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Forward Planning

S

shiney

Well Known Member
I have decided to install my engine ahead of the avionics, there are pros and cons for which one to do first and each has its stong arguments but my personal decission is to go with the engine.

My question to builders is; on average, how long after my QB arrives will it be before I need to order the engine.? (lead time for the engine is about 3-4 weeks) I want continuity on my project but I don't want the engine sitting in the corner of the garage burning a hole in my pocket any longer than I need it to.


Many thanks


MartinO
 
You wont have an engine mount to hang it on until you have purchased the finishing kit.
 
It was about 1 year before I was ready to install my engine after my QB with finish kit arrived. I finished up my panel before I hung the engine. Its alot easier to wire the panel up with the engine not in the way. There really isnt that much wiring between the panel and engine so I would say hang the engine last. Also since the instructions really dont guide you well with the QB, good rule of thumb is start at the rear and work yourself forward.

-Jeff
 
forward planning

Thanks Jeff, I've been through the pros and cons of the engine first and engine last question and had various opinions from the forum (I posted under "what comes first"). My decission is to go engine first, primarily because I want to wait as long I can for the panel stuff in the hope of further tech advances etc.

So, given my decission (right or wrong) how long after the QB (and finishing kit) arrives before I need to have the engine?

thanks


MartinO
 
A few months... even with QB you'll still need to do canopy and some other things... You can do most of your wiring even w/o avionics in hand.

One thing -- if you really stick to your plan, make sure you take good care of the engine as prescribed for long term storage.. a rusted engine will have a lot more cons than some maybe outdated avionics.
 
forward planning

Thanks Radomir, that's a very good point and one which I have considered. I have spoken with the manufacturers about this and I feel OK about inhibitting the engine for the period I am thinking about.

cheers
MartinO
 
Logic

Not really sure of your logic on this. The engine is expensive and why have it sitting around burning up the warranty for up to a year. You will need to pull the trigger and make your decisions at some point on the avionics. The avionics take longer to install than the FWF stuff. With the engine up there your flexibility of movement is reduced causing more time to do the avionics.

If you go with the avionics first (like virtually everyone before you has done) you can get the canopy stuff done and all wiring behind the firewall as Radomir pointed out. I mounted all of my trays and "cheaper" pieces of my panel to get everything done. A month before first flight I ordered the expensive stuff. I didn't want this stuff burning warranty on the bench.

Mounting the engine and doing the wiring for it is not time consuming. The baffling and cowl stuff is more time consuming but still not as time consuming as the avionics and panel wiring.

From my experience and those I learned from, mounting the engine before doing the avionics is going to slow you down. Better to do the avionics when you have easy access to the front end.

Good luck!!!
 
Or you could be completely irrational like me, and just order stuff because it feels good. I ordered an engine from Superior at Oshkosh last summer because they were offering a good show discount. The sales guy insists that the pickling is good for a long time (whatever that is). Good thing, since it'll probably be two years before it gets fired up. It shows up early next month. Oh well. In the end, I'll have a cool airplane no matter what. I labor in isolation (no fellow RV builders in the immediate vicinity) so I make lots of decisions in a vacuum.
 
In my opinion, the time period depends on how fast you work. Identify all of the things you can do prior to installing the engine and figure out at what point you need to order, depending on your engine supplier's lead time.
For example, the only things you can't do, with out the engine, include:
fitting cowling, prop, spinner and paint. (And actually hooking up all of the stuff to the engine, of course.)
You should be able to do everything else, including completing the canopy, motor mount, landing gear, fitting the wings, all of the interior and systems, fairings, etc., etc.
You may have some problems deciding where to make firewall penetrations, but you could even do that based on how others with the same set up have done theirs.
 
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