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.
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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