Given a choice.....

Chewie65 · #1 03-22-2008, 06:36 PM

and you only had the money to buy either the quick build fuselage or qb wings which would it be and why?

I would like to put those small tip tanks on the wings and plumb the fuselage for a baggage area tank for long flights...

Thoughts?

RV-3Bravo · #2 03-22-2008, 06:48 PM

I'm not a builder as of yet, but reading people's experience w/ the fuel tanks, I'd suggest buying the QB wings. That's what I am going to do when that point in my build comes!

RV8RIVETER · #3 03-22-2008, 07:15 PM

From my experience I would buy the QB fuselage. Wings are really a piece of cake in comparison, and any customizing options are much easier done while building, where as the fuselage options can be done in the QB stage.

My humble opinion only.

Mel · #4 03-22-2008, 07:20 PM

You'll get much more "bang for the buck" with the QB fuselage. After doing the empennage, the wings almost assemble themselves. As for the tanks, easy, just messy.

Jeff R · #5 03-22-2008, 08:14 PM

I agree with going with the fuselage. The building instructions are pretty good for the wings, but atrocious for the fuselage. The fuel tanks are a pain, to be sure, but not all that bad. I find that my frustration factor has been higher with the fuse though, finding I am making a few more mistakes or having to dig a lot deeper to determine exactly what I need to do, due to the poor instructions. Still, seeing the fuse come together now is allowing a lot of that frustration melt away.

alpinelakespilot2000 · #6 03-22-2008, 10:31 PM

If you search the archives, you'll see ton of threads on this, but here's the gist of it, from my perspective.

If you're primary goal is to fly as soon as possible, then QB fuse is the way to go. The wings can be put together in a few months.

However, if you derive satisfaction from building, definitely do the fuselage slow build. It is SO much more fun than the wings. Unlike Jeff above, I've experienced fewer frustrations with Van's instructions on the fuselage subkit than I did with the previous subkits. It may be because I've gotten to the point where I rely on the drawings more than the written instructions.

Also, given the wide variety of types of tasks that the fuselage required, I was much more prepared to handle all of the very exacting work required for the finishing kit (in particular, the canopy). I don't think the wings would have prepped me as well.

FWIW, and related to the last comment, I'm a big advocate of building the entire thing yourself the first time through, time and interest allowing. Now that I'm seeing the light at the end of tunnel, I'm absolutely convinced that I'm better (than I would have been) at at every aspect of the building process for having gone slow build. This might not be true for everyone, but it definitely was for me.

Good luck with your decision.

mike109g6 · #7 03-22-2008, 10:39 PM

Building a standard kit is very educational-if that is what you want. If you want to get into the air quickly I'd ditto Mel with standard wings, QB fuse. Doing the emp/wing gives you a very good basic understanding of construction method/design/how to read Van's plans/manual. Also with doing the standard wings it really preps you for completing the QB fuse. Still a lot of work to be done with the QB fuse. I think that a first time builder could get 'lost' very easily without doing both the emp/wing and then trying a QB fuse. Tanks are a pain but if you are NOT going to use the standard fuel caps/senders then the time it takes to re-work them you could probably build them from scratch. This is how I am proceeding with the 8A-standard wings/QB fuse.
Mike H 9A/8A

Jim P · #8 03-22-2008, 11:11 PM

I'm in the slo-build camp. If you're tight on $$$, save yourself the bucks and use some sweat equity. Neither wings or fuse are really that tough. Use the savings on some glass for the panel or a nice radio.

Jim

wingtime · #9 03-23-2008, 12:01 AM

I'd go for the QB wings and standard build fuse. I have found the fuse kit to be MUCH more enjoyable to build than the wings. The wings were exciting at first, but then you quickly tire of seeing yet ANOTHER RIB! AAAAAHH!

Yes the fuse instructions are sparse, but by the time you get to the fuse Van's figures you don't need to be spoon fed anymore.

RatMan · #10 03-23-2008, 05:46 AM

As far as value for the dollar it depends on what you value.

Looking back, I would say get the QB wings. The wings are an exercise of repetition. Still a lot of fun, just gets old. The tanks were a cinch. I had read so many comments that were negative I really thought they were going to be horrible. In the end, there wasn't much to them. So, there is a lot of value for the dollar in the QB wings cause you are paying someone else to do all that boring, repetitive work. Good news is it only takes a couple of months to knock them out.

The fuse has been a lot of fun BUT, I don't know how much fun it would have been if I hadn't built the wings. You gain a lot of experience with all that work in the wings. Hmmm... seems there isn't quite as much value in the QB wings after all.

Seems those with -7s have issues with the fuse in terms of the manual but those with -8s don't. Probably just better documentation in the -8 manual however I too found myself relying on the drawings more than the manual by the time I got to the fuse. Then again, I don't even know what you are building.

If money or lack of money is what is driving this decision, my suggestion would be build it yourself and spend the QB money on seats, panel, tools. Its been a while since I looked but I think you could pay for a firewall forward kit for the extra cost spent on QB wings or fuse.

Good luck with your decision and let us know what and why you decided.