[ColoRv]

A little advice from those who tread before me please.

I've reached a place where it's no longer as simple as following the book. I need to decide which order to do things in and I'm not quite sure which way to jump.

The fuselage is in the rotisserie and I'm working on cabin details. Skins are all done except for forward baggage/panel skin. I'm routing electrical under the floors etc and my production is starting to fall off as I spend more and more time trying to decide things. Where to mount the Whelen supply, ELT, vertical power unit (which also affects its harness location) and that's all difficult to decide on without knowing where the panel units are located (thinking skyview system, backup alt & airspeed, simple radio). That leans me towards panel next, but the panel is where advances come in the shortest timeframe which makes me want to do it last. So engine next? But then I have this electrical system floating in no mans land...and there is the finish kit to consider...which requires me to pick the engine and that engine needs hung before cowling work. I considered ordering the finish kit and working the brakes, farings and canopy next...but surely the panel is easier without the canopy and front hoop in the way. Brakes are surely easier now though but then again having it on the rotisserie for panel work would help my aging back quite a bit I imagine and the gear legs hanging off would make the rotisserie a bit dicey.

I'm not out of things to do yet by any means but whatever comes next will have a lead time associated with it...so it seems like I have to decide now. Any advice out there?

 

[SHIPCHIEF]

By now you should have an idea what the final product will be?
If not, you should start making up a list of items.
Maybe a computer file or a loose leaf binder (or both).
Draw out your paint job, Panel ideas etc.
Equipment lists, and most important, work lists.
Devide these out by systems, like:
1) Control column
2) Rudder control
3) Fuel system
4) Nav lights
Then add notes on each item you are working on, like what you need to buy, what you need to do, and what you need to return to for final close out.
Now the aircraft is devided into goals that you can get done. It's alot easier to stay on task if you have work lists.
Just don't let your wife know, or she'll start giving you work lists. then the plane will never get done!

 

[LettersFromFlyoverCountry]

Yes, I also found this to be a difficult time because there are any number of places and directions you can go.

Don't fret. What I would do is sit down with all of your drawings (plans) and really look them over. Take all the time you need and you'll start to see how one thing on a plan has a relationship to other things on another plan.

There are also -- depending on what versions of the plans you use -- things that can be done which they don't really tell you about earlier in the process. So you end up hanging an engine, for example, and then you realize that some rivets on the firewall are supposed to be drilled out and a nutplate installed for an Adel clamp. Not a big deal, but just a PITA that you don't discover it until access is restricted.

So take a good look at the plans for the firewall and the oil/fuel line plans...and the electrical plans, and you might find some stuff you can do.

The strobe power supply location and ELT location. You just have to decide and install it. That leads you back to running wires, which leads you planning wiring routes.

I found that the panel and the firewall forward kind of went hand in hand since a lot of the stuff that passes through the firewall, ends up connected at the panel. LIGHT BULB... firewall passthroughs, separation of power cables from antenna cables... separated from probe lines for an engine monitor -- for example.

Hanging the engine is cool, but, looking back, I could've waited even longer than I did.

But, yeah, it's not too early to actually PICK an engine and order the finishing kit. Other than $, there's no penalty for having it on hand and available if you decide it's a good time to at least put the engine mount on.

Anything you can get done in the area that's "under the panel" now will be to your benefit later. Crawling in and out and under really stinks. Got a route from the the bottom of the fuselage for the wires to come up to the panel? Good time to pick one and install the little dinky things you need to accomplish that (see plans). Same for things like fuel level gauge wires. It's not too early to plan where your headphone connections are going to be, antenna runs etc. Vents. You might be tempted to install your rudder pedals/brakes, but once you do, getting at the firewall to do things you didn't do before (in my case, firewall pasthroughs, throttle/mixture cable passthroughs, soundproofing blah blah blah) becomes slightly more annoying because you have these two "things" there.

This actually turned out to be a pretty cool part for me because there were so many different paths to go, if you started on one and got bored, for example, you could go work on another. At this stage of the build, it becomes far less of a "do this...then do that.... then do this...then do that" process.

Sure, you might find that it becomes somewhat mazelike in which you pick a component to work on and hit a wall because its completion is blocked by something else that needs to be done... so you simply stop and work on that something else.

I would wait as long as possible to do both engine and instrument panel because they tend to go hand in hand. So the more you can do that gets you up to the point where you have no choice but to hang the engine and the point at which you actually have to install the panel and components (for the last time), the better.

But, again, my immediate advice is to sit down with the drawings and you'll see all sorts of things there you didn't notice before as you begin to depend on the language of the plans and very little on the narrative instructions.

 

[Ironflight]

Excellent advice from Scott and Bob. I would add one thing about avionics choices that sometimes gets missed. No matter what you choose for EFIS and radios, no matter when you make the choice - the day after they arrive, someone will announce something better. That's just a high-tech fact of life. i don't let it bother me - I pick what I need from the available choices when the choices need to be made - and make sue that the equipment satisfies my requirements. Then I stay happy, because my choice was a good one.

i have seen many projects stalled because people keep putting off their choice for panels to the point where it stalls their build. They can't wire, they can't lay things out.....and then they can't decide what to buy, so the project languishes. if your goal is to finish in a reasonable time, make the choice, and get the gear on the way. You can build much faster when you have hardware on hand. Will it be the absolute latest stuff when you make your first flight? Probably not - but it should fit your defined requirement.

If your requirement is to have the absolute newest stuff? Well....that's a problem....

 

[mike newall]

Interesting question.

On our 7, we had a pot of money from a Christen Eagle refurb and ordered everything pretty much from the get go. That bit us in the arse with the prop, but that's another story

The 8 is different as I am financing it as 'we' build, my partner and I share the 7 and will share the 8 when finished, however the easiest way is for me to sort the 8 out by myself.

Anyhow,

I deliberate about the same stuff and have decided on the same route as suggested - look at the stuff you want, fix it, move forward.

Yes, there will be better, faster, slicker stuff, but that is going to be in the next project isn't it ...... !

Compare what we had, say 10 years ago - less than 50% of the whizz bang stuff we have now, and we were still happy

If you are on a budget, pay the most for the most important stuff, the motor, the prop, the primary flight instruments - i.e. the stuff you use and rely on all the time.

The paint, the upholstery etc can always be more economical and in a way, a great challenge.

I painted our 7, in my shop - first time, a bit daunting but I had great advice and with some perseverance, I ended up with a very acceptable 10 foot finish....... It looks great from 10 feet away but I can show you one or or two Gilberts !

Crack on, decide, move onwards because when you sit there with the RV grin on your face, you will not care a jot whether you have the latest gizmo's in your ship - you will have just flown it


p.s. I love you Colonials....... My first post had the word that is the same as a Donkey, only it refers to ones posterior. It got starred. I reverted to Anglo Saxon and it's there - Sweet !