saving time after fuse

[prkaye]

During the airframe construction, the big things that we can do to shave time off our builds are by going quick-build, or partially quick-build. I've been slow-building, but took advantage of pre-built tanks which saved me some time and grief.
Soon I will be finishing up with the fuse kit and moving on to the finish kit. In this second half of the project, what are some things we can do to speed things along, or save time? Any time-saver tips for the second half of the project from experienced builders would be great!

[craigvince]

One thing that will save you many hours of headaches is to use stainless steel flexible hoses instead of bending aluminum tubing. See my post under REVIEWS.

[Ironflight]

You are going to spend a LOT of time with fiberglass (an inordinate amount of time, considering these are metal airplanes...). If you want to save some time and speed up the work, go buy a disk sander, vibrating sander, and one of those little mouse sanders. And several boxes of media - The cowling, skirts, tips and pants will go a WHOLE lot faster this way....

Paul

[prkaye]

>> You are going to spend a LOT of time with fiberglass

Doing what, exactly? Filling depressions with bondo or some kind of filler? Or are you talking about prepping the fiberglass for paint? Or something else..?

[Ironflight]

Originally Posted by prkaye

>> You are going to spend a LOT of time with fiberglass

Doing what, exactly? Filling depressions with bondo or some kind of filler? Or are you talking about prepping the fiberglass for paint? Or something else..?

Pinholes...and getting things to fit nicely...

[prkaye]

pinholes... ah yes... i've heard about these mysterious pinhole things. Another skill yet to learn! I have avoided doing my fiberglass tips because I haven't the foggiest idea what to buy or what to do in this regard.

So, I have braided hoses and sanding gear on my list. Any other big time-savers??

[Mike_ExpressCT]

Use the KISS idea...keep it simple stupid!! (Not that I'm in any way calling anyone stupid...)

Some ideas:

-Keep the panel simple
-If you don't keep the panel simple, have it done for you (hire out the work)
-Have someone else paint the plane
-Minimal interior

The list goes on. A lot of your future decisions will rest on how much of the work you acutally want to do yourself. If you want to save time hire out jobs like building your panel, paint, etc. It's going to cost more, but that's your call. Same thing with fiberglass work. If you want to shell out the money, I'm sure you can find someone else to do the work for you.

In the end, it's all up to you, but I think of it as this: If I want the project done faster, all it takes is more money. Which is more important?

Good luck. I like the paint scheme you have planned for your plane!

[N941WR]

Originally Posted by prkaye

So, I have braided hoses and sanding gear on my list. Any other big time-savers??

FYI - Braided hoses have a life limit and should be replaced about every 10 years or so, maybe less.

Bondo is a no-no, there is aviation specific products, use those.

[Brantel]

Originally Posted by N941WR

FYI - Braided hoses have a life limit and should be replaced about every 10 years or so, maybe less.

Bondo is a no-no, there is aviation specific products, use those.

Seems that was the way the old technology worked. The new Teflon is said to be unlimited.

Originally Posted by Sam Buchanan

Brian, do some poking around on the Aeroquip site and other vendors for the final word, but all the homework I've done says teflon hoses have unlimited service life for use with fluids we have in planes. The rubber hoses have a suggested service life of 5-7 years, depending on who you ask.

[Jim P]

Start thinking about your electrical system well in advance. I know this depends on your mission profile and equipment, but start thinking about this and getting it down on paper. Plan out your system before starting your electrical work and take into consideration where you're going to mount equipment and run bundles while you're doing airframe construction. This goes for the equipment that's located forward of the panel. Make sure it's accessable not only during the build, but make sure you can get to things for maintainablity purposes.

If possible, buy your electrical components at one time so they're on-hand as needed. This goes for various wire sizes. Nothing like running out of connectors, wire, BNCs, or what-ever when you really need it.

Keep as much open forward of the panel as you can, for as long as you can. Don't close anything out until you really need to. Simple parts like the firewall recess, and fresh-air inlet ducts fall in this category.

Per Paul's input, yes, look at doing pinholes early in the process when you can. You'll be glad you didn't wait until later. This is something that can be done in parallel with other tasks.

Anyhow,that's a couple of points I can think of.

Jim