What's new
Van's Air Force

Don't miss anything! Register now for full access to the definitive RV support community.

Best advice you got from another builder?

Oh good grief. There is nothing wrong with building a show-plane OR a go-plane. Just decide which you want and don't compromise on airworthiness items. But don't tell new builders they HAVE to build a perfect show-plane, or most of us would have never finished and given up in frustration. I'd love to do it on my SECOND plane. But I can tell you I have just as much or more fun in my unpainted plane with a small smiley on the vertical stabilizer than any of the Lindy winners. We need to be encouraging new builders, not telling them that they have to rebuild every part with a minor superficial flaw - it's admirable, but certainly not necessary.

Chris

I never said everyone has to build a perfect showplane.

However I would encourage all builders to build to the very best of their abilities... to give it their very best shot. The attitude of "close enough is good enough" has no place in aircraft construction.

This is simple. We can encourage quality in construction in the Experimental category or we can encourage a slapdash-get-'er-done attitude. I just believe that logic dictates that it is in our collective (and personal) interest to do the former.

Incidentally, here's my one-line advice to builders:

Don't practice on the plane.
 
avoid changes

Almost every builder I spoke to encouraged me to avoid changes to the plans. I tried to keep this good advice in mind as much as possible. Changes often take much longer to implement than expected.
 
Simplificate and add lightness.

I think that was Tony Bingelis.

A little earlier than Tony B. :)

Usually credited to William Stout, designer of what became the Ford Trimotor.

A bit from wiki...

Stout is remembered for his engineering credo, "Simplicate and add more lightness." This would later become best known as the adopted maxim of Colin Chapman of Lotus Cars. It actually originated with Stout's designer Gordon Hooton.

Doesn't always work though, as shown in the handbrake system of the 1964 Lotus Elan I owned. :D
 
I thought I was the only one to be told that!

I was recuperating after my -6 accident and wondering how my wife would react to flying again, let alone building. One day, out of the blue, she said "I think you should build another one."
 
If pre-punched holes don't line up the problem is NOT the holes! Holes are put there by a computer and are nearly always in the right place, but bends can be off. Try adjusting the flange if you can and you should get a better fit. Has helped several times on the 7, thanks Mart!
 
Know when the engineering (planning/thinking/deciding/designing/changing/etc) stops and building has started. Never try to mix the two.

This is true at every new task you start on the project. Trust me, not following this added years to my build. Being an aerospace design engineer made this extremely hard to follow.

Corollary to this is when in doubt build as Van designed. He did a pretty good job and you will not regret.
 
Build an "EAA-like" workbench on wheels with the tabletop the exact same size as your open plans. Keep your plans on this portable table right next to you and what you are working on. It helps to keep you from working over the top of them and damaging them with ProSeal, coffee, acetone, beer, etc. Basically it keeps the plans off your regular-sized workbench yet within reach at all times. When you are done with the build, you'll have a nice little table for some other project, or the next RV!
 
Last edited:
outside calipers

mark where a hole might go with a marker and use outside calipers to see where the two points come together and give an idea of where the exit point of the drill will make its exit on the opposite side. the calipers, when closed, touch points and simulate where the hole will start and end... think about it
 
2 things

I was advised of this from a couple of builders "after" my first one. On the 2nd 7, I followed this and life was a lot better.

There seems to be two milestones that creep into the build process. 1) Getting the plane on the gear. And, 2) mounting the engine.

Both usually occur WAAAAAAY to early in the process. As soon as you put the plane on the gear, you limit the easy access to the interior. My recommendation is to keep it on low saw horses till your panel and all interior work is done.

I even recommend mounting the engine with the plane on saw horses. You'll need to weight the tail but that is easy. This will allow easy access to all the FWF stuff, cowl mounting, etc..... I mounted the engine temporarily, marked all the items to be mounted on the firewall then removed the engine. This made all firewall work really easy. When done, the engine was remounted.

When it comes time to "put it on the gear," it is a simple process with an engine hoist. Definitely try to avoid these two milestones that will make your build tougher. Both are easily accomplished after you get much more work done.
 
When aligning spinner to cowl, have spinner about 1/2” higher than cowl(mounts will sag after you start flying). Also, never let anyone else fly your plane that you built.
 
I was advised of this from a couple of builders "after" my first one. On the 2nd 7, I followed this and life was a lot better.

There seems to be two milestones that creep into the build process. 1) Getting the plane on the gear. And, 2) mounting the engine.

Both usually occur WAAAAAAY to early in the process. As soon as you put the plane on the gear, you limit the easy access to the interior. My recommendation is to keep it on low saw horses till your panel and all interior work is done.

I even recommend mounting the engine with the plane on saw horses. You'll need to weight the tail but that is easy. This will allow easy access to all the FWF stuff, cowl mounting, etc..... I mounted the engine temporarily, marked all the items to be mounted on the firewall then removed the engine. This made all firewall work really easy. When done, the engine was remounted.

When it comes time to "put it on the gear," it is a simple process with an engine hoist. Definitely try to avoid these two milestones that will make your build tougher. Both are easily accomplished after you get much more work done.

Good one Darwin. Definitely going to keep my Hatz off the gear for a bit longer per your sage advice!
 
5 conitions required to build an aircraft

Hi Orinair

If you want to build an aircraft you need to have these conditions met.

1 A strong desire to build an aircraft instead of just flying one.
2 A place where you have space to actually build an aircraft.
3 Enough money to actually afford the entire craft. ( $80-100,000)
4 Time to build it, a lot of time. Not just one day a week.
5 MOST importantly, have a very understanding and supportive wife,
girlfriend or mistress. ( or all three )

If you don't have all five of these conditions, you will not probably not complete your project.

I have built 10 of these aircraft and have enjoyed every minute of it. What a wonderful hobby.

Age has caught up with me, so I no longer build.

On my latest RV-4 my wife put a big decal on the tail.

THE LAST ONE

Carr
 
We are just going to Denver not Mars,, thanks Luke

Yes that's true, but when we go to Denver we may well have our wife, or child, or grandchild on board....so it is our moral responsibility to ensure that the aircraft is built (and maintained) to the very best of our abilities, and nothing less.

An ATSB analysis of amateur-built experimental aircraft accidents between 1988 and 2010 found that amateur-built aircraft had an accident rate 3 times higher than comparable factory-built certified aircraft conducting similar flight operations. The fatal and serious injury accident rate was over 5 times higher in amateur-built aircraft, in particular due to relatively more serious injury accidents. It further found that over half of the accidents were precipitated by mechanical events, which were mainly complete or partial engine failures.

These are very sobering statistics and worth bearing in mind by builders and maintainers.

I am personally dismayed by the number of times I have heard RV builders say that the Vans designs have so much structural redundancy that you could leave every 4th rivet out and the plane would be safe. That is a very dangerous myth. There may well be significant redundancy in an RV when puttering around at 1-3 Gs, but there is no redundancy whatsoever when you crash at 15-20 Gs.

So my further advice is: Build to fly...but build to crash too.
 
Last edited:
Best advice:

Best advice given to me:
"Friends don't let friends build plastic airplanes."
 
Last edited:
Vlad, " If you want a painted airplane, do it now. If you don't then it will never be painted because you will have too much fun flying it and it will never get painted"!

Me, "Nahhhh, I will paint it someday"!

Three years so far. Still the only stuff painted is the plastic parts!

The Russian is wise beyond his years!!!

:cool: CJ
 
Back
Top