Ironflight

Ironflight

VAF Moderator / Line Boy
Mentor
1) In addition to your carefully sorted tubs of different size Clecoes, you also have a tub of "Rusty" clecoes (that got left out in the rain) because, well, you might just clean them up some day!

2) Your wire supply drawer includes scraps of aircraft grade wire less than 12 inches in length....

3) You keep broken/dull drill bits because only the tips are bad!
 
4) you keep aluminum sawdust and chips in separate plastic bag in case you may use it as a fuel for your alternative energy source.
5) one leftover rivet gets measured and goes back to a carefully sorted three pound bag of them
6) you are thinking when buying bacon at a wholesaler if price is right and next day write a check for the new engine....
 
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7) When trimming aluminum sheet, any part that measures more than 1/4" square goes into "scrap sheet" box to be saved for "just in case".
 
8) You save all the left over/damaged parts, regardless of size and/or shape, because, someday, they might just be useful.
9) You save the left over hoses that you didn't use because they might just fit on your next build.
 
More Frugal builders

10) You have several worn out scotch brite wheels and a whole drawer of worn out sanding pads and used sandpaper scraps.
11) You have a pile of old shop towels that are to dirty to wash (in your wifes washing machine) but would be great to clean up a mess if you ever tip over the bucket when changing oil.
 
12 You cut Ty-raps off on the right end so you can reuse them.
13 spend more than a hour a month at Central Sales (Duluth MN)
 
14) you fly 100 miles at night in scary weather 'cus the A&P will do your Pitot-static cert for $50 cheaper than on your own field.

15) You find ways to pressure test your P-S systems (and spend a couple of hours doing so) before you go so you don't have to go back.

16) You pray your Wife's horse will drop dead so you can fly your RV more..:)
 
17) You still have the scrap aluminum stacked up against the garage wall seven years after you used it last....just in case. And...you've used it on many home projects....
 
18) You have a big zip-lock bag full of little zip-lock bags that little parts came in...just in case you might want to re-use them.....
 
Boxes

19) you save every box that everything came in-they might come in handy some day.
20) you save every large mouth glass jar that your wife tries to throw away because you might need it for mixing paint.
Mike H 9A/8A?
 
Vladyspassky said:
4) you keep aluminum sawdust and chips in separate plastic bag in case you may use it as a fuel for your alternative energy source.
Click to expand...
Are you building powdered aluminum solid-fuel jato rockets? :eek:

23) You save all your prescription bottles to use as small parts holders.

By the way, I too have a drawer full of zip lock bags of various sizes...:eek:
 
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23. The completed and flying RV fleet has almost doubled since your first flight and you STILL HAVEN'T PAINTED YOUR AIRPLANE!!!
 
I am 16 of 24

24) Have a 20 lb bucket of used hardware that is not good enough to use on the plane put may be useful for something. (Not all 20 lbs came from building the RV. Most has come from restoring a PA-11, Cessna 140, and Culver Dart between my hanger mate and myself.) Just can't stand to throw away a 75 year old rod end, old replaced prop bolts, or a nyloc nut that has been used a couple to many times during assembly.

I must be a lost cause. I am guilty of 1, 2, 3, 5, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, and 24.
 
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25) You still have the fuel and brake lines that were not up to your standards, even if you know the aluminium (or is it aluminum ;) ) has been work hardened and is thus unusable.
26) When missing some part you know you have worked on, you are happy to find it in the box with the trashed parts :eek: (so no need to reorder)
 
If, instead of buying a new kitchen trash can, you fix the old one with safety wire...

mcb (guilty!)
 
Cardboard

#29:

You save the cardboard from the empennage kit, and to go a step further, you cut out the part that says "Caution: High Dollar Aircraft Parts" and hang it on the wall just because it sounds cool ! :D
 
Wind chill today -23

31. You buy electric socks because they are cheaper than turning up the heater in shop.
 
32. You spend several hours trying to make your own set of washer wrenches from scrap aluminum (and it doesn't really work very well...)
 
#33

#33

You paint your plane thinking it will save you $$$$$$$$$ and will only take a few weeks!!!!!!!!!!!

Frank @ 1L8 ...RV7A... painiting under way for the past 3.5 months:eek:
 
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batting almost a thousand so far...

If you use a probe or pick to open the tab on nylon wire ties instead of cutting them at all.
(today. twice.)

Charlie
 
34. You heave a huge sigh of relief reading this thread because til now you were CERTAIN you were the only wacko doing 80% of items 1 thru 33. :D
 
35. You saved the cardboard box that the Empennage came in because it served as a great backdrop for spray priming/painting small parts. You still had it when the airplane first flew!

Paul
 
#36. You refuse to sell your RV tool kit even tho stats show less than 5% of us are repeat offenders.

Still unpainted,
Steve
 
#37. You have a couple of handy rollaround carts in the hangar made from the crate that your engine came in. Good advertisement for AeroSport Power. :D
 
38. Paper towels used to dry your hands inside the house go into your pocket, so you can put them in a can in the shop to be reused later (yes, it's true).

39. Aluminum filings get brushed into a container so you can use them when you paint your house number on your driveway, because you are too cheap to pay someone $5 to paint the numbers for you.

Oh, almost forgot.

40. You shop at Harbor Freight.
 
Yes, I am guilty...

Yes, 2 plus years flying and I still have the emp. box. I was looking at it yesterday and think about if I should keep it any longer. I again decide that I should because where can you get such a large flat box. I might need to store some large flat object someday.

41. When sand paper gets worn out, you just downgrade it grit rating. IE 150 becomes 220.

42. You save instruments that had to be replaced because they didn't work anymore. I think that I may someday understand how to fix them before the rust takes over completely. Also the rust may magically fix them.

Kent
 
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I resemble 80% of these remarks

#43 You are to cheap to buy a pneumatic rivet squeezer, so you always borrow one from a buddy!

#44 You buy your Alodine/Iridite/DuradoKote in powder form.

Charlie Kuss
 
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Mel said:
These are also found periodically by the chief financial officer in the washing machine.
Click to expand...


This actually gets me in (slightly) less trouble than the next one...

45) There is a trail of aluminum shavings in the carpet leading from the workshop door into the house, and they will defy any vacuum cleaner device known to man.
 
Blue plastic

#46 You carefully remove and save strips of blue plastic because it sticks well to the wife's car to seal the top of the driver's window you are too cheap to buy a new regulator for.
 
You carefully peel back the blue masking tape you used to backrivet that last row of rivets hoping that you can use it again on the next row.
 
#47 You use the 1" X 8" wood from the shipping crates to make shelves to store finished parts.....after you remove 10,000 staples!
 
Ironflight said:
35. You saved the cardboard box that the Empennage came in because it served as a great backdrop for spray priming/painting small parts. You still had it when the airplane first flew!

Paul
Click to expand...

Paul, I can one-up you on this. I built a spray paint "booth" using the emp. box. It contained a box fan, some filters, etc., and was placed on a bench against a window I could open. The cardboard was starting to disintegrate by the time the 7+ years of building was complete! It was a real piece of work - wish I had a picture of it. Sad day when it was finally chucked out.
 
All together now...

You might be a Frugal RV Builder if. . . .

1. In addition to your carefully sorted tubs of different size Clecos, you also have a tub of ?Rusty? Clecos (that got left out in the rain) because, well, you might just clean them up some day!


2. Your wire supply drawer includes scraps of aircraft grade wire less than 12 inches in length. . . .


3. You keep broken/dull drill bits because only the tips are bad!

4. You keep aluminum sawdust and chips in a separate plastic bag in case you may use it as a fuel for your alternative energy source.

5. One leftover rivet gets measured and goes back to a carefully sorted three pound bag of them.

6. You are thinking when buying bacon at a wholesaler if the price is right and the next day write a check for the new engine.

7. When trimming aluminum sheet, any part that measures more than ?? square goes into a ?scrap sheet? box to be saved for ?just in case?.

8. You save all the left over/damaged parts, regardless of size and/or shape because someday they might just be useful.

9. You save the left over hoses that you didn?t use because they might just fit on your next build.

10. You have several worn out ScotchBrite wheels and a whole drawer of worn out sanding pads and used sandpaper scraps.

11. You have a pile of old shop towels that are too dirty to wash (in your wife?s washing machine) but would be great to clean up a mess if you ever tip over the bucket when changing oil.

12. You cut Ty-wraps off on the right end so you can reuse them.

13. Spend more than a hour a month at Central Sales (Duluth MN).

14. You fly 100 miles at night in scary weather ?cause the A&P will do your Pitot-static cert for $50 cheaper than on your own field.


15. You find ways to pressure test your P-S systems (and spend a couple of hours doing so) before you go so you don?t have to go back.


16. You pray your Wife?s horse will drop dead so you can fly your RV more.

17. You still have the scrap aluminum stacked up against the garage wall seven years after you used it last?just in case. And?you?ve used it on many home projects.

18. You have a big zip-lock bag full of little zip-lock bags that little parts came in?just in case you might want to re-use them.

19. You save every box that everything came in -- they might come in handy some day.


20. You save every large mouth glass jar that your wife tries to throw away because you might need it for mixing paint.

21. You use the pop rivet static port.


22. You use the icemaker fuel valve.

23. You save all your prescription bottles to use as small part holders.

24. The completed and flying RV fleet has almost doubled since your first flight and you STILL HAVEN?T PAINTED YOUR AIRPLANE!!!

25. Have a 20 lb bucket of used hardware that is not good enough to use on the plane but may be useful for something. (Not all 20 lbs came from building the RV. Most has come from restoring a PA-11, Cessna 140, and Culver Dart between my hanger mate and myself.) Just can?t stand to throw away a 75 year old rod end, old replaced prop bolts or a Nyloc nut that has been used a couple too many times during assembly.

26. You still have the fuel and brake lines that were not up to your standards even if you know the aluminum has been work hardened and is thus unusable.


27. When missing some part you know you have worked on, you are happy to find it in the box with the trashed parts (so no need to reorder).

28. You use your hand rivet squeezer to repair your old luggage (the tool cost more than the luggage).

29. You save the cardboard from the empennage kit and, to go a step further, you cut out the part that says ?Caution: High Dollar Aircraft Parts? and hang it on the wall just because it sounds cool!

30. You use Proseal to fix broken Buddha statue in the house.

31. You buy electric socks because they are cheaper than turning up the heater in shop.

32. You spend several hours trying to make your own set of washer wrenches from scrap aluminum (and it doesn?t really work very well.)

33. You paint your plane thinking it will save you $$$$$$$$$ and will only take a few weeks!!!!!!!!!!!

34. If you use a probe or pick to open the tab on nylon wire ties instead of cutting them at all.

35. You heave a huge sigh of relief reading this thread because 'til now you were CERTAIN you were the only wacko doing 80% of items 1 thru 34.

36. You saved the cardboard box that the empennage came in because it served as a great backdrop for spray priming/painting small parts. You still had it when the airplane first flew!

37. You refuse to sell your RV tool kit even though stats show less than 5% of us are repeat offenders.

38. You have a couple of handy roll around carts in the hangar made from the crate that your engine came in. Good advertisement for AeroSport Power.

39. You save miles of packaging paper to mask parts before priming. .
40. Paper towels which were used to dry your hands inside the house go into your pocket so you can put them in a can in the shop to be reused later (yes, it?s true).


41. Aluminum filings get brushed into a container so you can use them when you paint your house number on your driveway, because you are too cheap to pay someone $5 to paint the numbers for you.


42. You shop at Harbor Freight.

43. When sand paper gets worn out you just downgrade its grit rating, i.e., 150 becomes 220.


44. You save instruments that had to be replaced because they didn?t work anymore. I think that I may someday understand how to fix them before the rust takes over completely. Also the rust may magically fix them.

45. You are too cheap to buy a pneumatic rivet squeezer, so you always borrow one from a buddy!


46. You buy your Alodine/Iridite/DuradoKote in powder form.

47. There is a trail of aluminum shavings in the carpet leading from the workshop door into the house and they will defy any vacuum cleaner device known to man.

48. You carefully remove and save strips of blue plastic because it sticks well to the wife?s car to seal the top of the driver?s window you are too cheap to buy a new regulator for.

49. You carefully peel back the blue masking tape you used to back rivet that last row of rivets hoping that you
can use it again on the next row.

50. You use the 1x8 lumber from the shipping crates to make shelves to store finished parts -- AFTER you remove 10,000 staples!

51. Built a big chicken coop out of my finish kit box.
 
Frugal

Used the Quickbuild box to build Workbench, Compressor soundproof box, and rolling power too stand, and still have leftovers.

Used the clecos from the last guy that built his RV, then passed them on to the next guy (some of them clecos are not so good anymore though, got to wiggle them to much)

And Guilty of most all of the above:)
 
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