Space required to build an RV-10?

[rotoiti]

Hi everyone, my first post

I am in the very early stages of trying to decide whether building an RV-10 will be feasible for me. I am pretty sure I will have plenty of other questions with time but for now, I am trying to figure out the logistics of the workshop space.

I live in San Francisco Bay Area and while the weather is fantastic, the houses here are small (and freakishly expensive). I only have a one car garage (filled with junk). The junk can be disposed of but will this garage be enough?

If not, what are the other options for workshop space I should be considering?

[N941WR]

You can always store the finished parts inside, or in a storage unit until you need them.

Welcome to VAF.

[Bob Kuykendall]

Originally Posted by rotoiti

...I only have a one car garage (filled with junk). The junk can be disposed of but will this garage be enough?...

First off, welcome to VAF!

I will say that it is almost certainly possible to build an RV-10 in the space of a one-car garage. The real question is, is it something that you personally want to do?

Here's my perspective: I am developing a 15-meter racing sailplane in 1200 square feet of space, about the equivalent of two two-car garages. It takes a lot of molds and tooling to make large composite structures, so at no time do I have much more than the space of a one-car garage available.

Consequently, somewhere between 15% and 25% of all the time I spend on the project goes into moving molds and tooling and fixtures around between where it is and where I need it so I can work on the next piece of the puzzle.

If this is something you want to try, my suggestion would be to make cradles and fixtures with castering wheels so that you can easily roll stuff around. You also might look into renting some offsite storage area so that as you complete a major subassembly you can store it safely and not be tripping over it all the time.

Personally, I think you should start building in the space you have, and figure out the details as you go along. Sooner started, sooner done!

Thanks, Bob K.

[Wayne Gillispie]

Until you get ready to install the HS/VS onto the fuse, then it may get snug. I built our slow build using my half of a 23.5' X 23.5' heated/cooled garage. I finished emp kit and hung it all from the 9'2" ceiling with nylon webbing. The wings were strapped to one wall then covered with 1/2" plywood for protection. My wife parked outside after HS/VS fitting started, then on to engine/prop/cowling. The extra room helped a lot. I made two shelves up high around 3 sides for storage and used the upstairs office and craft room for more storage. I ordered the first four kits initially, so we had a lot of blue vinyl to pull off. If you have any attic space anywhere, use that too. Install a 26 gal compressor inside of a fiberglass ductboard box to keep the sound down. You will need plenty of light, portable and fixed. You will need one work bench 3' X 8' with a 2" lip all the way around. Swivel and fixed casters with brakes. You will need the following: all of the tools, money, time, patience, money, planning, less tv, less internet, money and in two years you will have one awesome 160 kt, 10.5 gph family hauling airplane for $160K.

Oh, welcome to RV land.

[krwalsh]

If you need shop space in San Francisco, let me know. We have ~1200 ft^2 with 20' ceilings and an overhead door near the 101/280 interchange and we're looking for a new shop-mate. My plane (non-RV) is not there, it is at O69, but all of our woodworking and metalworking tools are.

[Mike S]

Originally Posted by rotoiti

Hi everyone, my first post

Miro, welcome to the good ship VAF

[kiwipete]

I built a rv-7 and most of our RV-10 in a single car garage. I only changed as we moved house. I had storage for the parts that I wasn't working on. It's tight some days but the advantage of having the project at home makes a huge difference.

Peter

[TS Flightlines]

Contact Vlad about building an RV in his apartment. I guess where there is a will, there is a way.

[md_clermont]

My first post too!

I have plenty of building space, but storage space will be a bit more difficult to come by. Dad has a large shop for construction purposes, but no extra storage as he will be restoring tractors. I have a three car garage that if I clean out should be able to accommodate the finished sections, especially if I hang them from the ceiling and wall like Wayne Gillispie mentioned.

I am leaning toward the RV-7. I have my practice kit and am going to put it together in the next couple of weeks after a kind fellow from my local chapter (EAA 74 - Orlando, FL) offered to let me use his shop and tools to make sure it was something I'm definitely interested in before I buy the tools.

-Matt

[flion]

Welcome, Matt! (This is a first, I beat our (un)official welcoming person. )

In regards to the OP, I am crowded in a large T-hangar. But that's just due to the axiom that stuff (a technical term referring to 'things') tends to expand to fill the available space. I built the wings and tail of my RV-6A in the living room of a 2-bedroom apartment. The fuselage was constructed in half of a 1-car garage. I think you could easily do the component construction of an RV-10 in a 1-car garage but storing the wings might be a problem (the tail components are relatively easy to store). As someone else mentioned, once the tail surfaces are mated, the project takes on significant lateral dimension; the same is true once you get the fuselage on the gear. Even if you delayed installing the tail (nothing wrong with that), other components might give you trouble. For instance, the overall length might preclude you installing the engine, and I'm not sure you'd have enough height to install the cabin shell if it was on the gear.

That said, it would be a convenient idea to build the major components and then transport them to a hangar for final assembly. That way you could start construction while waiting for an available hangar and also have the convenience of doing much of the structural work at home. 'Where there's a will, there's a way.'