Is a helper necessary to build a QB RV?

[pboed]

Can a quick-build RV7 or RV8 be built by a lone person, or is a helper necessary?

If a helper is needed, approximately what would they do and for how long?

Thanks in advance!

[glider4]

I am building a RV-8a solo. I have both the QB wing and fuselage.
There are a few times when you must have help. Besides just having help to move the wings around a bit (wing stand to worktable) you will definately need some experienced help with riveting the outboard bottom skins. On the fuselage and finishing kit you will need help installing the gear legs, mounting the engine, and with the canopy at the very least.

Suggest you request the assistance of other builders in your area when those times come. They may need assistance too from time-to-time so it's a mutual benefit thing.

Al Thomas
RV-8A QB Fuselage
N880AT (reserved)

[TShort]

I would say you COULD do almost everything solo ... including the outboard bottom skins. I have done almost all the riveting on my -8 (slow build wings) myself - the only thing I had a helper for was the top skins.
There are definitely areas where a helper is easier, but when you want to get something done and there is no one around you can really come up with some creative solutions!

Thomas

[sf3543]

In completing my QB RV8, I needed help to rivet on the top front skin (Or you could use blind rivets), to rivet on the flap root fairings (Or you could use blind rivets) and to mount the wings (they need to go on and off at least once prior to final assembly).
You can do everything else yourself, but you do have to plan ahead and sometimes be creative. Even riveting the bottom wing skins was pretty straightforward.

[hevansrv7a]

Areas I had to have a helper:
1. rivet the turtle deck behind canopy - some of the rivets
2. rivet the forward top deck on the tip-up - almost all the rivets
3. put in the gear legs (possibly could have been done solo)

[Bill Dicus]

My wife helped me in multiple areas where the work could have been done by me alone, but slower and harder. Doing wing skins by taping them up seems tricky and could result in an unsightly and uncorrectable bend or "kink." When riveting wing skins we found I could best do the bucking and she did excellent work with the flush rivet head with rubber surround and pivot. We found no negative to this. Think you can do the gear alone. For me 'twas a great help to have a helper when back in the tail without all needed tools or parts! Good luck. Bill (RV-8QB)

[Captain Avgas]

Originally Posted by pboed

Can a quick-build RV7 or RV8 be built by a lone person, or is a helper necessary?

If a helper is needed, approximately what would they do and for how long?

Thanks in advance!

Most of the planes that I have seen that were rivetted one-up have dings in them. Come to think of it.... ALL of the planes that I have seen that were rivetted one-up have dings in them.

You might wonder why the QBs are generally of superior rivetting quality...all done two up.

I don't want to start a bunfight here but as a general rule you'll get better results with two-up rivetting (I'm referring here to bucked rivets of course) providing that both parties are experienced. Also some parts of an RV come out far superior if they're back rivetted...once again, virtually impossible to do one-up (except of course when you use a backing plate on the empennage).

But therein lies the problem.....getting an experienced assistant. Quite often it's a Catch 22 situation for many builders. Often the type of personality that fancies beavering away on his own in a shed for years on end is not the socially gregarious type...and therefore may not have much of a circle of friends to draw upon.

As some-one else recommended...go and offer your rivetting services to another builder who is slightly further down the track on the same model. It can be a symbiotic arrangement. You can get invaluable experience before you do the same rivetting sequence...and you can call on him to assist you. A good place to find this person might be your local Chapter.

But in the end, as with all aircraft construction, it just comes down to how fussy you are about what you're producing.