Then again, think about a few years from now, when it's sitting on a ramp somewhere and a random ramp rat asks you if you built it. What will it feel like to say: "yeah, I built it, In fact I built some of it twice!"

David Paule · #5 08-18-2019, 06:09 PM

On my RV-3B project, I had a lot of trouble with the wings. I went through something like four tanks, four outboard leading edges, four ailerons.... you get the idea. But I kept plugging. In the end, I had two good wings, complete with flaps and ailerons.

Somewhere in the middle, I realized both that I enjoyed building the plane, even though I was getting tired of wings, and that AS long as I could afford to buy them, Van's would cheerfully sell me new parts.

I'm on the fuselage now and haven't screwed anything major up in a while. Hope that continues!

So hang in there. It's doable. The second pair do indeed go faster than the first, and look better, too.

Dave

mturnerb · #6 08-18-2019, 06:31 PM

I have an extra left flap I built but didn't fit to my satisfaction. Happy to send it to you for cost of shipping.

daddyman · #7 08-20-2019, 06:19 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by asw20c

I have been working on my slow-build wings for almost 2 1/2 years. About 8 months of that time I was making little to no progress because of two back to back problems I encountered (with my pitot system and bottom skins), but eventually I overcame both and had been very happy with the quality of my build. Today I finished building my flaps after about 2 months of effort (they're beautiful, by the way) only to realize that they are both junk. I misinterpreted the plans and ended up getting the rod-end subassemblies mirrored and installed backwards. In other words, the left subassembly was assembled in the right flap, and the right in the left flap. They fit fine. And it is completely irrecoverable. It kept nagging at me that the location of the nutplate didn't seem right, but I was sure I had followed the plans correctly.
There is no way to fix this problem except to buy all new parts and hardware and start over. I'm so frustrated and angry about losing this much time on the project after having just gotten past the difficulty of the bottom skins that I'm tempted to walk away from the project. It seems I'm doomed to keep working on these **** wings in perpetuity. It's that or admit defeat and lose all the time and expense of this project so far.

It took me 10 years to build a KR-2.
If I added up the pile of "non-useable" AKA junk parts my property would look like a scrap yard.
Most recently I "perfected a hand molded throttle lever. Took me about 2 months to create this thing of beauty, only to find once I installed it, I could not attain full throttle because it hit my instrument panel.
I left it on my bench as a reminder.

"Do not seek perfection- but rather build with quality"-me

Daddyman

kiljoy · #8 08-20-2019, 08:48 AM

My wall of shame contents:
- rudder skin complete with stiffeners with a huge crack where my back riveter went through it
- elevator skin all dimpled in the wrong direction
- a HS fiberglass fairing I oversanded

I'm lucky it didn't include the entire front fuselage!

Keep building! You'll be much happier than if you decide to stop!

burtj · #9 08-20-2019, 09:05 AM

Soldier on! While you're waiting for new parts to arrive you can convert your flaps into the coolest "coffee table with a story to tell" of anybody on your block. I'd bet that everybody who's built one of these has some junk parts in the corner of the shop somewhere. Yours happen to be big enough to repurpose into something cool! Good luck!

maniago · #10 08-20-2019, 09:13 AM

When you get ready to quit, as yourself two qus: 1) is there something else Id rather be doing with my long term time? 2) Will my future self regret what my current self decides?

When you get your answers, then you have your decision.

A good outlook is: "We learn far more from our mistakes than we ever do our successes. Assuming you didnt kill yourself first."

And of course.....Making mistakes makes the best beer stories.....ie "No sh!t, there I was...."