aviator79's build
My kit arrived while I was out of town on the 29th. I got home on the 30th and almost immediately got to work inventorying, and spent the last couple days starting the build. I find the various build logs here on the site to be really helpful, so I thought I'd do the same.
Build Space:
I'm building in a one car garage with a floor footprint of 11'x20'. It also has quite a bit of attached storage, and a small attached 6'x14' workshop area. While I may not have a lot of information to add to the many very good logs on the forum (Thanks Esser, EFWD, Cherrybark, et al.) regarding the actual building of the plane, I may learn some things that someone else contemplating a build in a small space might find useful.
I did a lot of space planning prior to receiving the kit. With one wing on a rotisserie, and the fuselage on the "production floor", I find I have plenty of working space. To accommodate this project, I built a back yard shed where all the stuff that used to be in the garage went. I also bought a 6x6 "pop up" shed for the family's bikes. I also have a large play/game room that I can use for additional storage. One of the wings, the flaperons, and some other long items are currently hanging from the ceiling in that room. I also live literally right next to the airport where I own a hangar. I'm currently renting that hangar to the flying club I'm in, so I'm not currently using it for this project in any capacity. Eventually I'll have to kick the club out and the airplane will go there for final assembly. Until then, it's nice to have a backup if the project grows out of my garage.
I will say that if you're contemplating doing this in a one-car garage, you must have additional storage somewhere. It's best if it's on-site so that you don't have to work the logistics of moving parts around into your build schedule, but you can't store all the parts, both wings, the fuselage, your tools, etc and have room to work in an 11 x 20 space.
The wing rotisserie on wheels is absolutely essential in this small of a space. It allows me to store the wing upright and out of the way when I'm not working on it, and I have moved and turned it a whole lot in the couple days I've been working on the project. To that end, everything in my shop is on wheels, which is also essential. It's nice to just push things out of the way.
Build order:
I'm not following the order the manual strictly. My plan is to build and cover each wing independently, then start on the fuselage. There are a few reasons for this:
-The fuselage is the one part that I really can't store anywhere else. I don't want to finish it, and then have it sitting in the garage subject to handling and incidental damage while I work on the other parts. I can build the wings, and then move them out of the garage to a location where they won't be damaged while I work on the fuselage.
-John McBean recommended that if possible, he would have preferred to spread the covering out over the build. He said he personally just got really sick of covering when doing it all at once. The manual actually makes this same recommendation. It also recommends covering the wings first. So it kind of makes sense to build them first if you want to spread the covering process out over the build.
Support:
While at the factory, I discussed the challenges of building in a space too small to even attach a single wing, where a lot of the year it's too cold to cure Hysol overnight outdoors. John was very helpful in offering some tips and options that are already making my life so much easier. So if you have special considerations about your build, I encourage you to talk to the factory about them, they are extremely helpful. From these initial conversations, to Brandon delivering my kit as part of his holiday after an understandable shipping delay, the factory has been a real a pleasure to work with.
The production floor:
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