guidoism

guidoism

Member
Howdy!

I'm trying to figure out whether I can reasonably start my RV-8 project. I'm in the very initial stages of planning. I'm reading through the posts on this site and I've signed up for the EAA sheet metal basics class in March (Watsonville). I haven't yet bought the preview plans.

I'm renting a house with a long one-car garage that would work perfectly for the empennage kit. I'll probably end up going with the QB for the fuselage and wings so sooner rather than later I'll need to find more space for the project.

The question is, how much of the project might I be able complete without attaching the wings?

I'd have enough space for the fuselage and maybe one of the wings going parallel to the fuselage. I figure that once I'm to the point where I need to attach the wings I'll take a sabbatical from work to finish up the project.

What tasks really need to be done after the wings are attached and how much of the build time might those take?

BTW, y'all are awesome. I never would have had the courage to even consider this project without this community.
 
I built my 9A almost entirely in one half of a two car garage. Once I got to the hangar I:

-installed the wings, tail, and control surfaces for good

-installed the prop

-attached the wires that came out of the wings to the wires that came out of the fuselage

-trimmed, drilled, and installed the wing tips

Everything else I did at home. I wanted to keep a car in the other half of my garage so when I finished the wings, I moved them to a friends hangar so that I could work on the fuselage.

I installed, adjusted, and drilled the empennage at home, then
removed and stored it.

When it came time to drill the wing rear spars, I brought the fuselage to my friend's hangar to do my initial mate with the wings, then brought it back home.

I cut and installed the canopy at home, hung and wired the engine, fit the cowl, installed my wheel pants, and installed my instruments all at home.

The more you do at home, the better. It's so much easier to just walk into the garage and work on it when you have time than to commute to the airport.

It still took me me 8 months to fly once I got all the parts to the hangar but it included 2 months off for the holidays, over a month dealing with the FAA, and a few weeks off on family vacations. No sabbatical for me unfortunately.

Good luck and WELCOME TO THE GOOD SHIP VAF. Sorry Mike S. :D
 
Last edited:
My wings never touched the fuselage until they arrived at the airport, painted and ready to go.
 
Does Vlad still have the distinction of building in the smallest area??
You'll have no issue building the fuse in a 1 car garage. Might be alittle tight working around it, but certainly doable.
Tom
 
1-car will work for QB

Guido,
Take a look at photos from the earlier posts in my kit log: www.mykitlog.com/scrollf4/
Particularly the 'miscellaneous', 'empennage', 'wings', 'cockpit', and 'fuselage' sections.

I began my build in the 1-car basement carport under my quarters at Langley AFB. This house was built in the '20s for a Model T Ford, with low-slung rafters and trusses overhead. I had no problem with the empennage, nor the QB fuselage and wings which I rolled around in cradles as needed. The EAA work tables were great: I could reconfigure their arrangement as required for the job at hand. I was even able to fit the empennage for hole-drilling: The top of the vertical stabilizer jut up between trusses (I didn't permanently install them until much later in the hangar).

Now, once it was time to install the landing gear, I had to leave this arrangement for a hangar because the ceiling and door sill were too low. You may not have that problem, which means you'll be able to stay in the garage much longer.

Happy building!
 
Building a 10

I'm building a 10 in my garage (2 car). I have completed almost everything, finishing up the avionics and engine now without attaching the wings. Next month I am going to pull the plane out and attach the wings, complete all the attachment steps (might be tied down in my front yard for a few days), and then pull them off and put the plane back in the garage.

I believe I will be able to move it to the airport and take a 2 week vacation to finish up the last items and do the final tail/wing attach and be ready to fly.
 
I talked to Van's and they told me that I could wait and put the wings on during the final assembly. Seemed reasonable to me, i did and all went well.
Best to you.
Dave
 
I built the fuselage of my -4 in my basement and had to have an opening cut thru the block wall to get it out. In the basement, I mounted both engine and prop, though had to remove both and the landing gear to get it out of the basement. It came out in April to move to a borrowed hanger and flew on August 8 (of the same year). Up to that point, the wings had never been mounted. Also, in June of that year, I got married and spent 2 weeks in Europe.

Take away message - Do as much as you can at home and do as little as possible at the airport!

Good luck,
 
Welcome to VAF!

Guido, welcome to VAF:D

Good answers above, I really have nothing to add.
 
Welcome Guido!

I suggest you just dive in and your desire to build/finish will help you figure it out as you go along. I am probably 80% complete on the wings and I am building in 1/2 of a 2 car garage. My wife's car spends most nights in the garage, after I finish working on the project, I roll everything over to 1 side and pull in the car. It's really not that difficult - just plan your work space accordingly. Sure, there are times I wish I had more room, but I have a good setup for my space and I enjoy working in it. I wish I had started years ago and not "thought about it" so much (I tend to over-think everything). Great idea taking the sheet metal class - I took the EAA RV class and after the class I had 100% confidence that I could build an airplane! Good luck - dive in! :D
 
I have a QB fuselage and I will have it 100% completed - Engine mounted, fiberglass and paint done, wired etc before I even think about wings..
I can't remember why I chose this route but it's all the same at the end of the day, whichever way you choose!
 
Thanks for the encouragement. One of VAF members PM'd me and invited me to see his mostly-completed RV-8. I spent the morning at his workshop where he showed me the basics of riveting and gave me a lot of advice. His plane was *beautiful* and it really inspired me to get started right away.

So, I just ordered the preview plans for the RV-8. I guess I need to get a tail wheel endorsement now. :)
 
You must log in or register to reply here.