Preparing for the Quickbuilds

Quickbuild finalization

This pseudo vacation from the build has given me an opportunity to really spend some time reading, researching and really understanding a bit more about what is required to complete the project.  It's much like building a custom house in that you pick absolutely everything outside of the main structure.  Things like interior, avionics, engine and every little detail is yours to figure out.  Even if you go 100% per the plans using all of Vans suggestions there's a number of decisions that are entirely up to you.

Luckily I'm not the first person to do this and there are a lot of great parts available from a 3rd party vendor.  Some of these choices though forego a given Vans option and in turn you can remove a piece from your kit.  For example I'm going to use some higher quality fuel and brake lines from Tom at TS Flightlines, so there were some bits and pieces I could remove from the Vans pick sheet. If you use something like Aveo Ziptips for your lighting then you can remove the stock Fiberglass tips from the kit.  In the end you get some credit on the parts and that helps absorb some of the inherent extra costs going with a non standard choice.

My Quickbuild Fuselage and Wings are in a shipping crate right now somewhere on their way to Vans factory for inspection, final packing and in turn ultimately shipped to me.  I placed the ordered these kits the first part of November so assuming I receive it sometime early April it fits within the advised 5-6 months lead time Vans puts on their website.

VS/HS Removal

It is my intent to build as much as I possibly can in the garage before moving to the airport.  With that in mind I have to figure out a way to continue building for the next few years without having to take the 3rd car slot or have plane parts hanging out into my driveway.  Simplest solution was to remove the vertical and horizontal stabilizer and do some reorganization. This gives enough room to place the plane at an angle (with the wings off) and enough room to have an entire fuselage with an engine and prop mounted, I'll even be able to push it to the driveway for a wing test fit.

It didn't take much time to accomplish these tasks. The most challenging of which was the part where you have to play Tetris with the pieces to get them to my  garage storage shelves... defiantly a two person job, could of benefited with three.

Safe and Sound

So much room for activities! 

Plans Organization

I really like things organized in a functional manner especially project materials. The paper work for this project was scattered around the garage, clipped to the plans folder, on my computer and in drawers in my office.  I decided to order a large three-ring binder and some dividers and what not to organize my plans better.  Not only will it keep everything in a centralized manner, but give me the capability to remove a sheet, work off that and place it back in the folder when I'm done.