As I wrote about a month ago, the stars and planets all aligned so that I
could spend about 6 weeks half-time at AirCrafters Builder Support Center in
Watsonville, CA with my Lancair. In a very real sense, I am trying to
recreate the "close your wings in a week" program that is available to Legacy
and 4-P builders, but not to those of us with earlier kits. (Mine's a 360
Fast Build)
My goals are to:
1) Skin the stub wings
2) Install all outer wing fuel system components (filler cap, drains,
outlets, vents, gauges)
3) Close the wings
4) Close the tail
5) Mount the horizontal tail to the fuselage
6) Mount the vertical tail to the fuselage
7) Go home
So far, I am very pleased at the results. In the last three weeks I have
spent almost ten days at AirCrafters and put in 80-90 hours on the project.
They have put in about 20 hours -- some working with me and some working
alone. The stub wings are skinned and part of the fuel system components are
installed in the outer wings. The workmanship has been outstanding.
Progress is fast and productive. Probably the most valuable resource is
having experts available at a minute's notice to help puzzle out how to do
the next task. Five minutes of consultation can save me an hour of
head-scratching. Plus, if there's something I don't like to do or am not
particularly skilled at (like driving rivets through pushrod ends), someone
there is good at it and can do the job for me. They have a wealth of talent
and are eager to help out, but will only do what I ask them to. It's way too
tempting to pass off a lot of work to them, but my overall budget constrains
me to about 60 hours of assistance (or maybe a little more) over this 6 week
effort so I have to pace their involvement carefully.
Setting common expectations up front, having all the parts on hand when you
need them, and generally being organized help a great deal. I try my best to
give advanced notice of when I'll need help whenever possible, and at the end
of a week I give them my plan for the next week. It's a very fluid process
but the communication effort pays off big time.
It's a total-immersion thing. As a bonus, the annual Watsonville Airshow was
this weekend. It was very much like building my airplane at the Hangar Cafe
on the Oshkosh flight line. I told myself yesterday that there was nothing
else I'd rather be doing than being there, building my airplane and watching
(and listening to) all the neat airplanes arriving for the show.
It's been a great vacation so far, and I'm not quite half done with it. It's
gonna be a hell of a summer! If any of you get a chance to do this, take it.
You won't regret it.
I've just finished a successful but not inexpensive trip to AirCrafters Builders
Support Center. I brought my airplane there in early May and finished in
mid-July. I will be bringing it back home just after Oshkosh. Over that
three month period I worked there for 24 days, mostly in 3-4 day
stretches, and spent between 180-200 hours on my project. I also paid
for about 70 hours of labor at $50 per hour, plus had them coordinate a
few contract jobs (making hydraulic hoses and anodizing some aluminum parts).
The work accomplished on my Lancair 360 included finishing the wheel wells
(which were largely done when I got there), skinning the stub wings, and
closing the main wings. I should point out that the wings on this
fast-build kit were untouched when I started, so I installed all of the
fuel tank components, painted on the sealant, and glued on the skins.
I was going to close and attach the horizontal and vertical tails, too,
but that would have taken too long and cost too much.
Here are my reactions:
1) The workmanship of the guys at the builder support center was impeccable.
I have nothing but superlatives to say about this aspect of the project.
2) The technical advice given was extremely valuable, too, although a
good EAA chapter in combination with good A&Ps can do almost as well.
However, you get the advice from the builder center "right now" rather
than over the course of several days or weeks if you get it through your
chapter. It speeds things up considerably. This center also had a composites
specialist that has worked at the Lancair factories for a decade. You
probably won't find that at your EAA chapter....
3) When you need extra hands, like to bolt on a wing or flip the plane,
you get that "right now" also. A huge improvement over my situation at home.
Again, work goes faster.
4) You can run up a big bill in a big hurry if you're not careful, but
with a few simple steps you can avoid nasty surprises. When you task the
center to do something for you, make sure you know approximately how many
hours they will spend and make sure they understand when you need it done.
Provide a written list of the tasks you want them to do if you won't be
there. With this level of communication, nobody gets surprised. It's
also extremely easy to say "Could you please do this for me?", which is
good and bad. If you're on a budget, as I was, make sure you only buy
what you really need. I indulged in a few extravagances -- buying work
I could really have done myself -- which is why I spent a little more
than I had planned. However, all the work is superb, so I'm not really
upset.
5) Overall, I got a lot accomplished, learned a lot, had a great time,
and now have the confidence I need to finish the rest of the job myself.
It was a great experience that I'm pleased I had the opportunity to do.
One last thought -- I originally thought that builder support centers were
only for rich guys who wanted a kit airplane but didn't want to actually
build it. There may be some of those, but there are really three classes
of customers who would benefit from builder support center services.
First is the guy who wants to do much of the building, but not all of it,
and wants the airplane finished relatively quickly (couple of years) without
devoting all his waking hours to the project. This guy will spend a lot
of money, but will have a nice airplane sooner than I ever will.
Second is someone like me, who wants some help on a critical short-term
task. I was basically trying to recreate the factory "come for a week
and close your wings" program, and that's basically what I got. Unlike
the 4's and the Legacy, the 360 isn't set up to close the wings from a
standing start in a week, so it took a little longer even though the cost
was about the same.
The third category, and one I hadn't considered before, is the buyer of a
completed homebuilt who wants to do some heavy maintenance, modification
or upgrade. This guy may know nothing about homebuilding and be afraid to
tackle it unassisted. In fact, he may not even legally be allowed to do
so, since he normally won't hold the Repairman Certificate for the airplane
or be an A&P. I watched a pair of new owners install wingtip lights and
landing lights (on a 235 not set up for them -- this was a new installation)
while the center experts repaired a seeping fuel leak. The new owners were
smart and enthusiastic guys, but they needed guidance. They had never worked
with composites before but ended up doing a great job, and having fun to boot.
I hope my lights look as good when I'm done.
Anyone wanting more info can e-mail me directly.
- Rob Wolf
