Fuselage vs. wings

s10sakota · #1 05-22-2014, 04:56 PM

For those who are finished building, which took longer to build, the fuselage or the wings?

I've been working on these wings for almost three years now, although I did take some time off in the middle.

My fuselage and finish kit will arrive here next week and I'm wondering based on my time with the wings, what I can expect for build time with the rest of the plane.

The reason I ask is that although I LOVE building (this is my 3rd plane) I REALLY miss flying.

Today in Michigan we had the kind of weather where I could not stop looking up. I was dreaming of all the places I could go if I had an airplane.

I'm thinking of buying an older Cessna just for something to fly for the next few years. Yes it will slow down the RV progress slightly, but that's ok. As long as I have an airplane to fly, I don't particularly care what it is.

akarmy · #2 05-22-2014, 05:16 PM

Hard to say as it depends on you!

Wings have lots more manual work to be done in terms of actual metal work, fuselage has more thinking with systems, wiring, FWF etc. Not to mention fiberglass!

Kyle Boatright · #3 05-22-2014, 05:24 PM

I found the wings monotonous (flute, drill, deburr, dimple, lather, rinse, repeat), so they took a couple of years.

The fuselage (IMO) was interesting and took me about 6 months to go from crate arrival to canoe flipping.

David Paule · #4 05-22-2014, 05:31 PM

Sure feel for you.

I wouldn't have started my RV-3B project if I didn't already have a capable airplane to fly. Sometimes it's time to build and sometimes it's time to fly.

Dave
P.S. Wings are taking longer than expected.

s10sakota · #5 05-22-2014, 07:31 PM

I totally agree about the wings being monotonous! I'm sick of looking at them! I think the fuselage would be a lot more fun just because that's the 'airplane' part.

For now, I'm excited to be riveting the bottom wing skins. Can't wait to pack these wings away

blueflyer · #6 05-22-2014, 07:48 PM

I am interested to see some of these responses too. I just clecoed on my skins for final riveting. The catalyst to get me out to the garage to complete the skinning.......I am tired of the big wing stand taking up all my space!

wirejock · #7 05-22-2014, 08:12 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by blueflyer

I am interested to see some of these responses too. I just clecoed on my skins for final riveting. The catalyst to get me out to the garage to complete the skinning.......I am tired of the big wing stand taking up all my space!

Make that 3.
I'm ready to start riveting the bottom skins and see these things in a cradle.

YellowJacket RV9 · #8 05-22-2014, 08:41 PM

My wings took about 10 months; I did them one at a time, and by the end I was definitely a bit bored with them. I started my fuselage about 4 months ago, and am about to roll the canoe. I feel like it's going a bit faster now that I am fairly adept at most jobs, and screw up (a little bit) less. It's hard to estimate total fuselage build time though, because I think it will start blending into finishing kit, electrical, etc, so there may not be a day when I say, "okay, fuselage is done." From this point in the build it seems there is a less of a specific order to things; just a huge list of things to get done eventually.

Chris

Dbro172 · #9 05-22-2014, 09:06 PM

Emp - 2 months
SB Wings - 5 months.
QB fuse, finish kit, engine, firewall forward, avionics, rigging - 2 years.

So at my closure rate that's 12 years to go

longranger · #10 05-26-2014, 12:03 AM

According to my build log I got the wings structurally complete (no fiberglass work) in 617 hours. I'm 414 hours into the fuselage, and just today disassembled the forward fuselage and separated the center section from the aft section after completing drilling. I'm notorious for underestimating how much time a particular job will take, but I'm fairly confident I can get the fuselage structurally complete (no finish kit) in at least a little less time that I spent on the wings.

PS: Mark, if you might be interested in a C-170B, let me know...