Fuselage before wings???

[RudiGreyling]

RVators,

In the next 2 weeks I am getting my quick build fuse, wings and engine all together. I don?t have enough space in the garage to store all at once. Hence my question?

Is it possible to build and complete the fuselage, Engine & Fin kit then ship it off to the painter and then start with the wings without 'building yourself into a corner?'

This way I can store the quick build wings somewhere else until the fuse, fin kit and engine is out the way and at the painter. When the fuse returns it can go straight to the hangar. Which means I can complete the wings in that time frame in the garage.

I know the plans suggest you build the wings before the fuse, but are there any gotchas doing it the other way around?

PS: I believe the quick build wings goes pretty quick, and I have not made my mind up yet on autopilot or lights, hence I want to wait to complete this realtively quick portion, but floor space taking task, till last.

Thanks
Rudi

 

[Mel]

Personally, I don't think I would complete the fuselage through the painting stage until I had at least test fitted the wings.
Besides the possibility of a fit problem, you will undoubtedly experience frustrations trying to fit without scratching something.
And, if you have the quick-build wings, they don't take up any less space than after they are completed.

 

[Phil]

I am building the QB fuse before the QB wings and haven't ran into any issues with the build (yet).

My logic is that most of the work occurs between the spinner and tail tie down. I could get the plane close to flying before ordering the QB wings at the last minute and moving to a hangar. QB wings shouldn't take a month or two to complete, so the hangar cost shouldn't be that much of a factor.

I have no plans to send it off to paint until everything has been fitted, flown, and all repairs made. Then I plan on sending it to paint while catching up on my honey do list that I've been neglecting for the past several years.

 

[DanH]

Is it possible to build and complete the fuselage, Engine & Fin kit then ship it off to the painter and then start with the wings without 'building yourself into a corner?'

I certainly hope so....I just painted my fuselage and intend to park it, complete, in the hangar before the wings come home.

 

[JDanno]

I don't see why you can't paint the fuselage and wings before they are mated. The wings bolt on in a very specific fashion. Not like you have to do a lot of cutting and fitting like the fiberglass portion. (I hate fiberglass!). Due to time and space considerations that is what I'm doing right now. NOT ideal but doable and possible. The only thing left to do is fit the fairings. A little carefulness should take care of any problems.

 

[Space Cadet]

As long as you are more careful installing the top and bottom covers for the wing-fuse joint (wing-walk area) than I was - lots of scratches on the fuse from trying to get those suckers mounted and trimmed right (pre-paint for me).

Dwight

 

[rleffler]

Possible sure.......

Everyone has already pointed out the obvious.

If it's a good idea, only you can make that decision. I don't think there is a correct answer, only what works best for you (and how good are you with paint touch up). You've built an RV already, so you are aware of all the generic issues. I don't believe there is anything unique with the RV-10.

The only issues I can think of would only impact you if you were building a standard kit.

 

[RudiGreyling]

Hi Guys,

Thanks for your input! So other than the wing root fairings there are no gotchas! Good to see I am not alone in my out of sequence persuit to maximise garage space...

Kind Regards
Rudi