Should I order fuselage or Wings first?

[bkthomps]

Why do most people order wings and then fuselage? Something about doing the fuselage after the tail section is complete is more appealing to me than doing the wings, the wings seem really repetitive and I'd almost rather wait until the end to do those

Someone talk me into or out of ordering the fuselage before the wings

I've decided to do the trim tab on the left rear elevator at a later time, so with the exception of my rudder trailing edge- I'm done with emp kit


RV7(a)

[danielhv]

one reason I can think of is the longerons for the fuse along with the center section is shipped with the wing kit. Longerons are pretty long so they ship them in the box with the wing spars... there's some other stuff that is shipped with the wing kit as well... The center section is made to specifically fit the wing spars, so if you ordered the fuse first, you'll have to order the wing spars at the same time since once the fuse is built you will not be able to return the center section for them to match to the spars. I'd bet this would add quite a hefty price tag to the fuse kit... I'm sure others will chime in.

I say just order the wings... it gets you into a little more fabricating (fuel tank mount brackets and part of the tiedown brackets) which I hear is good prep for the fuse. Plus, it gets them done and out of the way... you have to do it at some point, so why not now? Plus its cheaper than the fuse if ur doing a -A with electric trims and steps, slider, etc.

Another thought... the wings take up a good bit of space when building, but after they are built, they can be put in a cradle and dont take up much room... if u build the fuse and ur doing it in the garage... you may run out of room to build the wings since the fuse will always be in the way!

[Brantel]

Yep that is a great reason as this shipping for longerons alone can be several hundred bucks....They won't fit in the fuse box!

One thing that I learned not to do on my build was to wait on building parts that I could have built earlier.. When later comes you will have a pile of work to do that you might wish you just went ahead and did while you were working on that section.

I would finish that rudder, trim tab, finish the emp tips, etc....While waiting on the wing kit to get there. They have a 11 week lead time....

[Auburntsts]

I'm still working on my wings and haven't ordered my fuse yet, but I chose to go with the wings first because of flow. I didn't want to start on the fuse, stop at some point do the wings and then return to the fuse to work the long list of tasks required to finish up. In my mind once I start on the fuse the rest of the tasks to include wiring, FWF, panel, interior, etc just seem to flow more logically. However, I also believe there's no right or wrong way here--if you'd rather go fuse first, go for it.

[Dave Cole]

Van has it right...empennage, wings, fuselage, finish kit, in that order.

[flion]

One compelling reason to build the wings first is that they are easier to store out of the way. It's not going to be a problem for me with the -10 in a hangar but when I was building the -6A there was no way I could build the fuselage in my apartment, much less store it while I continued on to the wings. Doing it the other way 'round let me build the wings and store them and by the time I got to the fuselage I had a place to build it.

Also, the wings are somewhat simpler than the fuselage, so you can get some more practice with the basics before moving on to the harder stuff. Finally (and less important with the pre-punched kits than when I built my -6A), you can more easily adjust the bulkhead/carry-through spars to fit the wings than the other way around.

[Phil]

Can't speak for the 7A, but I don't regret doing the fuse first on the -10.

Van's will work with you on the center section. Just give them a call and they'll add it to your fuse order. Then when you order your wings, they will deduct it from the wings bill... It's really easy.

Glad I'm doing the fuse first, since 95% of the real work and money goes between the rudder and spinner. The wings are just wasted space. And if you order QB wings, they're really close to being done.

Fuse first was a no brainer to me.

[rzbill]

-7 fuse is more difficult than wings (cant say about the -10)

1) It requires metalworking "persuasion" skills that most have not fully learned via the tail kit. The wing kit in general and the tanks (in my case) specifically raised my metalworking skill level to the point that the fuselage problem areas were not problems.

2) You can't "finish" the fuselage. The wings can be finished and put away. When I say you can't finish, I mean that you need to order the finish kit with the canopy before riveting all the skins. In order to get the finish kit, you need to decide on engine due to cowl configuration, etc. Plus you need to deal with avionics and panel. So, this lump of airplane is going to be in your shop a long time...incomplete. It may be an initiative killer. Do the wings.

3) The instruction manual tails off to "nothing" during fuselage work. Wing construction is still very much guided by instruction manual. The fuselage is much more guided by the prints.

Like the gents above say, do the wings first. You will be happy. They are something to be very proud of when done 'cause they are pretty and go together fairly quickly. When you get the fuse kit, you will be charged up.

[bkthomps]

sounds like i'll be ordering the wings when I get back from vegas, thanks guys!

[woxofswa]

The concept started when the wing spars were matched drilled by serial number to the wing spar box integrated into the fuselage. The center box was then shipped with the wings.

More modern and accurate manufacturing processes have done away with the need for match drilling and all parts are so precise that any wings can mate to any fuselage.

I did the fuselage (legacy build) first. When I ordered it, Van's sent the spar box pieces with the fuselage kit. They also said that fuselage first was getting more and more popular over time.

I later found a good deal on a virgin second hand set of QB wings so it all worked out great for me.

In my opinion, while the wing kit is arguably easier than the fuselage kit, it is also more cosmetically indicative of good construction skills therefore an advantage can be had of having more riviting practice and skill acquired when doing the wings.

The fuselage is much more fun and interesting to do with lots of interesting pieces and hardware whereas the wings are a bunch of repetitive tasks of the same thing over and over again. As was earlier said, if you are getting burned out you can just QB the wings and start to see a light at the end of the tunnel.

To each his own, but if I had it to do over again, I would definitely do the fuselage first (again). My only experience was with the -10, but I didn't find anything lacking in the fuselage instructions.