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New Builder Hints

DeltaRomeo

doug reeves: unfluencer
Staff member
...idea emailed to me by Terry Ruprecht. Great idea for a thread :)


RV Beginner Builder Hint #1:
When a small shiny tool rolls out of place on the work table, do NOT reach over lightning-like and move it back by the shiny end. It may be a soldering iron.

RV Beginner Builder Hint #2:
Unusual smells in the shop may include burning skin.
 
RV Beginner Builder Hint #3:
Always double check your drill bit size. For example, it's easy for a builder to confuse #12 and #21 drill bits, however the rivet you put in the resulting hole has an eye for such things and will complain loudly.
 
RV Beginner Builder Hint #4:
You're going to drill a whole in yourself at some point. Try to use a small bit, so it won't hurt as much. (I didn't!)
 
After you make two mistakes in a row, take a breather. Otherwise you're likely to make a third.

(We should put these in fortune cookies.)
 
Beginner tip #5...

While using your cool pneumatic squeezer, never rest your finger on the trigger while dimpling, unless, of course an extra hole in a random location is desired.. :rolleyes:

TJoyner
 
#6:
The new builder should be ever vigilant to not put the 1/8" male dimple die and the 3/32" female dimple die in the pnuematic squeezer - unless of course they want to buy a new die set and spend much time cursing.
 
#7 Always disconnect the pneumatic squeezer from the air line while changing dies! ( I haven't squeezed/dimpled my finger yet, but just the thought makes me cringe.)
 
#8. Never prime parts with a subpar compressor...lest the internal compressor regulator fails and causes a chain reaction in which your spray gun trigger fails and instantly vaporizes all your primer that subsequently drifts down the driveway onto your wife's car. If you don't heed my advise you may end up stripping wax/washing/rewaxing your wife's car at 3 am on a weeknight. :D :D :D

#9. Always, ALWAYS wear gloves if you are working within one foot of the firewall. As they say...'like butter'.
 
#10 ... at least the wooden homebuilt rule does not apply... "Don't bleed on the work"
Acetone is a good blood remover from expoxy primed parts... :eek:

gil in Tucson
 
#10 - Mount two 1/2" Scotch Brite wheels side by side in your grinder. You can then deburr edges in the groove between the wheels. You may also get to see some parts of your aircraft actually fly long before final assembly.

Her - "What's that mark on the garage door."
Me - "Hmmm - must be corrosion. I'll just prime it."
 
Hint #11

When using a C Frame dimpler with mallet, ensure that your builder-helper (spouse) has good accuracy prior to accepting the offer of assistance.
 
keen9a said:
RV Beginner Builder Hint #4:
You're going to drill a whole in yourself at some point. Try to use a small bit, so it won't hurt as much. (I didn't!)

Get it out of the way early. Put your hand on your bench and drill right into your thumb now so you won't throw what started as a good part, against the wall when you do it unexpectedly. You know, kind of like the new car thing: the first scratch in the paint takes away all that stress worring about scratching your paint. This gives you the choice of when, where, which part of your hand, drill size and most importantly - how deep.

Jekyll
No, I learned the hard way, not in my "recommended" controlled manner.
 
keen9a said:
RV Beginner Builder Hint #4:
You're going to drill a whole in yourself at some point. Try to use a small bit, so it won't hurt as much. (I didn't!)

Offer this hint to your helper:

After watching you drill a hole in your finger the helper should never say "I thought it looked like you were going to do that."

Hint for builder: Make sure that cleco side clamps are totally closed before grabbing them from the cleco pliers. Unless of course you need good examples of blood blisters.
:eek:
 
blood blisters

Dominant hand's index finger skin squeezed between the jaws of a pneumatic squeezer (yeah, just skin, thank goodness) takes at least 2 weeks to heal. Twirling the hex deburring tool, operating the pop rivet tool, and nearly every other use of the dominant hand guarantees a blood trail. NEVER put your finger between the jaws without disconnecting the air hose!!
 
Last Rivet

The rivet you are most likely to bugger up is the last one you set, and the one that is most difficult to remove.
 
Newbie hints

If you do remove a cleco side clamp with your fingers, make sure you know where your cleco pliers are at. Ask me how I know.

If you dimple the elevator skin, make sure you dimple all the rib holes as well.
Dimpled skin does not sit on a flat rib surface. Ask me how I know again. Still have no fix for this yet.

When back riveting the stiffeners to the rudder skin, make sure you don't run out of back plate. Rivets don't set well against carpet.

I feel like I am at confession.

Dave
 
real men dont cry

Never start to cry when your QB finally shows up. The guys (fellow pilots) helping unload it take it as a sign of weakness :D
 
If you spill a second container of rivets, it's time to stop for the night

This also goes for multiple tools, bits, parts, etc.
 
Now I see the rivet I missed

A bucking bar CAN be taped to a long stick and inserted through a lightning hole..... how do I know this?

After nicely closing up the skins I notice a missing rivet on a stiffener 4 rivets in ... drill out all the rivets to get to it? No. Tape a bucking bar to a long dowel, use an inspection mirror, and pull the trigger
 
Quote: After watching you drill a hole in your finger the helper should never say "I thought it looked like you were going to do that."

Do listen to your own inner voice that says "I should remove that layout line for the holes before I accidentally cut along it" (ask me how I know). If the voice says "Hold up - something isn't right" Listen to it!
 
Get organized

Always put your tools back in their rightful place after each use. I worked a little over 1200 hours on a quickbuild (about average). 200 hrs. can be attributed to "hunting for tools". :mad:
 
Don't ship something big, like a horizontal stabilizer skin, half way cross the country 2nd Day Air unless you REALLY need it in 2 days... Ugh.

--Ken
 
You can't undrill a hole...unless you're working in fiberglass!!

then....

Dry Micro is your BEST friend! :D

Paul
 
5 pairs of cleco pliers

Cleco pliers are bashful types. If you only have two they will hide from you and each other. By having 5 they will stay out in the open living with the comfort of others and be available for use anytime. :D
 
fly cutters...be on the lookout, they can and will scare the #$% out of you!

"what? who me? no...i'm not scared of no stinking fly cutter!"

clamp it down, clamp it again, clamp it again, and finally clamp it down!!! :D
 
Undocumented properties of rivets

Rivets have several undocumented properties:

A single dropped rivet will accelerate to the speed of light, becoming invisible just before contacting the floor. Upon contact, the rivet will automatically seek the most inaccessible location available ? preferably where it can be seen but not retrieved easily.

A group of dropped rivets cannot quite achieve the speed of light. Instead, on contact they will disperse themselves into a pattern ensuring coverage of the maximum area possible and seeking the most inaccessible locations available.

Rivets left in a pants pocket will remain in the pocket during wash. In the clothes dryer, they will be irresistibly attracted to the dimples of the dryer drum, which are slightly oversized for AN426 rivets. The maximum dispersion rule described above applies here also.
 
When drilling the canopy skirts an extra set of hands are handy. Insist on your helper (son) use a wood block as a backer. Yep! I drilled my helper's finger.

Derrell
7A finish
 
Don't touch it!

At the end of the night when you are finished building your horizontal stab, with elevators attached, and you turn to take one last look before turning out the lights and you notice one of the towels it is resting on is crooked just keep going on to bed, its been a long day? Otherwise you may try to pick up that brand new shinny just completed horizontal stab and have it slide off the bench and onto the floor. It then takes at least another ? hour before you?re turning out the lights again.
 
Ready, Set, Stop

As soon as you strap on all of your safety equipment (glasses, ear protection, dust mask) your wife, friend, neighbor, acquaintance will pop in and expect a two way conversation. :rolleyes:
 
Beginner tip #12...

When drilling the arms rests in place while standing on the outside of the fuselage and leaning in, be sure not to push the skin with your knee... You might actually drill into your kneecap :eek:
 
Getting Callers Off the Phone

When you're in respirator, ear plugs, and every imaginable piece of safety gear and your phone starts ringing and your realize you NEED to answer it, the best way to get a caller off the phone quickly is turn on the air-compressor and START TALKING REALLY LOUDLY INTO THE PHONE. WHAT?!? I COULDN'T HEAR YOU?

It makes for short conversations. ;)
 
Or overseas

Kenneth said:
Don't ship something big, like a horizontal stabilizer skin, half way cross the country 2nd Day Air unless you REALLY need it in 2 days... Ugh.

--Ken
Be careful who you choose if you don't know any different. FedEx, ah recognize them, they'll do. NZ$80 for an HS skin and spar. NZ$200 on shipping :-(
 
The lazy man works the hardest.

A simple plan is worth a pound of flesh and countless hours.

Make a plan and stick to the plan.
 
1. When dimpling alone make very sure male dimple is aligned BEFORE striking with hammer, the extra dimpled hole can ruin your day
2. Make sure you have space behind the bucking bar for your hand/fingers BEFORE squeezing the rivet gun trigger
3. Really, really clean up the lightning holes in the wing ribs so you do not find out how sharp they can be when bucking the bottom wing skins
4. Never ever think that just because you bought a RV builders tool kit you have ALL the tools you will need.
5. Get the following catalogs: Vans, The list, Spruce, you will need them all
6. You will run out of a particular rivet size right when you have the day off, the family is off having fun and you are half way through a critical task
7. Get some OOPS rivet early, you will need them
 
Never leave your 4 year old alone for more than two minutes within reach of your plastic bins full of an426-3 rivets. It's facinating to a kid how all those rivets fit into one bin instead of 6.
 
Tip N+1: The lengths of AN426AD3-3, 3.5, 4.0, and 4.5 rivets become visually indistinguishable after 11 p.m.

Tip N+2: Adjacent lengths are never visually distinguishable when mixed in the same container.

John Siebold
 
Never think that your hand and eyes have the precision of a micro-stop countersink tool. They don't.

Don't listen to your favorite tunes when operating a foot-switch triggered c-frame dimpling machine. The beat doesn't always match the rivet hole pattern.
 
fresh tip right out of the oven

Here's my tip:

Don't leave your finished HS rear spar on the floor so that your sick dog can get diarrhea all over it. Ask me how I know.
 
ccrawford said:
Here's my tip:

Don't leave your finished HS rear spar on the floor so that your sick dog can get diarrhea all over it. Ask me how I know.

Coloccia's Corrolary to Crawfords law:
Leaving aircraft parts laying around on the floor will cause otherwise healthy animals to spontaneously develop diarrhea.
 
Dogs and airplanes

Do not use a dog to find parts dropped on the floor while building. Although an aircraft part dropped on the floor will be located by a dog much sooner than a 50 year old builder whose sight is failing, said dog will usually fail to return the part in a reasonable timeframe. When the part is returned, it is usually covered by slober, chewed, or otherwise mangled.

Tracy.
 
Slight off topic but similar

ccrawford said:
Don't leave your finished HS rear spar on the floor so that your sick dog can get diarrhea all over it. Ask me how I know.
Don't leave an open parachute unattended. Cats love to use them as litter trays and you'll never get the smell out!! Sometimes you'll be amazed when someone later buys said parachute despite the smell still being there 6 months, four washes and 75 jumps later!!:eek:
 
Kids will be kids

rvator9a said:
Never leave your 4 year old alone for more than two minutes within reach of your plastic bins full of an426-3 rivets. It's facinating to a kid how all those rivets fit into one bin instead of 6.

I had a bored 10 year old niece rearrange my toolbox FULL of all of my small tools: drill bits, sets, screws, rules, etc. ARGH! Luckily, all my parts bags are up on a 6 foot high shelf!

Jae
 
Advice

Start practicing your new radio callsign early to avoid the eventual embarrassment when you refer to your shiny new hotrod as "Cessna 63MS" when calling the tower.

Mike Schipper
"Experimental 63MS" from now on
www.my9a.com
 
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