EAA Workshop for first time builder?

gpblair · #1 01-26-2006, 06:00 AM

Hello All,

Let me introduce myself. My name is Grant and I currently live in Newfoundland, Canada. I have recently received my brand new RV-7 empennage. I am a first time builder with very little metal working experience at all. I have assisted briefly in some riveting and of course am trying to make use of the wealth of knowledge available on the internet. My question is, do you feel that the expense of traveling a great distance to attend one of the EAA Sportair Workshops is a good investment? Or should I just get a practice kit a figure it out myself? Maybe I should just dive right in and learn as I go. My initial thought, after looking through the tail kit is to take one of the workshops...I would appreciate opinions.

Thanks very much,
Grant

Bruce9A · #2 01-26-2006, 06:41 AM

Grant,
I attended an RV building workshop before I started on my kit. I'm now almost finished with the wings. The workshop was an extremely valuable experience. It's one thing to read about the metalworking techniques you need, and quite another to actually try them. The immediate feedback from experts gave me a lot of knowledge that I would otherwise probably still be working to accumulate. You also have the opportunity to ask a multitude of questions that you might otherwise end up calling Van's to ask. I understand that you would have to do some traveling to get to a workshop, but if you can do it I don't think you will ever regret it. Short of going to a workshop, find someone who's built a metal airplane before and arrange a few hours of tutoring to learn the basics. A little training will make your building experience much more enjoyable and safe.

-Bruce

KirkGrovesRV8 · #3 01-26-2006, 06:57 AM

Hi Grant,
I strongly recommend attending a workshop if you can, building a airplane is a fun, rewarding experience. But it is worth the time and money to have a bit of confindence in what you are doing. I would highly recommend coming down to one of Tom Emerys workshops, he is a master airplane builder and is with out a doubt one of the best airplane guys I have run into. You will learn alot more than just what a bucking bar is

Check it out http://www.wparvbuilders.nstemp.com/
Best of luck

mdoyle · #4 01-26-2006, 07:16 AM

I attended an EAA sheetmetal workshop, SportAir, I think, and wasn't particularly impressed by the instruction. You do however have access to all of the tools, and fellow students, who you will learn much from. This workshop was set up so you "shared" a practice project and tools, for the price I paid to attend, I think they could have sprung for some more tools and $5.00 worth of aluminum and rivets. This was a generic aircraft sheetmetal class, so maybe an RV specific class would be better.
I recently purchased Van's toolbox kit, and the airfoil section kit, and found them to be an extremely beneficial. I built both projects before I started riveting on my 9A empennage and felt that I was well prepared, and had few problems. If you have access to someone, especially a fellow builder, who can answer questions, I think you would be fine skipping the workshop. I know I would have. I also had my QB wings and fuselage available to compare my work with. If you have a digital camera, you can send pictures to the VAF and I'm sure one of the experienced builders would be glad to help you. I did enjoy the workshop, especially talking with other builders, and visiting the other classes, but I did feel it was a little pricey. This is just my opinion of the class I attended, most of the comments I have heard about the classes have been very positive.

Mike Doyle
http://www.kitlog.com/users/index.ph...yle&project=82

gbrasch · #5 01-26-2006, 08:40 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by KirkGrovesRV8

Hi Grant,
I strongly recommend attending a workshop if you can, building a airplane is a fun, rewarding experience. But it is worth the time and money to have a bit of confindence in what you are doing. I would highly recommend coming down to one of Tom Emerys workshops, he is a master airplane builder and is with out a doubt one of the best airplane guys I have run into. You will learn alot more than just what a bucking bar is

Check it out http://www.wparvbuilders.nstemp.com/
Best of luck

Ditto to Kirk, I attended Tom's EAA workshop 3 years ago when he was still in California and found him to be top notch! Glenn in Arizona -9A fuselage.

LettersFromFlyoverCountry · #6 01-26-2006, 09:12 AM

Is anybody else here going to any of the SportAir workshops this weekend in Osh? I'm doing the avionics/electrical one. If so, want to have dinner and talk RVs?

there's a great Hardee's right up the road.

LettersFromFlyoverCountry · #7 01-26-2006, 09:56 AM

By the way, I don't know if all the SportAir RV workshops are the same. I went to one in OSH years ago (when they started on Friday nights). The only -- and I emphasize ONLY -- compalint I have about is they requried you to double-up on your sample project.

I think for the kind of money these things cost, you ought to be able to do all the dimpling and drilling and riveting, etc., without having to share with someone else; that's just time and experience taken away.

I udnerstand whyt hey had to do it --they can get more people in the class that way and there was a limit on the # of workstations, but I would consider paying more in order to get more hands-on time.
YMMV.

aparchment · #8 01-26-2006, 11:10 AM

I also had no metal working experience before starting my 7A, but after a weekend with Tom and Nickie Emery at his Western PA RV Builder's Workshop (http://www.wparvbuilders.nstemp.com/) I gained both significant knowledge and confidence to tackle a metal plane.

Tom not only has decades of experience building metal planes (professionally, not just as a hobbyist), but he is also a good teacher. His workshop gives an overall understanding of the building process, hands on experience with an actual project and the ability to use a variety of QUALITY tools and try a variety of techniques.

Prior to attending Tom's workshop I attended an EAA open-house introduction to building metal planes. It was useless. That isn't to say that they are all useless, but this particular event did nothing to impart any understanding of the process, any knowlege of techniques or any awareness of the differences between good and bad tools.

Tom's workshop was an invaluable weekend and really not that expensive in light of what I gained. I stayed in an inexpensive motel nearby which I only slept in since we spent our days fully occupied at the airport. I didn't rent a car since I was lucky enough to hook up with guys in the class who had rented (and declined my payment of a share -- thanks again Dick). Tom's wife Nickie helped coordinate my contact with classmates prior to arriving. I flew myself down and flew myself home. The overall expense wasn't too bad, and as I said above, very worthwhile.

Hope this info. is useful.

Antony

LOL! Oh yeah -- and Nickie fed us like kings. There was so much good food the local RVers were following their noses to the hangar. I think Nickie used the food as bait so that we could get to chat with some more RV guys about their rides.

tomsrv · #9 01-26-2006, 02:50 PM

Don't forget to tell em about the home cooked meals......

gpblair · #10 01-26-2006, 03:09 PM

Thank-you everyone for the input. Although I don't doubt that I could get along without taking a course, I think my comfort level will increase significantly if I do take one. I do have a few concerns about the sharing of practice kits or the lack of hands on training that some of you have mentioned. I will have to look into the details of each course before signing up.

Thanks again,
Grant