Building / Assembling without power

This might sound like a stupid question but would it be possible to assemble in a lock-up garage without a power supply?

I'm in the UK and a loooooong way from putting the money together and placing an order but this is thinking ahead.

We live in a small-ish semi detached house at the end of a block of four houses. I rent a fair sized lock up garage (think a car width but 1.5x car length) 100 yards from the house at the other end of the block of four. I have power at the house and small parts can be worked in the garden shed so I'm thinking an empennage could be built in the garden / shed. I'd have to enlist help from the neighbours getting it through the gardens to the wider alley at the end but that's not a problem.

When it comes to the larger stuff, wings and fuselage etc I was thinking a quick build would be better to reduce the amount of riveting and spraying but could a medium sized compressor be charged at the house and wheeled to the garage? Can the rest be done with hand tools? A small generator would provide light but I don't want to annoy the neighbours and it wouldn't operate heavier machinery.

I could rent a larger unit but that would be some way away and quite expensive. All the advice is to build as close to your doorstep as possible. My dad has a full four car garage but that's 60 miles away and I'm using one of the bays for my classic car rebuild (another reason I'm not ready to start a plane kit). 60 miles is too far to get anything done in good time.

Others will surely comment, but I think it would be very difficult to build a bucked rivet airplane without access to an air compressor, and it requires a pretty large generator to overcome the starting current required for an air compressor. There may be small air compressors you could run with a small generator, but you would be continuously waiting for it to recharge. They do make battery powered rivet pullers, so you could conceivably build a pulled rivet airplane, like an RV-12, without access to power. Good luck! Almost anything is possible if you are committed.

You're going to need lights, battery chargers for your cordless drill, air compressor, a grinding wheel, a bandsaw, and ideally a small drill press. Don't forget a fan for air movement when it gets hot - also a beer fridge.

You're going to need power.

I've got power but it's 100 yards away. Is it impossible to 'assemble' in a lockup but do the work at home?

I hadn't realised the difference in rivet types (I'm new to this) between the RV12 and the others so that might make one decision.

I'm not entirely new to working without power. There is another car in there now. I have Battery lighting using lights operated from drill batteries and white vertical surfaces and head torches. With that set up I'm about to start building an engine for the classic MG. I can set up a band saw in my garden shed or on a trolley outside for the larger stuff.

The main drawback is it lacks in heat in the winter (but that solves the beer fridge problem).

I was more thinking if I can make other plans such as building a 12 or going quickbuild on the 7 (which was/is the initial plan) or even then it is completely hopeless.

Pulled Rivets could make a BIG difference w/o power

Milwaukee makes a battery-powered rivet puller that can eliminate the need for a pneumatic puller for the RV-12. An RV-12 builder created a YouTube comparison of the Milwaukee puller vs. an inexpensive pneumatic puller at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7gl43XbmkPo&t=18s

The RV-12 does have some driven rivets that require a hand squeezer, but the kit was designed to avoid the need for a rivet gun.

There are UK builders (MicMat) who are documenting their RV-12 build on YouTube at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vj1viqOtJo8&list=PLcky2FZg__4fl72TZbS9VabQZLwn2MbA1

There are many other RV-12 build videos on YouTube that should give you a realistic idea of when and where you'll need power. So far, I've only completed the Empennage Kit, and the bandsaw is what I'd miss the most without power (other than lights). You could easily keep the bandsaw at your nearby location with power.

I have seen setups where a gasoline powered air compressor and a gas powered generator used for no power situations to work on boats campers etc at storage yards. There will be a lot of times when you will not need the compressor. I would rather have a bucked rivet airplane.

Welcome to VAF

Tom, welcome aboard the good ship VAF

Methinks a gas powered generator will solve a lot of your problems.

Sounds like you are comfortable working with your lighting in the work space, and willing to hoof it between the garden shed and shop.

Maybe a compressor with a large tank (think 60 gallon size) would work if you have an easy way to move it back and forth. Mine runs infrequently even when bucking.

Build a golf cart toting your compressor as your first project and drive to work! That along with battery powered tools and a hand squeezer, lookin' good.

Besides, a buddy of built a lot of his RV-6 control surfaces in the stateroom of the USS Nimitz during our 1993 tour of the western Pacific! Air provided by the ship's engine shop carried in a modified propane tank.

Where there's a will ...

Maybe get a solar charged battery to run the compressor? It doesn't need to run constantly, mine kicks on maybe once or twice for 5 minutes per building session.

Trekker
Don't know if the air shows over there have similar awards for amateur built aircraft, but if you do this, you should qualify for the UBER Perseverence Award!!

As for air, would it be possible to keep the compressor at the power source and run an air hose the 100yds to the shed. Would obviously need a reserve tank at the shed, filled by the long hose to make this work. Solar with 12v batteries and inverter are a great way to get power for smaller devices like LED lights and drill charging.

I only used a few CheeryMax rivets on my 9 build but have seen wings with the bottom skin done with them and epoxy. It was not cheap - about $160 for the bottom skins but it could be a solution to some of the build. There are battery powered Cherrymax guns.

I know it may not finish out as nice as a bucked rivet but they are structural rivets and may work for many areas. In the end bucking would be preferred and look better but if it is a go or no go decision, check out the strength and with Vans to get their opinion and decide.


Edit: I do have a Ryobi Invertor generator that runs a small compressor and the generator is reasonably quiet. I think it does about 2200 watts. Build a 3 sided shield with top and it will make it even quieter. Do most riveting at your house and only what you need to in the garage.

Can it be done? Sure, anything can be done with enough determination.

As you will see on the empennage, most of the internal structure can be riveted with a hand squeezer, but the real hassle is going to be the skins.

Even on a quick build kit, there are two wing skins and a couple of fuselage skins that must be shot with a rivet gun. Maybe 1,000 rivets? Thats a lot of trucking a portable air tank back and forth, but it's doable if you're determined enough.

How big is your garden shed? you mentioned building the empennage in there, is there any chance you could build the wings there as well? Without the fiberglass tips they are only about 9' long and weigh probably less that 100 lbs.

I know more than one guy who has built wings in their living room or basement.

Of course it could be done. You can get a portable generator to run lights and/or generator or you can schlep a small compressor from where there is power back and forth to the shop.

Another option is that when it is time to skin something, you take the something to a place where there is power and use that to run the compressor.

I'd say <10% of the work in building an RV is actually driving rivets with the gun. There's a lot of other stuff that can be done without power other than the lights to see your work or a way to charge a portable drill.

Why not just run a line 100yds to your shop? Use heavy wire to lower the loss. If temporary you should not have to bury it.

I think you can

I built a fence with a pneumatic nail gun with 16d nails. I had my 2000 watt Honda generator and a small Craftsman compressor in the bucket of my tractor and it did just fine. I’m guessing it would buck reasonably well. I will try to buck some rivets this weekend and get a better idea how that would work.

Thanks all for the advice. Interesting reading.

I could run a decent quality and length extension lead to the garage but it is along the street and across the driveways of three houses. Not impossible but worth considering perhaps backed up with a modern quiet generator.

I'll finish the car projects (are they ever finished?) and see how it goes working in there over the winter.

Have solved the beer fridge problem by buying a camper van which is now parked in front and the fridge runs off a small solar panel in the roof.

I do not have power in my hanger. Just a generator. I did my wings and some of the fuselage there. I have a small Harbor Freight compressor that I used use to inflate tires on my Bonanza. It could easley be run by one of those small quiet Honda generators. To do the riveting I added a 50 gal tank. While I was getting ready the small compressor was running. The tank would run the gun without the compressor for many minutes once the tank reached 120#