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Shout-Out to Superior Build School

szicree

Well Known Member
I just got home today from Superior's build school and thought I'd give a quick review.

The three-day school began at 8:15 am with a very warm welcome and a nice spread of donuts, juice, soda, coffee, etc. We were given a tour and orientation of the business, as well as an overview of basic tool use and hardware. Then the fun started.

The shop is big, well lit and sparkling clean. Each of us (four total) had our own workstation fully stocked with all the required tools (Snap-On) neatly laid out in drawers, all the lubes, compressed air, etc., as well as a slightly too nice stainless steel engine stand. At each workstation stood a cart containing every single part needed to complete the engine, including all hardware nicely sorted in multi-bin trays. The building started right away and continued right up until we were all joined by Sales Manager Bill Peterson and taken out for a real nice lunch. The build continued til 5:00 and the process was repeated for two more days. On days two and three we were provided with a delicious lunch and kept well hydrated with frequent soda runs by wonderfully helpful customer service rep Dena Beecher.

Having built car and motorcycle engines since junior high, I was on the fence about attending build school in the first place, but decided that since I had never even changed a plug on an aircraft engine it would be a good idea to have some oversight. My fellow builders had a fair amount of mechanical experience, but little to no actual engine building. The instructors did a great job of allowing each of us to work at his own pace and resisted the temptation to simply take over when we were having trouble. In spite of my previous experience I learned a lot of things specific to this type of application, not the least of which is that darn safety wiring.

If I had not gone, would I have been able to build my engine? Absolutely. Would I be as confident that everything was done properly and to aviation standards? I'd have to honestly say no. Will I feel comfortable if I ever need to service or rebuild my engine? I definitely will. If you're even considering going this route, do it. It was a really fun time and the motor is gorgeous.
 
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Great review Steve, thanks. I am considering this route myself. I bought my RV-4's engine from Aerosport and hung on the plane and it works but I'm really not a gear head. I could use some engine tutilage. Where was the class held?
 
How would I do?

Thanks for the great write-up. I just finished my tail and the QB wings are getting started tonight, so my engine decision is a ways off yet. But I've been really interested in the build school since I first heard about it. I live in the DFW area, so access would be easy.

My question is about previous experience. It sounds like you fine tuned your already existing engine knowledge. That's great, but I'd be starting WAY further back than you. How do you think a VERY green engine guy would do with the class? Are the employees ready to start with "okay, this is a spark plug" or would I be the most annoying guy they've ever seen?

Thanks!

Dave
 
One of my classmates had virtually no engine knowledge at all but did great and really enjoyed himself. During orientation they asked each of us what our background was and even stated that the class is run as if you've never touched an engine. There wasn't much time to explain the theory of how an engine operates, but we learned a lot about the engineering and construction of it. In three days I didn't once see the instructors lose patience with our dumb questions.

Incidently, one of the nice things about doing it there rather than at home is that they have every part right there on site. If a part doesn't fit or if you decide you want EI instead of mags, injection instead of carb, etc., they can hook you up right on the spot.
 
BUMP

I'm going to take the time to bump this so newcomers can spot it or maybe shake some people off the fence. I just got back from DFW after building the engine in the pictures:
BuildSchool.jpg

XPEngine.jpg


The other builder for this week cancelled, so I had Evan all to myself. Since I have no engine experience other than model aircraft engine, I was glad to have him and the rest of the staff there. Everything was explained clearly, including the differences between my engine and the standard Lycoming or even the Vantage (the one Evan was building that's in the background of the pictures has flat-tappet lifters unlike the rollers in mine, for example). Day 3 was where it really got interesting because the basic engine was done and we were into the fuel and ignition systems and each engine will be different. Since the engine ships without the carb or servo body (in my case) installed - they remove it for shipping after the test stand run - we went over the installation including some likely issues and solutions for my particular application.

All through the process, there is a document where you note all tolerances as well as a checklist of part numbers and serial numbers for the major components. At several points, you will sign off the work and then their QA will come and check. Since Evan was building an engine in parallel with me, I got to see that I got exactly the same checkout as he did, down to showing that all fasteners were tightened to correct torque and all clearances were correct. Other people dropped in from time to time, notably Fred Marsden, who is the manager of technical support and the go-to guy if I have problems once it arrives here.

In fact, I got to know a lot of the staff. Bill Peterson picked me up at the hotel each morning, even though he had a trade show to attend that week, Dena Beecher took Evan and me to lunch the first day and then brought us lunch the rest of the time. In fact, Dena is kind of like the Build School 'Mom' and made sure everything ran smoothly. I was even invited when the staff got together for cake and ice cream to celebrate the President's, Kent Abercrombie, birthday; so I got to chat with him a few minutes. Everybody knew who I was and I was made to feel like a absolute VIP the whole time I was there.

Of course I came home with lots of swag, including a Superior t-shirt and cap. I also came away with a lot of knowledge. Safety wiring is tougher than it looks, especially when Evan does it, but he was patient with me and I finally got better at it. Oddly, it made me feel more confident about the engine when I had to redo something to satisfy Evan and I wasn't a bit hurt about being corrected. Evan is a marvelous teacher.

Build School is not a way to save money on your engine; it actually costs more. But if you are already shelling out for a new engine, I feel it is money well spent so that you know your engine inside and out. And it truly is fun; it would almost be worth the extra cost just for that alone. I know that if I bulid another RV I'd want to build another engine. And I know that Superior is not the only place you can do this; while I obviously am going to be biased toward Superior, I'd still say that attending a build school with any shop is going to be a rewarding experience.
 
CA build school

Scott,

Eagle Engines in Redding does a Superior build school, which I attended in December. Not as long (1.5 days instead of 3) but worthwhile in that I learned a lot about MY engine. My only regret is that I didn't get to put everything together because of time limitations (like the cylinders were already partially assembled, didn't do any of the mag timing). Very nice group of folks - call James or Bob and they will set you up.

FWIW, if you can have them ship it out of state (I live in Reno), you can save the (hefty) CA sales tax.

greg
 
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