This has been a long time coming.... I surrender. I simply do not have the know how to build an airplane from plans. Today I built a jig that I thought would align my spars correctly so I could cut the angles in them. I spent several hours setting it up and running scraps through it until I thought it worked. It didn't. Now the spar narrows by 1/4" . That was the final straw.
The time, cost, and cost of shipping wood is too expensive to justify given my lack of skills. Also, I've not had much luck with the 2 popular wood vendors. My last order of capstrips which I waited just over a month for vary by as much as 20% in size ( that's under size). One of them has a knot in it. I thought that was not suppose to happen. I did write the other popular vendor with a list of questions and they only partially responded but, it appears that I should expect to see +- 20% with them too.
I think the best advice I would give to someone who is thinking about building is to locate local resources BEFORE you start. I have been unable to find any local builders who are not building an aluminum kit. I joined the local EAA thinking that this is where I would find a mentor but it didn't work out. I also tried to contact the EAA chaptern about 38nm west of here and did not hear back from them.
In one of the current aviation magazines ( SportAviation?) there was an article about a plane that had an engine failure because a novice mechanic used a sealer that they should not have. Two people injured - one seriously. I started worrying more about honest mistakes that might come back and bite me later. This is probably the main reason for my surrender. I worry about what I don't know......
I have a great deal of admiration for the people on this site who do have the acumen to get their projects done. Maybe jelousy would be a better description. In any case, I have no problem admitting defeat. I gave it a good shot and it didn't work out like I thought.
Cheers,
David
The time, cost, and cost of shipping wood is too expensive to justify given my lack of skills. Also, I've not had much luck with the 2 popular wood vendors. My last order of capstrips which I waited just over a month for vary by as much as 20% in size ( that's under size). One of them has a knot in it. I thought that was not suppose to happen. I did write the other popular vendor with a list of questions and they only partially responded but, it appears that I should expect to see +- 20% with them too.
I think the best advice I would give to someone who is thinking about building is to locate local resources BEFORE you start. I have been unable to find any local builders who are not building an aluminum kit. I joined the local EAA thinking that this is where I would find a mentor but it didn't work out. I also tried to contact the EAA chaptern about 38nm west of here and did not hear back from them.
In one of the current aviation magazines ( SportAviation?) there was an article about a plane that had an engine failure because a novice mechanic used a sealer that they should not have. Two people injured - one seriously. I started worrying more about honest mistakes that might come back and bite me later. This is probably the main reason for my surrender. I worry about what I don't know......
I have a great deal of admiration for the people on this site who do have the acumen to get their projects done. Maybe jelousy would be a better description. In any case, I have no problem admitting defeat. I gave it a good shot and it didn't work out like I thought.
Cheers,
David
