Dave Bernard

Dave Bernard

Active Member
Hey All,

Long Time Lurker, First time poster!

I'm going to be starting an '8 kit in the next month or so, and have a question about the shop I'll be building in. It is not climate controlled and Alamosa CO gets COLD! (7500' MSL) I plan to work mostly during the day when it warms up in there, but I'm concerned if putting this thing together over a huge range of temperatures will affect the quality of the build.

Obviously aluminum aircraft operate over a wide range of temperatures every day, but my concern is- is everything gonna line up right if one day I drill at 30F and another day I rivet at 60F?

Thanks in advance guys, this site is one of the reasons I chose to build an RV, and yes I plan on donating but let me get the kit first at least ok?!

DB
 
It all grows and shrinks together

Hi,

welcome to the forum.

As the temperature of all the parts changes, everything is aluminum, so it will all grow and shrink together.

Where you would have a problem is if some of the parts just came from indoors and may be at a different temperature. Just wait for everything to equalize.

Enjoy the build! You know where to go for help;)
 
The only thing you need to be concerned with is the canopy. This needs to be done as warm as possible to avoid cracks while you are working with it. Outside of that most things don't care about temps.

PS If you prime that may drive a requirement for certain temps for application. I have rattle can primed with 7220 down to 20f with the only side affect being longer dry times.

Enjoy your build!
 
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panhandler1956 said:
The only thing you need to be concerned with is the canopy. This needs to be done as warm as possible to avoid cracks while you are working with it. Outside of that most things don't care about temps.

PS If you prime that may drive a requirement for certain temps for application. I have rattle can primed with 7220 down to 20f with the only side affect being longer dry times.

Enjoy your build!
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And fiberglass stuff. Was going to work on the empennage tips until I read through some of the material. Now waiting for summer.
 
Thanks for the quick info guys!

panhandler1956 said:
The only thing you need to be concerned with is the canopy. This needs to be done as warm as possible to avoid cracks while you are working with it. Outside of that most things don't care about temps.

PS If you prime that may drive a requirement for certain temps for application. I have rattle can primed with 7220 down to 20f with the only side affect being longer dry times.

Enjoy your build!
Click to expand...

Thanks Brent, you may remember me from comp. recurrent a few years ago when I was asking you about the RV- I'm a 495er now, luckily employed!

DB
 
Cold temps!

We're building in Wisconsin where temps get quite low (3 degrees F now). Put 2 inch styrofoam on our 2 car garage walls and covered with Visqueen (?sp). Insulated door with fiberglass batts. One 1500 watt heater keeps space workable down to about 20 degrees and two make it very pleasant at low ambient temps. Cost is low. Although temp varies as much as 15 degrees day to day we've had no dimensional problems. Hope that helps. P.S. Temp refers to that in garage; outside it's more variable!
 
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Dave,

IMHO, your personal comfort is more of an issue than the aluminum question you raised. I put together a discussion about my experience making my shop a much more comfortable place to work in, on my website here:

Shop Heaters

I realized a long time ago that if you're going to build an airplane, or do anything that requires a lot of hours in the shop, you have to have an environment that's suitable. The bottom line for me is, if I'm not comfortable, it's not very motivating and I can lose my drive and enthusiasm very quickly. Nothing will sap the energy and enthusiasm out of me more quickly than being cold. So I began looking for a suitable heater to warm it up on those cold days in winter. We don't have the low temps here that you experience in Colorado or Wisconsin, so I would think this is even more important for you than it is for me. Take a look at my experience and see if it helps you. I can tell you from my experience that it's well worth it to seal up your shop, insulate it where necessary, and get a good heater and/or some air circulation going in there. You'll thank me later.

Good luck starting on your project!
 
Dave Bernard said:
Thanks Brent, you may remember me from comp. recurrent a few years ago when I was asking you about the RV- I'm a 495er now, luckily employed!

DB
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Dave,
Yeah I remember now. Good to see you're working and moving forward with the RV! Let me know if you need anything!
 
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