Back after three years

[glongley]

Howdy all.

I'm looking at starting back up a project after about three years of inactivity. (Though I now have a lovely three year old girl and a 10 month old girl. ) I'm a little uncertainly how to jump back in. I've completed most of the empenage, so my first task is simply to finish out the little bits left there, then I plan to spend some quality time rereading the plans for the rest, but if my memory serves that was not always the most clear.

Otherwise, I've got a quickbuild fuselage and wings sitting in the garage collecting dust.

The simple version of the question is where is the best area on a quickbuild to start on following the empenage to continue to ease back into building?

Thanks,
-Glenn

[Geico266]

Welcome TO VAF.

[mburch]

Welcome back!

I found that it was easiest to start with the QB wings, and follow through the slow-build wing instructions to verify each step that the quickbuilders did. That way I could learn exactly how it was all put together, and double check that nothing was missed. You'll find with the QB that they occasionally skip a step and leave it for you to do!

good luck,
mcb

[Ironflight]

Best place to start?

Well, it sounds to me like you've already figured out that reading the plans is a great first step. Then it probably depends on which model you've got. The great thing (to me) about these kits is that they lend themselves to being very non-linear - you can do many different tasks at any point, for variety. If you want a specific recommendation, and you want some fun and quick progress, you can always do the aileron bellcranks and pushrods, mount the ailerons and flaps, and have almost finished wings in very short order.

Welcome back to the addiction!

Paul

[dav1111]

I concur with MBrunch. On the QB wings and Fuselage, start with the plans and the assumption that nothing has been built and walk through each step and check off each item in the plans as you review. Not only will you confirm that it has in fact been completed (not a good idea to assume it has) but you will also get your mind back into reading plans and seeing in the steps so that when you actually start pounding rivets you are mentally ready.

Sometimes I wish that I would take off three years but at my age I am afraid to either slow down or stop. Since starting my RV-10 project (33 months to completation - July 2006 first flight) I have co-built an RV-8, helped with the fly off hours, sold it, started an RV-7 which should fly this summer and put 210 hours on my RV-10, all while still keeping my law practice going semi full time.