Best advice you got from another builder?

[plehrke]

Know when the engineering (planning/thinking/deciding/designing/changing/etc) stops and building has started. Never try to mix the two.

This is true at every new task you start on the project. Trust me, not following this added years to my build. Being an aerospace design engineer made this extremely hard to follow.

Corollary to this is when in doubt build as Van designed. He did a pretty good job and you will not regret.

[Jaypratt]

We are just going to Denver not Mars,, thanks Luke

[A-Ron]

Build an "EAA-like" workbench on wheels with the tabletop the exact same size as your open plans. Keep your plans on this portable table right next to you and what you are working on. It helps to keep you from working over the top of them and damaging them with ProSeal, coffee, acetone, beer, etc. Basically it keeps the plans off your regular-sized workbench yet within reach at all times. When you are done with the build, you'll have a nice little table for some other project, or the next RV!

[Billythekid]

mark where a hole might go with a marker and use outside calipers to see where the two points come together and give an idea of where the exit point of the drill will make its exit on the opposite side. the calipers, when closed, touch points and simulate where the hole will start and end... think about it

[RV7Guy]

I was advised of this from a couple of builders "after" my first one. On the 2nd 7, I followed this and life was a lot better.

There seems to be two milestones that creep into the build process. 1) Getting the plane on the gear. And, 2) mounting the engine.

Both usually occur WAAAAAAY to early in the process. As soon as you put the plane on the gear, you limit the easy access to the interior. My recommendation is to keep it on low saw horses till your panel and all interior work is done.

I even recommend mounting the engine with the plane on saw horses. You'll need to weight the tail but that is easy. This will allow easy access to all the FWF stuff, cowl mounting, etc..... I mounted the engine temporarily, marked all the items to be mounted on the firewall then removed the engine. This made all firewall work really easy. When done, the engine was remounted.

When it comes time to "put it on the gear," it is a simple process with an engine hoist. Definitely try to avoid these two milestones that will make your build tougher. Both are easily accomplished after you get much more work done.

[Michael Henning]

When aligning spinner to cowl, have spinner about 1/2” higher than cowl(mounts will sag after you start flying). Also, never let anyone else fly your plane that you built.

[painless]

Originally Posted by RV7Guy

I was advised of this from a couple of builders "after" my first one. On the 2nd 7, I followed this and life was a lot better.

There seems to be two milestones that creep into the build process. 1) Getting the plane on the gear. And, 2) mounting the engine.

Both usually occur WAAAAAAY to early in the process. As soon as you put the plane on the gear, you limit the easy access to the interior. My recommendation is to keep it on low saw horses till your panel and all interior work is done.

I even recommend mounting the engine with the plane on saw horses. You'll need to weight the tail but that is easy. This will allow easy access to all the FWF stuff, cowl mounting, etc..... I mounted the engine temporarily, marked all the items to be mounted on the firewall then removed the engine. This made all firewall work really easy. When done, the engine was remounted.

When it comes time to "put it on the gear," it is a simple process with an engine hoist. Definitely try to avoid these two milestones that will make your build tougher. Both are easily accomplished after you get much more work done.

Good one Darwin. Definitely going to keep my Hatz off the gear for a bit longer per your sage advice!

[flytoboat]

Originally Posted by Michael Henning

Also, never let anyone else fly your plane that you built.

??? The airplane doesn't know or care who's flying it! Or who built it for that matter...

[Carr]

Hi Orinair

If you want to build an aircraft you need to have these conditions met.

1 A strong desire to build an aircraft instead of just flying one.
2 A place where you have space to actually build an aircraft.
3 Enough money to actually afford the entire craft. ( $80-100,000)
4 Time to build it, a lot of time. Not just one day a week.
5 MOST importantly, have a very understanding and supportive wife,
girlfriend or mistress. ( or all three )

If you don't have all five of these conditions, you will not probably not complete your project.

I have built 10 of these aircraft and have enjoyed every minute of it. What a wonderful hobby.

Age has caught up with me, so I no longer build.

On my latest RV-4 my wife put a big decal on the tail.

THE LAST ONE

Carr

[Captain Avgas]

Originally Posted by Jaypratt

We are just going to Denver not Mars,, thanks Luke

Yes that's true, but when we go to Denver we may well have our wife, or child, or grandchild on board....so it is our moral responsibility to ensure that the aircraft is built (and maintained) to the very best of our abilities, and nothing less.

An ATSB analysis of amateur-built experimental aircraft accidents between 1988 and 2010 found that amateur-built aircraft had an accident rate 3 times higher than comparable factory-built certified aircraft conducting similar flight operations. The fatal and serious injury accident rate was over 5 times higher in amateur-built aircraft, in particular due to relatively more serious injury accidents. It further found that over half of the accidents were precipitated by mechanical events, which were mainly complete or partial engine failures.

These are very sobering statistics and worth bearing in mind by builders and maintainers.

I am personally dismayed by the number of times I have heard RV builders say that the Vans designs have so much structural redundancy that you could leave every 4th rivet out and the plane would be safe. That is a very dangerous myth. There may well be significant redundancy in an RV when puttering around at 1-3 Gs, but there is no redundancy whatsoever when you crash at 15-20 Gs.

So my further advice is: Build to fly...but build to crash too.