receiving kit

[Flybyjim]

For those of you who have received the SS7 what advise do you have when the kit arrives and things to do before starting the build?

[rocketman2tm]

As with any project that will take up large amounts of space in your workshop, make sure you have your workshop exactly as you want it before hand. It is hard to do something like paint the floor white when you have airplane everywhere.

I'm assuming you're going with Partain. This only applies if you are building at home. If you live in a place where people might be parking in front of your house, beat them to the punch and put your car there first. That way you can move it right before the big truck shows up.

There are a couple of large items that don't have any padding: fuselage, wings, and flapperons. If you look at my builder's log, the fuselage was sitting on an old rug, I cut out blocks out of 2X4 for the wings, and used some dog beds that our dog decided that she no longer cared for with the flapperons.

If you are going with Partain, those guys are pretty good about making sure you're not missing anything. I had my wife checking shipped items off the list.

Prepare yourself... your workshop is about to get smaller (but way more awesome).

[ken nougaret]

If you got the quick build option, have supports/rotators made for the wings. See tom wade's site (tropical tuba) for pics.
I wish i had insulated and airconditioned my detached garage long ago. I certainly don't want to take the time now.
Good luck, ken

I was going to paint the floor but instead i bought outdoor carpet for the garage. I think it worked out good. I could set the powder coated parts down and not scratch them, and dropped hardware doesn't go far. I just vacuum now instead of sweeping.

[jiott]

Do a thourough inventory of all parts in every box, check each one off the supplied list, after they arrive. Kitfox is good, but it seems there are always a couple of items missing, and it is not very fair to them to claim missing parts six months later.

[t j]

After fighting with the thick builders manual for the first couple 100 hours I split it up into two thinner three ring binders. Much easier to flip around in.

[Jch]

I bought two small furniture dollies (inexpensive) from Harbor Freight. I set the fuselage on them and easily moved the fuse from the truck to the garage. Then, I moved the fuselage around the garage to work on it until I put the landing gear on. Then I put the dollies under the wheels and continued to move the SS7 around the garage very easily. I used them right up to the time I moved the SS7 to the airport. My $.02 worth.

[Flybyjim]

Thanks for all the replies, I will consider all this info. I plan to hang the wings till I get to them, what is the cord width with out flaperons? I look on line at Kitfox but that dimension is not listed.

[Esser]

Get a parts bin for your parts. Comes in handy. Also, realizing right away that the parts are organized by section of the plane not by part numbers will save you some initial grief. Everything is grouped together for task so try to keep everything together. I found that garage storage hooks with rubberized coating worked great for hanging door frames, struts, jury struts, flapperons, rudder, and elevator out of the way. They are pretty cheap. I would also look for some folding saw horses on sale. You can make some two. I have 6 and am typically using them all at the same time.

[t j]

Wing cord without flaperon is 42".

[rosslr]

Esser is right about the parts all being 'grouped' and that is handy. To help even further, I found it useful when doing the inventory check to write next to each part where it is stored - and I used the boxes they came in. That way when you are looking for a part you can look it up in the inventory book and it will remind exactly where it is. The same for the AN hardware - i bought about 6 of those cheap plastic nut and bolt drawers and labelled them. And the larger items ( like the powder coated items) I noted on which shelf they were located. sounds silly but a lot of time can be spent just looking for parts!

I too built a set of wind rotisseries. I am nearly finished covering the wings and would have to say I wonder the value they have added. I think I would be just as happy use the two padded stands and to turn the wing over with the help of someone - However, I have found I can do it by myself very safely.

Anyway, enjoy the build!

And good to hear from you again Esser! Hope you are thawing out a bit by now!

ross
Mt Beauty, Vic
OZ

[Esser]

Yeah Ross! I have been a busy guy these last 6 months. No rest for the wicked. We are now at 30C!