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prkaye

Well Known Member
Just curious, for those who have completed or nearly completed, which subkit, or subassembly did you find the most fun or rewarding to build?
 
I enjoyed painting...

Because it was the last thing that I did before flying. :rolleyes:

Kent
 
I agree

A bit like aerobatics or anything you've never done before.

I was dreading painting but I got advice, took longer than my painting expert buddy and sure enough with some practice I really could paint...I think my paint job looks very professional (although I kept the complexity somewhat limited) and now I have "friends" who want me to paint theirs....No way!...:)

Frank 7a
 
The QB Fuse has been the most rewarding so far...

The Empennage- your just confused and afraid your going to screw something up.

The Wings are ver monotonous- lots of repetition. The wings themselves were pretty easy, the aileron and flaps are a bit of a bugger due to tight quarters and keeping them flat. But when you're done- you built something BIG! By this time, rivetting is not a big deal and your comfortable with the process.

I got the QB fuse- despite having to jump around all over the place (because there is so many things already completed) and it being a bit confusing at first, the QB fuse has been a blast. It's really the first time you start assembling parts and systems into a something you can visualize. There is still a feeling of blindly walking into a void because if you're like mosty of us- this is the first plane you've ever built and you're unsure what comes next and how all the pieces fit together.

It's also the time you really HAVE to start making choices- fuel valves, gascolators, fuel pumps, servos, PANEL!, etc...The checkbook gets a workout here.

All in all- Vans and company did a GREAT JOB creating the kits to lessen the 'barriers to entry'. (The 10 kit still scares me though...)
 
cowling

I kike the cowling and FWF. I have gotten pretty good at the cowls.
The air filter box is my least looked forward to project. Wish some one would invent a bolt on filter.
 
I've finished my left wing (pre-cover, the tips aren't done and the bottom skins aren't riveted), and now onto my right wing. I'm finding this is not an exciting time, since I'm just repeating everything I already did once, and hoping it doesn't take me nearly as long this time round. I'm soooo looking forward to the fuse, but it seems so many months away.
 
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Fuselage

This by far was the best aspect for me - I think it had the most parts that required fabrication. It's also when the panel typically comes together.
 
Yeah, I gotta say panel construction was the most fun & rewarding. Cut the panel myself, poked & sawed all the holes myself, and the first time everything lit up in my garage with the lights off, and the smoke stayed in the wires...that was pretty darn cool! :D

But then again, that first time I fired up my engine...OOOOHHHH YEAH BABY!!! Firewall forward was a blast, too. Sorting out various issues of a not-very-common-at-the-time setup (AFP on a horizontal sump) and then having it all work great...very satisfying.

All I can say is that my least favorite thing was prepping wing ribs. The wing kit was probably my least favorite all said and done.
 
Ditto

dan said:
Yeah, I gotta say panel construction was the most fun & rewarding. Cut the panel myself, poked & sawed all the holes myself, and the first time everything lit up in my garage with the lights off, and the smoke stayed in the wires...that was pretty darn cool! :D
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Absolutely.

This is where you actually get to become a designer/engineer/manufacture.

This is where you get to make the decisions, not just "rivet part a to part b"

Other than paint scheme, I really cant think of a place where "Personal" influence is more evident.

Of course, I also hate to paint.

Mike
 
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I went at it as a very long term project that was extremely important to me, our finances and our future. Every single rivet and every new task was recognized as something that had to be done as well as I could possibly do it to justify the tremendous investment in our personal time and money. We did not use any outside help other than the occasional clarification call to Van's and the George & Becki Orndorf video tapes. The whole thing was an adventure with memories I will cherish for the rest of my life but "FUN" seems like a very light frivolous thing such as you experience watching a movie and I never had that feeling while building the plane.

Bob Axsom
 
Bob, if you never had fun while building, I feel very sorry for you. I hope you at last have fun flying?
 
keen9a said:
Bob, if you never had fun while building, I feel very sorry for you. I hope you at last have fun flying?
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It sounds like Bob Axsom was on a mission and in the end it appears that it was a very special and memorable mission. That sounds pretty good to me Bob. I'm with you mate; as a word "fun" sounds a bit too trite and flimsy to describe the total building experience.
 
This is simply semantics. That we "enjoy" building, I think we all agree. Perhaps I should have asked "which part did you "enjoy" building the most?
Anyway, I do think the word "fun" can be used in many different contexts, as with many words, with varying interpretations.
 
Well If you put it that way

My educational and work background was skewed to the electronic and software side of aerospace (I was still working then) and I found the sheet metal work and original metal fabrication almost therapeutic. Hundreds of holes in perfect alignment, with all of their edges scraped perfectly smooth and dimpled - how can you not find pleasure in that sort of creation?

Bob Axsom
 
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"therapeutic" is a great word for how I feel about building sometimes, especially for the repetatitve easy tasks like dimpling, deburring or drilling. You just go out to the shop, put the tunes on, dream of flying your RV oneday, and let the hours melt away. LOVE IT. This weekedn was a very therapeutic weekend for me :)
 
prkaye said:
"therapeutic" is a great word for how I feel about building sometimes, especially for the repetatitve easy tasks like dimpling, deburring or drilling. You just go out to the shop, put the tunes on, dream of flying your RV oneday, and let the hours melt away. LOVE IT. This weekedn was a very therapeutic weekend for me :)
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Yeh, therapeutic some weekends...not so therapeutic on others. It's early days for you Phil. You're still on the honeymoon. Wait until you've been at it for 3 or more years and you're working on the canopy. It may not seem so "therapeutic" then. You might have to choose a new word at that stage :)
 
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dan said:
Yeah, I gotta say panel construction was the most fun & rewarding. Cut the panel myself, poked & sawed all the holes myself, and the first time everything lit up in my garage with the lights off, and the smoke stayed in the wires...that was pretty darn cool! :D

But then again, that first time I fired up my engine...OOOOHHHH YEAH BABY!!! Firewall forward was a blast, too. Sorting out various issues of a not-very-common-at-the-time setup (AFP on a horizontal sump) and then having it all work great...very satisfying.

All I can say is that my least favorite thing was prepping wing ribs. The wing kit was probably my least favorite all said and done.
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Like Dan I have really enjoyed working on the panel as well as the electrical...But...honestly for me the whole project to this point has been enjoyable/mentally taxing/wonderful learning/experience :)

Frank @ SGU RV7A "NDY" Panel/Electrical...Engine being built as we speak
 
I enjoy the tail, but thats all I've really done so far. To me building is really great, but I do find that if it's not done regularly, I lose my Groove just like anything else in aviation. Leaving bits of the project until later and putting stuff off because I don't have the money has pushed me back way farther than the actual delay caused. Getting back into it after stopping is a problem.

Most enjoyable so far had to be the Horizontal. The first piece of real airplane done ! :)
 
Sub Component

I just finished an aileron on my -4 and I think Van's ought to make them available as the RV practice kit. Despite several problems from bad parts and miss-bent TE skin it was my most enjoyable so far. It also has every type of rivet process: back, bucked, squeezed and popped. And since it's the same as a -7 or -8 it was pre-punched and easy.
 
wiring

I think I enjoy the wiring the most. It's all kinda fun, altho I'd rather it be done so I can fly it.
brian
 
I think the "funest" part is jumping ahead and throwing major parts on before thier time. When I started the finish kit, I taped the cowling on, put the canopy in place, wheel pants...etc. Before that, the complete empenage sitting on the just-rolled- over fuselage was a great day. Other than that, the actual instalation of the above parts is something I'm not sure I'd do again. I havn't flown it yet, so it's hard to say.
 
Fuselage

Fuselage was the most for me so far. During the emp its all new and fun but your not really sure what your doing. Visiting other folks that have gone before ya really helps put things in perspective. I did QB wings because it looked like once you got one side done you just had to do it again. Again not sure about my skill level I thought this was the way to go. Then on to the fuselage. Once you get a canoe and flip the sucker you feel like you really made some real progress. I am now working on the canopy and panel and its really getting fun now. I am building a slider so I have been pretty nerve wracked but it seems like it is coming together. I almost have everything for the panel and have been planing the layout for some time so that seems like things are getting somewhere. Again going to flyins and seeing planes like the one you are building is very motivating and rewarding.

And most of all many of the great websites and this forum really help you get comfortable and get perspective on things. And great tips that allow you to choose different things. I really cannot imagine how folks used to do this without those resources.

Also just imagine the early models that required all of the jigging and drilling. No way! Well its time to get back to building. Thanks to everyone out there that has provided help and guidance like Dan C, Phil B, Jeff B, Dave P, Jon B and the list goes on.
 
Which kit longest?

Here's a related question for survey - which kit took you the longest? Gotta be either the fuse or finish kits I would think. From the poll on "which part are you currently working on", the largest group is the firewall-forward/finish kit, with over 20% of respondants working on these kits. Does that indicate that the firewall-forward/finish kit typically takes the longest of all of them? I suppose that's not at all suprising...
 
prkaye said:
Here's a related question for survey - which kit took you the longest? Gotta be either the fuse or finish kits I would think. From the poll on "which part are you currently working on", the largest group is the firewall-forward/finish kit, with over 20% of respondants working on these kits. Does that indicate that the firewall-forward/finish kit typically takes the longest of all of them? I suppose that's not at all suprising...
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Finishing kit takes the longest by far.
 
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