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prkaye

Well Known Member
I learned a lesson today. Slow down. Any other builders have to learn this hard way (several expensive parts replaced in the empennage)?

My friends and family know me as a guy who likes to work fast... they joke with me that my plane will be done in a year. When I get going, I get very eager to get to the next step. When something goes wrong, I tend to obsess about it and my instinct is to get it fixed NOW. Then I do a rushed job of fixing it, without stopping for a day to think.

So the less to myself after today (ruined an elevator skin) is to slow down. I won't be able to afford to keep this up if I keep ruining parts (like wing skins... wouldn't that suck...)
 
You're 100% right Phil - when you get in to a problem with a part, the best thing to do is stop and use the old grey matter on it before picking up another tool. However....that doesn't mean that it has to slow down the build. Once you get some more of the kit in house, you'll have the option of stopping with the problem part and moving to something else. The problem will be solved in your subconscious while you sleep, and you will go back and continue with that on another day.

Of course, if you switch to something else and screw that up to, then the kit is trying to tell you to put the tools down for the night and go have a beer!

Paul
 
Oh yes, I learned the hard way to slow down. Most of the parts ended up serviceable, if not pretty. I might re-do some of the tail after the rest of the kit is done - we'll see.
Slowing down, and answering all of those little niggling questions that are trying to get your attention will probably see the project done sooner. Fixing mistakes and beating up on myself takes time and is a lot less enjoyable than doing it right the first time.
 
Many traps in the task

It's a good thing to learn early. It is a very tricky process - not at all like putting together something from the local hardware store. You have to think ahead, rethink, measure, remeasure and carefully implement your build plan. There are several ways to do everything and the results of some methods are not going to be as precise or acceptable as others. The mentality that there are certain things that have to be done and when you do them you will automatically have a good product is misplaced in building an RV. Now, if you have someone with RV building experience guiding your steps you can surender the planning to them and just do the mechanical fabrication steps and maybe you will come out OK. However, if you are on you own and you don't figure out the methods and sequence of steps you want to follow to complete every task you are going to be disappointed and may end up trying to sell your disaster under some plausible "it's a bargain" cover story.

Bob Axsom
 
Phil

My first lesson in airpalne building ended with a lecture from a very good friend, fantastic airplane builder, and all around good guy............he said, "if you want a plane that is SAFE, flys true, and looks good...............BE PATIENT IN ALL YOU DO WHILE BUILDING THE PLANE.

Every time I broke this rule I was on the phone to Van's for a part order, instructions on how to fix (Ken gives great lectures), and depression.

Frank @ SGU and SLC .........wiring a 7a
 
I remember when....

When I started my 6A in Feb of 1995 I had the same problem of going to fast. No damaged parts but I knew I had to work fast and hard to finish the plane in my lifetime. After a couple of months of burning the candle at both ends I realized that this was not just a weekend project and that it would take me years to finish. Thats when I slowed down and set a stable pace. It took 5 years of all my spare time. I ignored my friends, cats, dogs, wife (only sometimes) and looked forward to 3 day holidays so I could work all day in the shop. Was if fun? Oh yes!.
 
now or later

you can spend the time to read and re read the plans or you can spend the time waiting on vans ..hey maybe thats why vans is so slow to ship so they can punish us for getting in a hurry. yea thats the ticket :rolleyes:
 
Every time I broke this rule... ...and depression.
Click to expand...

Yeah, for me the depression is coupled with paranoia... I keep saying to myself that if I can be so error-prone, how on earth am I going to be able to afford to build this plane? If I keep having to order replacement parts, the cost of this thing fly higher than the plane ever will.

Then I question whether I'm really cut-out to be a craftsman... if I really have the patience to sustain quality work.

I'm starting to see that this project may become an emotional roller-coaster!
 
If you do it, it will do you good

Reading between the lines here Phil it is obvious you have the desire. If you slow down and work through the project you will not only be happy with the airplane but you will develop skills and things that have been slurred over in your frantic life style. In the end those may be more important to you than the airplane itself. Now is the time to decide, the road less traveled or the same familiar more comfortable road.

Bob Axsom
 
expectations

I think that we sometimes feel the need to quickly finish our projects because of the web sites we see where someone finishes a plane in one or two years!!
I wish someone who works slowly (like i do) would post a site. A site where they would admit to spending hours reading the plans to try to understand what in the heck is going on!(again, as i do).
with family and home responsibilities it is sometimes difficult to find time during the week to spend on my project. I try to tell myself that it's about the process not the product.
I
n the meantime Phil, slow down , read up, and work on.

dennis giammarco rv-7
empennage in the attic
wings working on the spars :)
 
Old, old concept.......measure twice, and cut once. I have often had to tell myself to slow down, and "enjoy the process". I have also learned, that as it gets late at night and I have been "pushing" through the process, that I had a habit of saying to myself...."just one more step before I quit". This was most often the point that fatique was setting in, and I learned that most my mistakes were made during the last 30 minutes of my build sessions. I now have learned to quit just a little earlier, and have had much better luck. I also as well have learned to "sleep on it", if a problem presents itself that seems unusually confusing...I have been amazed at how often the problem is solved easily when rested....
 
Thanks for all your comments guys. Another thing I should do (perhap this is common sense, that I had overlooked) is to keep the beer out of the shop. I think that dimpling mishap happened after a couple of beers, when i was dimpling away feeling very happy and content about the project, and started getting sloppy. Funny that the law says you can't have anything to drink within 8 hours of flying, but (as far as I know) there's no law that says you can't drink while you build an aircraft!

Another thing I haven't yet got the "feel" for is when a part needs to be replaced, and when a "patch-job" might be acceptable. When I meet with the inspector for my empennage sub-assembly, I'm going to ask him for his general thoughts on this, and maybe some examples of patch-jobs that are acceptable.
 
prkaye said:
Another thing I haven't yet got the "feel" for is when a part needs to be replaced, and when a "patch-job" might be acceptable. When I meet with the inspector for my empennage sub-assembly, I'm going to ask him for his general thoughts on this, and maybe some examples of patch-jobs that are acceptable.
Click to expand...

Good question, that idea, in large part, eventually killed my skybolt project back in the early 90's. But with all the support for the RV's I would think a phone call to the factory, or a post here, or one of the other three billion support sites for the RV, should answer the question. Of course, the inspector would seem to be the best source in this regard.

But even beyond an acceptable patch job, the next question is....can YOU live with that patch job. I think we all have different psychological tolerances for this. I hate the idea of "repairs" on a new airplane. Then again, I hate not completing a project too. Being a perfectionist only works for those who are perfect..... ;)
 
prkaye, I feel your pain. Got a box full of new empennage parts to prove it. Redoing the rudder and the right elevator. The elevator went over the line a couple of months ago after I was on here trying to figure out how to do a doubler and stick the rib to the spar after I'd broken a few things. After talking to someone whose opinion I respect greatly, I realized he's right in thinking that it was time to order new parts. The rudder is more my call. I was never happy with the way it turned out, and even though Van's said "it might not be pretty, but it should fly OK," I still had a bad feeling about it. Most of the mistakes that led to this are down to the fact that I was moving way faster than I should have been and made a mess, on multiple occasions.

Sometimes I don't feel like I have enough time to work on the project, and I have expectations about how far along in the process I need to be that don't often reflect reality. This is irrational. Objectively, I know the project is going to take as long as it takes, period. It can be really frustrating, spending a lot of time correcting mistakes, and that induces the need to hurry, which can lead to more mistakes.

Part of it is also not wanting to be the guy who took five years to finish a pre-punched empennage. But if that's what it takes to get it right, then so be it.
 
slow is fast

I was taught this when beginning free fall relative work:

Slow is smooth, and
smooth is fast,
so slow is fast.
----------------------
My pace is at times very slow, and I feel the urge to push on quickly.
Past experience in other disciplines and trades, including home renovation, has taught me that rushing will end in rework, injury, or both - costing more time and effort than accepting the slower pace.

I've decided that the mind set I need is to just build the next bit, then move on to the next bit. Sometime I may eventually run out of bits to build.
I still make mistakes moving at my speed, but I am confident that they are smaller than they could have been, and are corrected at less effort.

-Howard McKay
RV-8A, wings
 
I don't know if cutting out the beer helps! I've found that I am more relaxed and tend to make LESS mistakes when I drink beer while I build. I am not saying drink like a fish but one beer per hour or every hour and a half shouldn't have any effect on your dimpling or drilling ability. Every one of the mistakes that cost me money (less than $30 per section) was made without any beer in my system. Probably the biggest culprit was too much coffee in my system! I thought I would finish my plane in one year. Well that was three years ago that I started. When will it get done? When I finish it! If you don't set a finish date you will probably slow down, relax and cut down on the mistakes. The journey is incredible so enjoy it and don't focus so much on the destination. The biggest plus is the longer it takes, the more people you meet that are still building.
 
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