Garage size for RV-9A?

[lonkelm]

I'm in the VERY early stages of planning a build. I have a 2 car garage, single door about 21' square. Is this big enough for a RV9. What about final assembly (wings + fuselage). Is this typically done at a hanger? Hangers have a huge wait around here.

[rfinch]

Sounds like you are where I was 8-9 months ago. I have a 2-car garage in a typical California tract home, single metal rollup door. The extra width is filled with cabinets. Nevertheless my QB -9A fits, wings and fuse, with the cars in the driveway.

I plan on doing wing work first, then storing them in a friend's hangar. Wing alignment and hole drilling can be done before storing. Then final attachment done at the airport, again using a borrowed hangar...details to be worked out at that time! I'll try to have as much done beforehand on both fuse and wings to make the final attachment fast.

My garage setup is designed to use all available space, including walls and ceiling (I have a finished garage).

[DGlaeser]

I built my 7A in my 2 car garage, and during the winter months, I was able to get my wife's vehicle inside most nights (otherwise I had to clean off any snow/frost before she left for work).
I stored my empennage in the basement, and the wings above the garage door, while building the fuselage. I installed both wings, to drill the aft spar bolt holes, by turning the fuselage 90 degrees and letting one wing stick out the garage door - took a few hours.
I even painted my plane (in pieces) in the garage.
You definitely need to do final assembly at the airport, but you have some time to work on that. If you start asking around now, and join a local EAA Chapter (if you haven't already), I'm confident you'll find a hangar - at least one to use for final assembly.

[lonkelm]

Not having worked through any of the details of assembly. How much time is required for final assembly? (or in otherwords, how long would I need to borrow a hanger?)

[Greg Arehart]

I'm in the final stages of my 9A (just about done with canopy, cowling and prop next) and it was all done in my 2-car garage. I pulled it into the driveway for the wing fitting (get the wing fairings early and you can mark and drill them when you first fit the wings - will save one wing on/wing off session later). Plenty of room in the garage for most stuff. I expect to move to the airport late summer and spend 2-4 weeks (mostly full-time) on final assembly (hopefully less but am planning for up to 4 weeks). Get everything you can possibly do done in the garage because it will take much more time (commuting) doing stuff at the airport. Regarding painting, I'll probably fly off my time first then pick a paint shop.

greg

[lonkelm]

Cool, that sounds reasonable, though I'm not sure I could hit it 4 weeks full time. I could plan 2 months part time.