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What cant be done on the finish kit without an engine and avionics

RVFan671

Well Known Member
Thinking about doing the finish kit after the fuse and before wings. The main reason is so I can delay purchase of the most expensive pieces (engine, prop and avionics). Is the cowl section the only part I cant get done if I dont have those 3 expensive items? Interior I think I'd purchase after wings while waiting on engine and prop. I'm assuming avionics wont take long to order and receive if I'm doing all the work and hopefully lead time isnt too high if I have someone partial build the pannel so I can slap that in at the very last.

Happy to hear thoughts from builders who are flying or close to flying, on my idea.
 
Yes you are right, you can't fit the cowl. Also can't do baffles, and any other engine accessory items.

You could put the landing gear and canopy on.
 
Why cant you fit the doors? They have a dependency on the cowl? The baffles are in the FWF I think and expected those to be done after the engine is installed already.
 
You may or may not be able to do the cabin top and doors. I've been strongly advised to hold off on attaching the cabin top and the upper forward fuselage until the panel is ready and installed. Would you rather fit the panel in place with free access to the front of the plane? Or crawl through a doorway and work upside down, on your back, to reach the panel area. With no doors and no cabin top, it is much easier to get everything else in position.

I've cut my cabin top down to where it fits in the fuselage sides, but then I've set it aside. Some of the edges have gotten rather thin to fit the fuselage, and will have to be built up once it is installed. So, I'm holding off on fitting the doors until the cabin top is in place, which, as described above, requires the panel to be in place.
 
Thanks for the insight. I will be sure to put it into consideration. Is it a moot point if I were to have someone build the pannel for me and ship it or is the access still needed then (yet to decide if I have someone build it or do my own)?

How is everyone protecting their avionics when sanding the cabin top and doors?
 
I am fitting canopy and doors, then removing for prep, then putting the fuse parts in (brakes, fuel, etc.). Canopy and doors will go on before panel. I know it will limit access, but it is what I am doing. I will also run as many wires as I can prior and planning on an advanced panel with his ACM as well. Hope that it makes it easier. I also plan on painting the exterior (fuse and tail cone) prior to putting the engine and cowl on.
 
I have not built a -10, but I would be concerned about fitting doors before the cabin top is permanently attached. It seems like fit and alignment is fussy enough that I would not want the cabin top to move, shift, whatever.

Can you cleco it in place with enough confidence that it really will come back to exactly the same place that you would do the door fit before permanently joining the top on?
 
I have not built a -10, but I would be concerned about fitting doors before the cabin top is permanently attached. It seems like fit and alignment is fussy enough that I would not want the cabin top to move, shift, whatever.

Can you cleco it in place with enough confidence that it really will come back to exactly the same place that you would do the door fit before permanently joining the top on?

I think so. The top is very stiff and mounts to the fuse with bolts in the door area and cleco's elsewhere. I would have no problem bolting/clecoing the top on, and proceeding with the doors.
 
With proper planning, you can mount the racks in the panel, do a lot of wiring, while the panel is outside the airplane. There will still be some ‘on your back under the panel’ work, but not as much as you might think. The real advantage of purchasing/installing avionics last is that it lessens the chance of having a brand new airplane with out-dated avionics.
 
The main reason is so I can delay purchase of the most expensive pieces (engine, prop and avionics).
That is an excellent approach to back end load the project cash flow. You will be able to install everything in the finish kit except for the cowl. The cabin top, doors and transparencies are some of the more time consuming tasks and they generate a lot of fiberglass dust. Then do the wings, engine and cowl and finally avionics. Sneek the firewall forward kit in there so you can install some of the components while you wait on the engine. The final task would be avionics. I would even go as far as suggesting you don't run wiring until after virtually everything is done. Just run conduit will pull wires. Then install the wiring as you do the avionics. If you can put it in after everything is together you will be able to get it out sometime in the future. You will also be able to get whatever is the latest and greatest whether that is months or years in the future. Avionics always evolve.

The downside. You will be upside down under the panel and you will be climbing in and out of the of the plane that is a few feet off the ground. And it gets hot inside that cabin in the summer It is easier to do all that work on a bench. But with current avionics, there is very little behind the sub panel. Making a cut out in the subpanel for those few avionics that need extra depth is more difficult, but not impossible. The ground block forest of tabs on the cabin side of the FWF is the most difficult to get to, but you are going to have that issue even if you complete the the upper forward fuselage avionics on the bench.
 
I’m definitely in the camp of leaving the expensive avionics until the end.

The cabin and doors takes a lot longer than I had anticipated even with the extra time covid has given me at home.

I did all my door fitting with the cabin top clecoed on. I can report that they fit fine now that the cabin top is permanently installed.

I have done as much wiring forward of the sub panel as humanly possible. All the engine instrumentation, firewall penetrations and electrical wiring has been done before the top skin went on. I have the 2 access panels in the top skin too.
Now I’m leaving the avionics because there’s easily another 1000h finishing off the windows/cabin top exterior/engine and cowl. Access to everything aft of the sub panel is very good sitting in the front seats. I don’t envisage much if any time upside down under the panel. I’ve done that on my last plane and have planned appropriately to not repeat the experience.

I installed my G3X touch in my RV7 almost 8 years ago. That’s very long in the tooth now. Another 1000h of work could be 1-2years and I’m betting we will have a hardware refresh in that time.

Bottom line is, in my view the 10 is a big project. However long you think the cabin/doors/windows will take, double it. If that’s years then think hard about the avionics because that’s a long time and it’s not hard doing it last as others have said too.
 
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