I don't know if this is unique to me, but I thought I'd share for those newer builders who might think that this whole aircraft construction thing can get frustrating at times. To me, building is always presenting "Downs and Ups", and once you recognize the cycle, it is a lot easier to smooth them out and enjoy the overall process. What am I talking about? Well, the downside comes when you are working on a part, and it just doesn't work, won't fit, or you can't seem to make it properly. As an example, let's talk about drilling gear legs. This is a pretty monumental task in both degree of difficulty and importance - you really want the gear legs properly aligned and the holes to be nice and clean. The job is difficult due to the geometry of the legs and the engine mount, mounting this odd geometry properly in a drill press, finding appropriate drill size (and reamers) - it is a well known "rite of passage" in the RV world.
I did this a month or so back, and started with small drills, working my way up. About halfway through, I had the feeling I was in hand-to-hand combat with my tools and the parts. Drill bits were wandering, I have a little run-out in my drill chuck, and consecutively larger holes weren't going where I wanted them. The session ended with undersized holes and a distinct "down" feeling - had I ruined the parts? Was this even possible to do? Was I going to have to admit defeat and take it all to a machine shop...and maybe buy new gear legs and an engine mount?
Well, the next session I started fresh and paid a little more attention to my setup. The drills got larger, so they wandered less, and I finished up with a nice reamer to final size where I just had to tap the bolts in place. Were they perfectly perpendicular to the legs and tubes? Well, not perfect, but well within acceptable tolerance. The axles checked straight, and while I had chipped some finish off the engine mount in the struggle, all the important stuff was right. That was quite an "up" compared to the downer of the previous session.
Another recent example was fitting an alternator. I had a Van's adjustable bracket and a new-in-the-box ND alternator, but I simply could not find a combination of positions where the plain of the pulley would line up with the groove on the flywheel. It looked like I was going to have to drill new holes in the mount, or enlarge the slots - either course of action leaving me with a weakened mount that was customized for one particular alternator (It has been my experience that not all '87 Suzuki Samurai alternators line up exactly the same....imagine that!).Frustrated, I quit for the day. The next afternoon, I went by a different auto parts store and asked to see their '87 Suzuki Samurai alternator - and the mount/pulley position was different by 3/4" - plenty of room for me to try a different combination - which worked! Now I have a perfect setup that will allow me adjustment if I have to replace one of these alternators "on the road" and get one with a slightly different fit.
Wiring is like this as well - what starts out as a barely functional rats-nest somehow can be cleaned up to a really nice wiring harness/bundle with a little later attention. All it takes sometimes, is to walk away and come back fresh - and with new ideas gleaned from other builders, reference books, or the web.
I have experienced these "down and up" moments many times building airplanes, and the cycle is important to recognize, lest you throw the project in the dumpster at the end of a frustrating day. Quit the session, go inside, and when you come back out next time, work on something else. A solution for your problem will come, sooner or later. It's all part of the process, and recognizing it will keep you a builder, rather than one of the folks who fall by the wayside....
Paul
I did this a month or so back, and started with small drills, working my way up. About halfway through, I had the feeling I was in hand-to-hand combat with my tools and the parts. Drill bits were wandering, I have a little run-out in my drill chuck, and consecutively larger holes weren't going where I wanted them. The session ended with undersized holes and a distinct "down" feeling - had I ruined the parts? Was this even possible to do? Was I going to have to admit defeat and take it all to a machine shop...and maybe buy new gear legs and an engine mount?
Well, the next session I started fresh and paid a little more attention to my setup. The drills got larger, so they wandered less, and I finished up with a nice reamer to final size where I just had to tap the bolts in place. Were they perfectly perpendicular to the legs and tubes? Well, not perfect, but well within acceptable tolerance. The axles checked straight, and while I had chipped some finish off the engine mount in the struggle, all the important stuff was right. That was quite an "up" compared to the downer of the previous session.
Another recent example was fitting an alternator. I had a Van's adjustable bracket and a new-in-the-box ND alternator, but I simply could not find a combination of positions where the plain of the pulley would line up with the groove on the flywheel. It looked like I was going to have to drill new holes in the mount, or enlarge the slots - either course of action leaving me with a weakened mount that was customized for one particular alternator (It has been my experience that not all '87 Suzuki Samurai alternators line up exactly the same....imagine that!).Frustrated, I quit for the day. The next afternoon, I went by a different auto parts store and asked to see their '87 Suzuki Samurai alternator - and the mount/pulley position was different by 3/4" - plenty of room for me to try a different combination - which worked! Now I have a perfect setup that will allow me adjustment if I have to replace one of these alternators "on the road" and get one with a slightly different fit.
Wiring is like this as well - what starts out as a barely functional rats-nest somehow can be cleaned up to a really nice wiring harness/bundle with a little later attention. All it takes sometimes, is to walk away and come back fresh - and with new ideas gleaned from other builders, reference books, or the web.
I have experienced these "down and up" moments many times building airplanes, and the cycle is important to recognize, lest you throw the project in the dumpster at the end of a frustrating day. Quit the session, go inside, and when you come back out next time, work on something else. A solution for your problem will come, sooner or later. It's all part of the process, and recognizing it will keep you a builder, rather than one of the folks who fall by the wayside....
Paul
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