J

Jwputnam

Well Known Member
Building RV-9A in two locations, FL & MN. Completion to be in MN for MANY economic reasons.

Current plan: Empennage and wings in FL, Fuselage et al in MN.

Occurs to me that I MIGHT be able to finish empennage and wings in FL this winter. If that happens, I will move them north along with tools, tables, etc. in my trailer, BUT....and here is the BIG but...............what will I be able to build in FL NEXT winter so that I am not wasting 6 months of building time?

Obviously, I won't be able to work on the fuselage (and it is too big to trailer down to FL), but I need to fill those building hours next winter. Even if I still have one wing left to complete, that isn't enough (guessing.......but I tend to throw myself into these projects losing weight...hopefully....and sleep).

I am a total newbie at this and I have no really good idea as to the order of things or the potential segmentations.

Anybody had a similar experience or situation? Suggestions?

PS LOVE this site! Sent in my donation this evening. Cheap!!!!!
 
That's a tough one. The finishing kit and firewall forward kit need to be done with the fuselage in hand. If the tail and wings are mostly finished, you could do all of the paint prep and paint them (or have them painted) in FL. You could potentially start on your panel, but you don't want to do that until the rest is almost finished because of the rapid advance in avionics development (you don't want to buy too early).
 
dogone it. You told me what I suspected but definitely did NOT want to hear.

Maybe I can haul the fuselage south minus the fwf on it....to keep the length down. Hate bouncing this stuff down the highway though.

hmmm. Someone give me some far cheerier advice please!
 
I don't know what you trailer with but if you got one of those race car trailers you could take shop and all along both ways.:D
 
Dan, you have me thinking. My brother-in-law has one of those that he never uses and I could haul it behind my old Tahoe. I'll have to examine this once I get up there this summer.
 
It works--
I've hauled my workshop trailer to NC a few times, as well as other places. FUEL costs are something to consider as well. MN is a long way from Fl, ans it might surprise you the amount of extra fuel it takes!!
Tom
 
It works--
I've hauled my workshop trailer to NC a few times, as well as other places. FUEL costs are something to consider as well. MN is a long way from Fl, and it might surprise you the amount of extra fuel it takes!!
Tom
 
I can understand the advice of waiting on avionics, however that is something that you really can do a lot of without being at your fuselage, even if that means planning a bit early. There was a thread here a while back about somebody who built essentially his entire panel while deployed overseas. It was beautiful. You can design and cut your panel, build your radio stack, build harnesses, etc. You can even power it all up if you want to.

The fact is that even if you don't fly for a year or two after installing avionics, a new system from any of the big 3 (Garmin, Dynon, GRT) will still be incredibly capable when that day comes, and probably just ready for a few software updates. Heck, I still have a year to go and am installing a GRT Sport SX and Dynon D10 (the original) - tons of features and a great price. I would plan on ADS-B compliance from the start, though.

Chris
 
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Similar Situation

My locations are Michigan and Florida. Started building the empinage in FL in October and it will be done by the end of January. That will give time to make paint and panel plans before trailering to MI in April/May. Don't know how complete the QB wings and fuse will be by next fall. i'm beginning to think like the OP that next winter may be the time to build the panel.

It's all good.
 
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