Building an RV

[Flienlow]

After writing pages and pages... I have decided I will just ask this:

How much of building an RV Aircraft (RV-10) is ASSEMBLY vs. DESIGN and FABRICATION?

[Kyle Boatright]

There is relatively little design and fabrication unless you are changing things from the plans. There is a lot of prep work - fitting, drilling, deburring, a fair amount of assembly, and a lot of fit, adjust, lather, rinse, repeat. There is also a substantial amount of thinking about systems and systems installation.

[rzbill]

What Kyle said.

Stick to the plans and the airframe has little to no design work.

BUT, also as mentioned, the systems installation (electrical mainly) is not detailed by Vans
like the structure and it is up to the builder for the most part. There is a lot of decision making even with the purchase of a prefinished panel from a reputable supplier.

[Zuldarin]

Hey Justin, there are a large number of RV builders in the Puget Sound that would be more than happy to show you what building an RV is all about. I've built a 9A and am building a 10 now but I live in the Snoqualmie Ridge neighborhood which is a bit of a drive for you. If you ever find yourself in the area though I would be happy to show you whats involved.

[Flienlow]

Originally Posted by Zuldarin

Hey Justin, there are a large number of RV builders in the Puget Sound that would be more than happy to show you what building an RV is all about. I've built a 9A and am building a 10 now but I live in the Snoqualmie Ridge neighborhood which is a bit of a drive for you. If you ever find yourself in the area though I would be happy to show you whats involved.

I would love to check out your project!

[vic syracuse]

You are so close to the factory, have you thought about making a visit. Really wonderful people there who will answer all of your questions, and give you the tour of a lifetime. Be careful with taking a demo flight. Your life will change forever.

Vic

[Flienlow]

That is a great idea. Funny thing, I just finished a tour of cub crafters this weekend. Beautiful Airplanes and great folks there. But man oh man they are pricey.

[leok]

All of the aluminum structure requires only assembly. You will need to design and add small items like doublers for antennas, instrument mounting. The instrument panel is a single slab of aluminum. Cutting holes and mounting avionics is for you to figure out. Further enhancements are yours to figure out as well.

Major flight systems are all designed and need only installation with the exception of avionics and the electrical to support it. You will need to choose the electrical architecture, wire routing and how to install into the airplane.

Lighting, both flight and interior, antennae placement, any engine features beyond the Lyc IO540 such as electronic ignition is again yours to figure out.

The interior is very basic with front seat foam and seating structures. Upholstery, including rear seat foam, and enhancements and creature comforts will be on you.

In fact, when I sat in the Vans RV-10 demo at Oshkosh, I almost decided not to build one because it was too Spartan for my taste. Then seeing the beautiful examples from builders, I saw the amazing potential of personalization possible.

My build will end up approximately 50% Vans plans and 50% stuff I decided I want to do.

[Flienlow]

Originally Posted by leok

My build will end up approximately 50% Vans plans and 50% stuff I decided I want to do.

Not speaking of you personally, but the Royal "you".... How do you know the stuff that you decided to do will work, and wont be dangerous?

Also, another build question:

Would it work to have 2-3 buddies help you with a build, or is building a plane something you need to do alone with little intervention?

[Carl Froehlich]

Originally Posted by Flienlow

. SNIP
Would it work to have 2-3 buddies help you with a build, or is building a plane something you need to do alone with little intervention?

The vast majority of the work you can do yourself. There are however specific times when you need at least one helper (some rivet work in particular). I?d say this will be less than 10% of a slow build.

That said - it is very nice to have a helper for the huge priming session and such. On my first RV build, there were two others builders at about the same place I was in the build that were close to me. We met as needed when one of us needed a hand. The unspoken rule however was the builder getting help was 100% ready to go; parts clekoes, tools ready, coffee made, etc. The #1 sin was wasting another builder?s time. Another aspect of this was as we got to the end of the builds, each of us became ?the guy? for a partiqular skill. I was the wire and avionics guy, we had a ?scrounger? as well as a paint and fiberglass guy.

You will spend a boatload of time reading, looking, reading, etc. before you pick up a tool. This is best done by yourself.

Carl