Build space

My garage is 20? x 20?. Do I have enough room to build fuselage?
When does the emphanage go on the plane?
I am thinking of setting up the work tables along the perimeter.
But worried that I will not be able to fit the 20?-4.5? plane in my garage.
Without the prop, maybe looking at ~19?-2? (just a rough measurement in Bluebeam.

I loose a bit of space to the wings being stored in the cradle.

Other than that I have the entire floor area, minus the water heater in the corner.

Is this even possible? I feel like my previous 2 car garage was bigger, where I built the wings.

Maybe I wait to install engine and finishing kit at hangar.
Without engine and prop, length is around 16? including rudder.

For those of you that wen through this process. Can I get by with a space that is 17? by 7? (clear for fuselage) with tables surrounding that build area?

Welcome thoughts and suggestions.

Cheers

Rudy
RV-7A

I am beginning to install the finishing kit on my RV8. My garage is slightly smaller than yours. But if I put the fuse on an diagonal, the fuse+engine should fit. I removed and stored the empennage to a safe place after I fitted it to the fuse. Less chance for hangar rash. The same with the propeller. I won't run the engine until the entire project is located to the airport so there is no reason to mount the prop, except for picture taking.
Again less chance for hangar rash.

There should be plenty of space left for a workbench or two.

RudysRV7 said:

My garage is 20’ x 20’. Do I have enough room to build fuselage?
When does the emphanage go on the plane?
I am thinking of setting up the work tables along the perimeter.
But worried that I will not be able to fit the 20’-4.5” plane in my garage.
Without the prop, maybe looking at ~19’-2” (just a rough measurement in Bluebeam.

I loose a bit of space to the wings being stored in the cradle.

Other than that I have the entire floor area, minus the water heater in the corner.

Is this even possible? I feel like my previous 2 car garage was bigger, where I built the wings.

Maybe I wait to install engine and finishing kit at hangar.
Without engine and prop, length is around 16’ including rudder.

For those of you that wen through this process. Can I get by with a space that is 17’ by 7’ (clear for fuselage) with tables surrounding that build area?

Welcome thoughts and suggestions.

Cheers

Rudy
RV-7A

Click to expand...

My garage is 20X20 but has a recessed door for arch feature so its really 19'3" deep by 20' wide with 16' x 7' standard overhead door and 9' ceilings. From crank flange to tailwheel without the emp/rudder/spinner/prop the -7 is just under 18'. Hang the misc items from the wall out of the way. If you have to park a car in the garage (I promised to be married only once) then one side of the garage is fuse on dolly the other is foldable tables that can be put up/take down in minutes. If you have 9' ceiling in the garage you can hang the wings from the ceiling above the garage door.

Thank You Phat RV. I was thinking about the diagonal. I may have to do that as well, towards the end. Thanks for the hint about fitting the empennage and then storing it. That will give me more build room and prevent hangar rash. Cheers

Thanks Carlos. Cars are parked outside. My wife is giving me the entire garage. I like the idea of the wings above the garage doors ( if needed). Cheers

I'm in the same situation as PhatRV and plan about the same approach.

I've got work benches that are not on wheels on one side and the end opposite the door, and one work bench that is on wheels on the other side. As my project (an RV-3B) gets far enough, I might need to remove one of the non-wheeled benches just for more clearance. I'm willing to do that but I'll lose a bit of that floor space because that table has some tool drawers built in that I'll need to replace, and that'll take some floor space.

One thing that's been so handy is a set of shelves along one of the side walls (the side with the wheeled work bench). I really appreciate that convenience. But they are close to a foot wide, and then I need another couple of feet to get to them... so I lost three feet right there.

Parts storage is a real issue. I don't have a ready solution to that. Although my hardware bins and bottles have been worth their space for sure.



Rivets go in the water bottles and the hardware goes into the drawers. Everything got labeled. This approach was one of the better shop decisions I've made.

Dave

do you have a hangar already or access to a hangar? That would help a lot.

A standard 20x20 garage works fine ... with a bit of creative packing. The wing stand is on wheels and rolls out of the garage onto the driveway while working.
Benches in the middle and sides, Epm and parts on shelves. I had the long parts hanging from the ceiling early on. The driveway is uses for big assembly operations.

Here's my garage at max pack right before moving to the hangar:



... and, yes, the cars lived outside for 7 years. They didn't seem to mind!

Did you use a pulley for storing the wings above the garage door?
I would be interested in your method. Seems I would need a few strong arms to help lift the wings into place?

RudysRV7 said:

Did you use a pulley for storing the wings above the garage door?
I would be interested in your method. Seems I would need a few strong arms to help lift the wings into place?

Click to expand...

It would be better to store finished components in a basement or spare bedroom. Or, if you have a buddy who has a little extra room in his hangar, you could store the larger assemblies there.

Going back to the original question, I built my RV-6 in a ~16x19' garage and currently have the fuselage of an RV-10 (on gear, engine attached) in my 20'x18' garage. There's plenty of room on the diagonal.

When it is time to install wings on a -7, that can be accomplished by 2 people if you have a sawhorse or two.

Wow, looking at those wings suspended against the ceiling over the rest of the project just gave me extreme anxiety. Neat storage area but boy I don't think I could bring myself to do it!