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Serial Builder vs. Single Builder & Long Time Owner

N941WR

Legacy Member
The other day I was having a discussion with some other RV builders and one of them proposed that a serial builder probably knew more about RV's than a person who has built one and maintained it for 10+ years.

One of the other builders argued that the person who built one plane and had to maintain it, repairing things that didn't work well, etc. vs. the Serial Builder who repeats the same error over and over again and leaves it to the new owners to correct.

It was an interesting because the serial builder doesn't hold on to his aircraft long enough to see if what s/he did would hold up in the long term. Whereas, the person who built one and maintained it over 10+ years knows exactly what worked, what didn't, and how to repair issues the serial builder would never experience.

However, it is hopped that the serial builder learns how to produce aircraft rapidly and adds features that makes future maintenance easier.

What are your thoughts?
 
?por qu? no los dos?

I guess the best would be a serial builder that hangs onto one of his/her babies for 10+ years. :)

Your point is very valid - it's best to learn about the full lifecycle of the aircraft, and that's hard to do if you don't hang on to one or more for a long time.

I imagine someone that does a lot of inspections and pre-buys would also be a great source of good advice.
 
I guess the best would be a serial builder that hangs onto one of his/her babies for 10+ years. :) .

Yep. Also unless the person who built it also did the inspections all of those 10 years because they would never catch any mistakes.

My plane was built by a very good A&P IA yet after 10 years and 11 inspections I bought it last year and in this year's condition inspection (my first one doing it on this plane) found out that it had been missing 12 bolts in the wing spar since new.

On the other side if the person builds planes and sells them to build another one, another set of eyes will come upon each build as he sells them and anything not right will come up. It won't be long before the serial builder will know if what he did wasn't good.

I'd rather buy from someone who's built more than one because they'll do better with each one.
 
Please define
knew more about RV's
.

Know more about what?

P.S.
There is a world of difference about assembling a pre-drilled mass produced standard kit, installing an engine bought with a full FWF kit, plugging in that pre-wired panel... and maintaining said aircraft and engine. Lots of valuable skillsets to be acquired and practised :)
And don?t forget the flying part :D
 
During our discussion, this thread kept running through my mind.

It became very apparent that the guy who built this aircraft, even though he had built a number of them, was worse than most first time builders I know.
 
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" ... a serial builder probably knew more about RV's than a person who has built one and maintained it for 10+ years."

-- General unsubstantiated statements here-- the 10 year owner/builder would be the absolute Expert on his plane (model/engine/systems), assuming he was the hands on maintainer of it over the years. He may or may not be as knowledgable of other RVs depending on how hands-on he was with others.
I doubt any serial builders build follow up RVs exactly the same way cookie cutter fashion, or used the same equipment in it, so the knowledge base grows with more finished projects, more so if he changes and builds different models.

"person who built one plane and had to maintain it, repairing things that didn't work well, etc. vs. the Serial Builder who repeats the same error over and over again and leaves it to the new owners to correct."

Don't think so. Obvious errors show up pretty quick, usually in the test period. Exception would be age related or fatigue items that would have shown up regardless who built it.

"serial builder doesn't hold on to his aircraft long enough to see if what s/he did would hold up in the long term. Whereas, the person who built one and maintained it over 10+ years knows exactly what worked, what didn't, and how to repair issues the serial builder would never experience."

Grand daddy general statement that...
Personally, I had over 700hrs on my first 7 before I sold it, followed on with 2 more 7's and a 8. I have continued to maintain all of them since and the owners still maintain insurance for me to 'test' fly them (to OSH sometimes). I would assume other serial types would keep up on airframe issues.

"However, it is hopped that the serial builder learns how to produce aircraft rapidly and adds features that makes future maintenance easier."

Funny, building planes never got 'quicker', I found I never followed exactly the same process each time, trying things to change or improve the process or product, and always on a learning curve for installing different equipment. I didn't even install the same engine type in any of them.

This serial builder gig lead into a Builder Assist/Maintenance/Mod business for me which I've enjoyed for over 16 years & recently retired from, now (don't) talk to me about RVs.

As my signature says...
 
for me, building an airplane was A LOT of work and a steep learning curve (and I didn't build it all) and I tried to think about minimizing operational and maintenance costs and effort. when the building was over I wanted it to be reliable and enjoy it. watching it age and maintaining it is enough for me now. just the right level of effort and it is enjoyable and low cost. it's a hobby and it is fun. 7 yrs, mag serviced, a new hal effect sensor, one set of spark plugs, crank seal, oil, tires, brakes, that's about it.
 
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My thoughts..

I built my -4 and have been flying/maintaining it for 10 years. As an APIA, I maintain and mentor alot of RV's that were not built by their owners. I am ,as many on here are, very passionate about aircraft in general, and have learned much about the RV series through VAF, friends and doing inspections.I have seen the good,the great, and the very ugly which is something a "serial builder" may not see...its possible they do everything the same, right ,wrong, or indifferent, but serials are certainly aware of the most challenging parts of the build and the easiest parts of the build. if I had the time, I would certainly be building one after another simply because I love building, as much as I love flying.
 
What's the point? Obviously, people are going to develop current expertise in the particular endeavor that they spend their time on.

Dave
 
You also learn about an aircraft by flying it and operating it. Some people make modifications to different systems. Electrical, fuel and engine (ignition) are common. These modifications also create different failure modes.

Once one has 1000, 2000, 3000+ hours in a certain design, they will have seen the operational benefits and drawbacks of certain design changes. They will also have seen some failures, and likely ones nobody expected. So would somebody build the electrical system differently should they do it again?
 
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