Did building make your smarter?

  • Yes, I am definitely better at problem-solving than before

    Votes: 62 72.1%

  • No, I don't perceive any substantive difference in my problem-solving capability

    Votes: 15 17.4%

  • Depends (please explain in the thread)

    Votes: 9 10.5%
  • Total voters
    86
panhandler1956

panhandler1956

Well Known Member
This is sort of an esoteric question. Do you think that building your airplane (or restoring) and all the cerebral gyrations that went into it, make you smarter in terms of working on other problems?
 
No, I don't perceive any substantive difference in my problem-solving capability. I had nothing to solve I assembled a kit.
The project just reinforced general discipline and fitness. :D
 
DanH said:
Depends on the quality of your paint respirator filter ;)
Click to expand...
Funny Dan.

I can't say building or restoration projects helped my problem solving but what I have learned regarding acceptable practices is huge.
 
Smarter?

I don't see how doing anything can make you smarter. Your IQ, or whatever it is that measures intelligence is based on genetics and can apparently be reduced by environmental influences.

So I suspect, I'm about as smart now as when I started building but I sure understand airplanes a whole lot better now than when I started. I understand the importance of the structures - the spars, the longerons, the monocoque skin structure and how W&B plays into it all. I know how the parts work together and how bell crank works and stuff like that. For me, it is one thing to read about it and learn, another to see it and understand a bit more, and yet another level of knowledge to assemble it, have to make adjustments (like aligning the flaps, ailerons, and wing tips) to make sure the plane flies straight. The FWF is a whole new area of learning.

13 years ago I bought a Cherokee and getting my PPL taught me something about systems. When I take the cowl off the Cherokee to change the oil, I can tell you I look at everything in there differently now than I did when I bought the plane. I am no more intelligent today than I was 13 years ago. I beer or a glass of wine really kills 100 brain cells, I'm a lot dumber now than then. But unequivocally, I am far more knowledgeable about everything on that Cherokee (even though I didn't build it) than I was when I bought it. Building the 9A taught me a whole lot (as did reading some of the posts on VAF)

In my estimation, book knowledge it wonderful and experience is just as wonderful but put the two together and the combination is simply awesome. It isn't just about building either. Fly every plane you can - they all can teach you something. I wish I could put my finger on it but somehow learning to fly the "slippery" 9 has taught me things I never encountered with the draggy Cherokee. I'm a better pilot in both planes.

In my opinion, the experience building the 9A has been worth the price of parts. Considering I should get most or all of it back when the time comes to sell it, is just icing on the cake.
 
Building hasn't made me any smarter, just a lot more knowledgeable about aircraft. As for inherent smartness and the ability to learn and process information, learning to fly is a pretty good test. There were plenty of times when I found out to my surprise just where my limits were on any particular day. But with practice, what seemed impossible became easier and even second nature after a while. Didn't make me any smarter though.
 
Smarter

I don't think it makes you smarter. You're born with whatever innate faculties you have. however, if you're over a "certain" age, building and maintaining an aircraft can and does keep you sharper and slows the inevitable deteriation that comes naturally with the aging process.:eek:

You young bullet proof and immortal types that have life by the b----(horns) will come to appreciate this someday!:D
 
Maybe. Education theory is that if you really have to think about how to solve a problem, your brain learns "how to think", and to some degree you may in the future be better at a certain large class of similar but different problems.
So early on in construction, when the manual says "take bucking bar A and rivet B and fasten C and D together as shown", that is probably of little value. But later on, when the manual says, "rivet C and D together" and you say "How the hxxx am I supposed to get a bucking bar in there?", that experience may help you learn how to solve problems in the future.

Maybe the word is more educated as opposed to smarter.
 
Yep

Building has defenetly made me smartar. I was real dumm befor I started. Im only haf way done so Ill prolly be a genus by the time im fineshd :D
 
Building four airplanes has made me a lot poorer. Guess I'm not very smart to have not figured this out earlier............
 
Yes

Yes of course it makes you smarter. Homebuilding is educational by its very existence. To say education does not make you more intelligent, only genetics, is wrong. A connection between heredity and IQ certainly has been proven but there is no evidence that it is a singular factor. In fact, there is more evidence supporting the influence of a good education and financial support.
 
keeps the squirrel busy

I don't think it makes you any smarter but it does keep the squirrel busy and that alone is worthwhile.
 
does jogging make you healthier?

perhaps, our hearts get healthier, as we wear out our knees!!!......but we know its good 'exercise'.
I like to think that when you do something mechanical, or that involves problem solving, we help make some of those dormant synapses in the brain start to fire, so are we are getting a few percent more of our brain power up to speed?

One example I like to think of is Glastar builder Jim Londo, who used his project as therapy to get himself rehabilitated after a serious accident.
 
smarter? interesting, wiser? I hope so! but a friend (retired professor) who is flying his 25 year old Long Eze, said recently -- it was like getting another masters degree!

I am certainly more educated!!
 
Esoteric? Guess I'd better look that up -- which page of the Van's manual is that term explained? Obviously it hasn't made me any smarter. :D
 
I've certainly learned a huge amount of new skills during the build process. Fiberglassing, riveting, sheet metal work, painting and on and on. I've got enough tools to fix just about anything and I'm much more confident that I can tackle some big projects. After all, I'm building an airplane in my garage! Nothing bigger than that.

The build process has certainly helped with the common sense problem solving in everyday life, which is the best kind of "intelligence quoient" to increase.
 
DEFINITELY! sometimes...

I definitely feel smarter because all my "dumb" friends are so impressed by my project, and always tell me how smart I must be to do this. However, this is offset when I have my fellow builder friends over. They tend to make me feel dumber. This is why I always ply my builder friends with beer and whiskey when they are over in "mixed company"... It's the only way to level the field! :D
 
Doesn't help. What does help, as Jay Leno said, is to get Terry Bradshaw's book - "How To Be More Smarter."
 
It makes you smarter like college makes you "smarter." After solving a problem working on the -3, I FEEL smarter, I know more, and I'm more confident! So yes, I think it does make you smarter. It exercises the brain.
 
Yep;
Your brain is like a tool box. Someone else may have a bigger tool box, but if you have more tools in yours, and use them more often....
Or the Muscle arguement, Use it or Lose it!
Just quit watching TV and find something to do.
 
Wiser, perhaps...

Socrates said "I am the wisest man alive. For the one thing I know is that I know nothing." Building revealed to me so much more of what I don't know. Ergo, I am wiser. :)
 
I'm not smarter or dumber (granted that's a matter of opinion) as a result of the build, but my problem solving skills have definitely improved.
 
I don't think that building makes me smarter, but it helps keep my mind occupied with identifying and solving problems.

I recently started working on an RV6A that I found in the VAF classifieds and hauled to California from Texas a few weeks ago. This aircraft was started in December, 1999 and has been through three previous owners. I am currently evaluating what has been done, what needs to be done and what was done incorrectly and needs to be redone.

I think that I am engaged in more problem solving than if I started the build myself, but that is OK. I retired a year ago from working as an avionics technician on rockets, so finishing this RV6A will keep my mind working, fill my day and give me something of value when I am done.
 
Depends.........

My thought, the older 6 kit is more of a challenge than the cnc prepunched versions. Big factor is the earlier drawings vs the later drawings and diagrams.

Did this make me smarter? I'm not sure, as that was not the focus while building.

My sheet metal and fiberglass skills improved a bit

I have learned quite a bit from the forum.

Doug, Thanks for providing this valuable resource!
 
You must log in or register to reply here.