Alexander Tech Center

captainron · #1 07-07-2006, 08:07 AM

I'll be driving up to Griffin, GA on Sunday to get an early Monday morning start building the horizontal and vertical do-dads at the rear of the plane. Should be an interesting and busy week. I'm wondering how many other builders have gone this route and what their experiences have been.
Hopefully by next Saturday, I'll be Stabilised!

Rick_A · #2 07-07-2006, 08:44 AM

I did the ATC program just a little over a year ago. I was a great way to get started. You'll put in a lot of hours next week, but you will definitely have something to show for it by the end of the week. Have fun.

Paul LeDoux · #3 07-07-2006, 09:44 AM

I did this about 3 years ago. Very much worth the effort, time and money.
I learned how to do the operations required to build an RV. The people at
Alexander are very knowlegable and dedicated to helping you build an empennage. I would definetly do it again.

Paul

RudiGreyling · #4 07-09-2006, 11:45 PM

In short great, use this websites search facility to see the long story it was discussed before.

skyfrog · #5 09-08-2006, 08:00 PM

I am interested in taking the ATC course, but I have a question about the return trip home. Is it better to ship the "hopefully" completed parts or haul it yourself? I'd only be traveling from Georgia to Florida, so it's not the distance, but a matter of practicality.

I have a Ford Explorer and I was curious if the assembled parts would fit with the tail door open? Would I need to buy* a trailer? What size?

John
(* U-Haul won't rent trailers to Ford Explorers)

johncastor · #6 09-08-2006, 08:21 PM

Skyfrog,
I got my built tail parts in a mini van with the seats folded down with room to spare and door closed. All should fit in your explorer wilth the tail door open. Horizontal stab is longest piece, about 10' or so and others fit around it.
John

captainron · #7 09-08-2006, 09:01 PM

John, you didn't say what version you're building, but anything less than a RV-10 will fit nicely in a medium size car, provided the rear seat will fold down, the right front seat will recline, and it's open thru the trunk. I hauled my -7 back from there in a Chev Malibu, but could have done it nicely with my smaller Mazda MX-6, or the wife's Camry. The horizontal stabilizer (RV-7) measures 100" wide by 24" front-to-back, and about 4" thick. Fact is, I could have put two sets in this car! Remember, the elevators won't be attatched to the horizontal for the trip home. The rest of the parts will lay on the remaining trunk floor, rear floor, etc. Bring some blankets or sleeping bags, pillows, etc. from home to wrap and cushion things on the ride home. If you're in doubt about if your car will haul these parts, simply make-up a cardboard box or something to the above dimensions and try it in your car for size. Remember that the horizontal stabilizer tapers towards the ends, so the front-to-back measurement only applies in the center area of the part.
Have fun up there and happy building!

P.S. You will be at it from 8am till 8pm for 6 days and probably a few hours on Sunday also.

skyfrog · #8 09-08-2006, 09:43 PM

Sorry, I forgot to mention I'm going to build the 9A...

(That was until a couple of hours ago, when I wandered into the RV-10 specs area, followed quickly by a reality check when viewing the estimated price of a 10. This was immediately followed by a review of the 7 versus 9 forum messages which had me reconsidering the 7 again for future acrobatics... Wait a minute, I've got to think mission, oh, that's right, IFR cross countries)

Yes, I'm going to build the 9A

John

(I haven't even looked at the slider vs. tip-up yet)