Workshop dimensions???

[WingsOnWheels]

Who the heck parks cars in the garage? For all the years my wife and I have been together I think the car has been in the garage a few times. The garage is mine, just a fact of life like the sun rising. Heck, the plane is done and flying, still no cars in the garage. Now I have room for a proper machine shop.

[GeoffP]

I'm building in a 6m x 9m shed, where one side has my wife's car & my "fixed" tools, some storage and old workbenches. The other side is the aircraft assembly area (though it's shared with my old toy car), with a long 1m x 3.6m flat bench in the middle of it all. Fortunately I have a suspended slab in my shed so the downstairs doubles as my paint booth. I built the empennage with all cars in the garage, but had to move my car out when I started building the wings. Like others have said, the space kind of morphs around depending on what your needs are at the time. I've just taken one wing off the stand, and it's now upside down on my long bench, while the other wing gets assembled on the stand, and I just re-arranged things to suit.

Often what I do now if I need a bit more temporary space, is to move my wife's car out, and set-up a temporary bench on sawhorses. This worked great for assembling things like the tanks & wing leading edges while the rest of the assembly stayed in place on the stand. Soon, when I get the wings complete and I need room for the fuselage I will either dispense with my other little toy car from the garage, or find somewhere to store the wings.

To echo's Scott's comment - just make a start, and you'll find ways to make it all work

[wilddog]

I?ve built a biplane then a RV8 in 26x36 and had another bldg for storage of parts. Still too small! They have been built in single car garages but I would never have enough room in one.

[David Paule]

One of the size issues is that the larger parts need storage space somewhere reasonably handy. Right now, the tail and other control surfaces are in the rafters, and the engine, wings and finish kit are in a hangar.

Dave

[Paul K]

My 24 x 36 wasn?t any to large! It worked out well enough to allow for a spray booth in the back large enough for a wing but very tight! The better organized you are, the smaller space you need.

[Northernliving]

This guy is building his T51 in his formal dining room. The guy's wife should get the bride-of-the-year award.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GnQg2nmuvIo
http://socialflight-t51.com/

I know others have built large parts of their RV's in living rooms. When there is a will, there is a way. No doubt, a dedicated shop is the best, but there are alternatives.

[Mel]

Back in the late '80s Martin & Claudia Sutter pulled up the carpet and built their RV-6 in their living room.

1989-1993 Ann and I built 2 RV-6s in our 2-car garage. Biggest problem was storage of completed assemblies. We had to do an inventory...Horizontal stabilizers-middle bedroom under bed, Vertical stabilizers, rudders, and elevators-front bedroom closet, etc.

[RWoodard]

I agree that the best thing you can do is just order a tail kit. When there's a will, there's a way! I remember following the Vlad build thread where he built a bunch of his RV9A in a small city apartment.

Almost every individual component can be accomplished in a single car garage. When you're finished with the component, find a place to store it outside the active workspace. I think this concept is critical... the separation of active workspace and storage. No sense in wasting valuable workspace.

I built most of my first RV-8 tail kit on a small workbench at the front of a slightly oversized 2 car garage. I was able to keep 2 cars in the garage for most of the build.

Best of luck and welcome to the site.

[iwannarv]

I'm building a -10 in a standard 2 car garage. My wife's car is part-time outside depending how organized I can stay. I have wings and fuse both in there right now on rolling stands. I can move everything over for her to park, but its tight. Wings will be moved to a friend's hangar soon and that will help open things up a bit.

But, the tailcone will be marrying the fuse section soon, and that will get pretty tight again. I'll still be able to get the wife's car in, but it will be a lot of in/out rolling around when I need to work. I'm certain once we get to the on-gear phase it will be only an airplane workshop.

[wirejock]

Easy fix. Buy the wife a Hummer or similar SUV too big to go in the garage. My wife's SUV never fit so it's never been in the garage.