jferraro17

jferraro17

Opulence, I has it...
Somebody tell me it's going to be okay! I'm unpacking this thing and thinking to myself "what have I gotten myself into?" :eek:

I think I had my Emp unpacked, inventoried and started in about 3 hours...wing kit, not so much

I'm ready to curl up in the corner of my garage in the fetal position...

Small bites, right? :eek:

Joe
 
well joe, i'm glad it arrived safe and sound (as they always do!). yeah, there's A LOT more to look at in the wing kit. keep pushin' ahead! just wait 'til you start the ribs!! :eek: :D
 
I just got through my inventory. It seems overwhelming at first because there are so many brown bags, and things (if you have a newer wing kit you may be lucky to have plastic bags with contents printed on them). Once you get it all organized, you'll be wondering "That's it???". I was totally surprised how few parts there really were once I threw out the crates and brown paper, and got everything organized. I was a bit dissapointed, actually, and now it seems totally and easily do-able.
 
Not so safe

The "skins" crate was damaged on one end. 2 of the 711 ribs have had their corners caved in (they were nested together for shipping). That's it, so far anyway. Lot's of pictures, and the FedEx guy did all the paperwork. $16 a piece to replace them.

This is going to be fun...

Joe
 
I don't know if any of you have children or not but there's a certain timetable involved.

A key component of this timetable comes shortly after the first childbirth class when, usually on the way home, the mother -- who, just for the record is WAYYYYY stronger than any man you ever met -- begins to shriek about "not being able to do this." Pulling over to the side of the road to allow her to throw up is an occasional facet of this.

Now fast forward 20-25 years. The kids are gone. They're not in prison. You've got all the drywall in their rooms patched and the car insurance surcharges are lapsing. Life is good and you sit back -- but only for a moment -- and say, "you know, I could've been better at being a father/mother, but I did OK."

Same thing with the RV. Consider the ABF (or FedEx or whatever) truck showing up to be the equivalent of the childbirth class.

And the feeling that you're in over your head is the RV version of pulling over to the side of the road to hurl.
 
Funny, I must be missing out on something. I haven't had any of birthing sickness :).
 
Bob Collins said:
I don't know if any of you have children or not but there's a certain timetable involved.

A key component of this timetable comes shortly after the first childbirth class when, usually on the way home, the mother -- who, just for the record is WAYYYYY stronger than any man you ever met -- begins to shriek about "not being able to do this." Pulling over to the side of the road to allow her to throw up is an occasional facet of this.

Now fast forward 20-25 years. The kids are gone. They're not in prison. You've got all the drywall in their rooms patched and the car insurance surcharges are lapsing. Life is good and you sit back -- but only for a moment -- and say, "you know, I could've been better at being a father/mother, but I did OK."

Same thing with the RV. Consider the ABF (or FedEx or whatever) truck showing up to be the equivalent of the childbirth class.

And the feeling that you're in over your head is the RV version of pulling over to the side of the road to hurl.
Click to expand...

I just ordered my RV7 prebuild plans. I guess that means I'm just lookin' at porn.
 
Joe, FWIW...

I felt the same way when my box arrived. Now, closing in on the wings and looking towards the fuse I can see the light at the end of the "wing tunnel" and there are none too many parts left to tinker with!

Have fun and enjoy the build!

:D CJ
 
Joe, I can relate. My next session in the shop I'll be starting on countersinks in those nice looking spars. Up to now I've just convinced myself that if I screwed it up it was cheap to replace. (I've had opportunity to prove that theory a couple of times.) Now on the wing spars I don't think that philosophy will cut it. But you know what, I can hardly wait!

Just keep plugging away, it'll get there, at least that is what they all keep telling me. ;)
 
Don't sweat it. Just take it one part at a time. Don't look at it as building wings...look at it as building wing parts and it'll be together before you know it. I'm laughing at the fact that even though I'm forever away from finishing, suddenly I'm almost out assembly instructions in the manual and I only have about 3 or 4 drawings left. :cool:
 
jferraro16 said:
Somebody tell me it's going to be okay! I'm unpacking this thing and thinking to myself "what have I gotten myself into?" :eek:

I think I had my Emp unpacked, inventoried and started in about 3 hours...wing kit, not so much

I'm ready to curl up in the corner of my garage in the fetal position...

Small bites, right? :eek:

Joe
Click to expand...

Wait until you get to the Fuse!!

Peter
 
Captain_John said:
Joe, FWIW...

I felt the same way when my box arrived. Now, closing in on the wings and looking towards the fuse I can see the light at the end of the "wing tunnel" and there are none too many parts left to tinker with!

Have fun and enjoy the build!

:D CJ
Click to expand...
Joe,

Ditto for me. I felt like curling up in the corner and crying while thinking, "What have I just wasted $5500 on? I'll never be able to finish this. There are so many parts. bla, bla, bla."

Then you start working on it and next thing you know you have one wing clecoed together.

When you get the fuselage all those doubts will be gone and all you will want to do is finish it so you can go flying.

Best of luck
 
Pretty funny

This one was pulled right from my brain:

"What have I just wasted $5500 on? I'll never be able to finish this


And the birthing analogy is perfect, as the buddy who helped us unload the crates has a wife who is due in about 8 days...I remeber him telling me they were in over their head about 3 months ago.


These responses are about what I was hoping for...thanks guys. The inventory is half done, and the doubts are subsiding. :cool:

Joe
 
You know that old Rod Machado axiom?

Q: What are the two most important things to do when flying an airplane?
A: The next two things you need to do.

So the only two things you need to think about right now are:

1. Inventory
2. Put the stuff away.

Sme thing with building. I think the best airplanes are built by folks who concentrate on the next two things that have to be done. The big picture is important, but sometimes it can get in the way.

By the way. the square wing box makes a great paint box. And the long wing spar box make terrific shelves in the garage.
 
Joe,

This series of pictures just crack me up.

The first was taken right after we opened the sarcophagus the fuselage arrived in and the second was taken after we were about 80% finished with inventorying it. Note the pile of packing material stacked up behind Nora.

First Picture

Second Picture

All those parts where then carried to the basement / aircraft factory.
 
N941WR said:
Joe,

This series of pictures just crack me up.

The first was taken right after we opened the sarcophagus the fuselage arrived in and the second was taken after we were about 80% finished with inventorying it. Note the pile of packing material stacked up behind Nora.

All those parts where then carried to the basement / aircraft factory.
Click to expand...


We kept all the brown paper and use it for kindling in the fireplace. Works great :)
 
Bob Collins said:
You know that old Rod Machado axiom?

Q: What are the two most important things to do when flying an airplane?
A: The next two things you need to do.

So the only two things you need to think about right now are:

1. Inventory
2. Put the stuff away.

Sme thing with building. I think the best airplanes are built by folks who concentrate on the next two things that have to be done. The big picture is important, but sometimes it can get in the way.

By the way. the square wing box makes a great paint box. And the long wing spar box make terrific shelves in the garage.
Click to expand...

That sounds like good advice....for a lot of things.

That made my day.
 
A friend of mine asked me, "What's your deadline for finishing the plane?" I answered, "I don't have one. I get plently of deadlines at work. Building this plane is my stress relief."
 
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jsherblon said:
A friend of mine asked me, "What's your deadline for finishing the plane?" I answered, "I don't have one. I get plently of deadlines at work. Buillding this plane is my stress relief."
Click to expand...

Great point. I have to keep reminding myself that there is no deadline on this project.
 
same boat

Joe:

We are in the same boat. My wings arrived a few days ago. I initially had a rush of elation thinking -- wow, it's real now. Then a moment of depression -- man there is a lot to do. Then back to elation -- I can't wait to get started! I have been travelling for a few days, but I am very excited about getting things inventoried and jumping in feet first to the build.

To tell you the truth the building part doesn't worry me, but the "rigging" does. I know nothing about avionics at this stage (other than how to use them). There is going to be a really steep learning curve there. Hey, that's part of the enjoyment of life!

Antony
 
That will come up during the course of building. The tendency of builders is to project themselves on others. So if they built really, really quick... they often can't see any value in the process of building beyond getting it done. And that's great...for them.

I see lots of "oohs" and "aahs" for the guys who build these things in two years and deservedly so.

But we often talk about whether you hve to be a "special"person to build one of these things and the subject of persistance comes up.

Often, it is intimated that someone who takes 7-8 years to build is somehow not as persistent, not as focused.

Show me someone who raised a family, kept a marriage together, kept priorities straight, and built a plane over 7-10 years, well, I'll show you someone VERY special.

This is YOUR money, YOUR project, YOUR timetable. The only "right" way to build one of these things from this perspective, is the one YOU choose.
 
Bob Collins said:
I see lots of "oohs" and "aahs" for the guys who build these things in two years and deservedly so.
Click to expand...

A lot of those fast builders end up doing it again and again. I believe they "return to building" because there's so much value in the journey itself.

People talk about learning curves. It is definitely steep for the average first-time builder. But you know what? It will never, ever be as sweet as it is/was that first time you built your first plane and had to learn all that stuff!!! At least that's what I believe. It's gotta be a lot easier the 2nd time around...but you don't have that "naivete" to overcome. And without that struggle, maybe the victory is not as sweet. I'll contend that there's no better feeling than standing on top of the mountain, looking down at the path you've taken, and realizing how much you took on and struggled to get there. Even if that mountain is just a completed empennage, you are still looking back on the accomplishment of a major conquest that the majority of people out there will never know.

Looking ahead to the uphill climb of building wings, or building a fuselage, or wiring avionics, or whatever...just know that you will look back on it at some point and chuckle at the notion that you were ever intimidated by that stuff. You will get there!

Give yourself credit for everything you have already done. You've made it this far, and you definitely can make it the rest of the way.
 
N941WR said:
Note the pile of packing material stacked up behind Nora.

First Picture

Second Picture
Click to expand...


Somehow, Van's manages to send you packages that actually contain more packaging material than they can hold. Especially the fuse, you open the crate, take out the contents, and there's no way you can get the packing material back in that box.

Magic :eek:

Rat
 
Big Bites

Here's something of a counterpoint to "little bites".

Since the wings are actually a relatively small number of very similar parts, ribs, for instance, and the second wing will progress nearly twice as fast as the first because you know the road, consider batch processing of terribly repetitive tasks, like deburring. This will avoid the dreaded deburring burn-out. "Man Jailed After Beating Inquisitive Pedestrian With Wing Rib."

'frinstance, gather all the ribs for one wing. This makes you learn the distinguishing characteristics which can be subtle. Then dedicate two hours to standing in front of the 6" wheel and deburr the lot of them. It's done. Take 1 hour to deburr the lightning holes with a two inch wheel in a die grinder. It's done. Then flute the lot. All the production steps take little time in the aggregate, but it feels like forever if you dabble forward then retreat to the same process again.

When you drill/c'sink for the spar dimples/platenuts, do the whole spar at once (two hours, tired muscles). Here, studying plans so you understand the differences along the spar are where you must spend the most time, and where you will likely feel overwhelmed at first. Time leaning over the pages and time to fabricate/assemble are fairly even.

There's sure to be disagreement on this, but here goes. Final drill the holes in sheet metal, spars, and ribs prior to assembly. You aren't going to relocate a CNC hole one iota. Particularly when a flat sheet lies atop a flat sheet, like wing walk doublers under the skin, you are perfectly safe pre-drilling.

The second wing will go so fast, you'll wonder why the first took as long as it did!

You will finish it. No deadlines. Just right.

Some of my crates became a chicken house. One board with "UP" and an arrow is alongside the perch so the birds remain oriented. :p

John Siebold
 
Wings

Joe , I am in Dallas also (Mesquite). With all this forum talk I'm back on my project (RV6A), trying to finish one wing and start the next one. Determined to finish in 2.5 years. If you need some help, maybe we can help each other.
I think I will also join Mel's EAA chapter for support also. Keep pounding those rivets, we will get there one day soon. :)
 
Come one, come all. Chapter 168 meets next Tuesday, 6:30, Farmers Branch library, Golfing Green Dr at Webb Chapel. 1 1/2 mile north of I-635.
Mel...DAR
 
Bob Collins said:
I don't know if any of you have children or not but there's a certain timetable involved.

A key component of this timetable comes shortly after the first childbirth class when, usually on the way home, the mother -- who, just for the record is WAYYYYY stronger than any man you ever met -- begins to shriek about "not being able to do this." Pulling over to the side of the road to allow her to throw up is an occasional facet of this.

Now fast forward 20-25 years. The kids are gone. They're not in prison. You've got all the drywall in their rooms patched and the car insurance surcharges are lapsing. Life is good and you sit back -- but only for a moment -- and say, "you know, I could've been better at being a father/mother, but I did OK."

Same thing with the RV. Consider the ABF (or FedEx or whatever) truck showing up to be the equivalent of the childbirth class.

And the feeling that you're in over your head is the RV version of pulling over to the side of the road to hurl.
Click to expand...

OHMIGOD this is hilarious! And so true! Just make sure you never EVER equate the effort required in building an RV with the experience your wife goes through during child birth. The look you get from her will cause the oceans to freeze, the rivers to stop flowing and you'll be wearing your C-frame dimpler as a hat until it can be surgically extracted.

The RV8 wing kit, as I recall from the "golden era" of the late '90's, was mostly all stuffing and no substance. A stack of ribs, a few skins, some brackets, and those really sweet looking anodized spars that are almost too pretty to bury inside finished wings. Press on. Nibble away at it. Flute the ribs over a TV tray table while watching Desperate Housewives and you'll be done before you know it. :D

Brian Denk
RV8 N94BD
 
Well, the crates are sawed up for disposal, the stuffing made it into 2 large lawn bags, and the inventory is about 65% complete...feeling much better about the whole thing--thanks for talking me off the ledge :D .

Brian, you're right, seems like twice the stuffing and half the substance!

But I've got to say, Deperate housewives gets TIVO'd during Soprano's season, with a last name like Ferraro, would you expect anything less?

Joe
 
just keep going

Way to go Joe. My challenge with the wings was finding places to store everything. I had to add several shelves to my already busy workshop. Perhaps I should just get rid of my RC Jets -- not.

The process of building reminds me of something a cyclist friend of mine taught me a long time ago. He said, "Don't look at the top of the hill. Just keep your head down and keep cranking." That's pretty much how I feel, though I have to confess I am still in the honeymoon phase of the build. It's still enjoyable. When the pain sets in later in the build I will hopefully heed his advice.

Antony
 
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