Hello all,

Long-time lurker, first time posting. I enjoy seeing all the projects documented here. I’m a young A&P looking for advice and input on how you all plan out your projects. I know experience helps in estimating the time required to restore or remanufacture an airplane, but does anyone care to share some insight on how you go about breaking the project down into bite-sized pieces? Thanks!!
And I know, “this thread is worthless without pics,” so I’ll oblige you all..


Husky at our grass strip is backcountry-ish.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Planning....

Estimate how long you think it will take and how much money it will cost, them multiply by 3.14159....

In all seriousness, I guess I would say to break it down to its most basic form. Are you replacing an engine? Ok, now figure out all the other things that will go into that. What things will go into those things. It can snowball and you won't be able to predict it all, and you'll find stuff you missed along the way. For completion, pick some milestones and work towards those. So say a fuel system - you might need bladders, senders, lines, etc. Complete those steps and eventually the milestone will be complete. Complete all the milestones, and you'll be done (until you decide to do something more).

Project creep is a two-headed beast, so the comment about applying Pi-sized multiplier to your planning is legitimate. You'll find stuff you have to do in the interest of safety/workmanship, and other things that fall into the "might as well" category. It's apart, so you might as well rebuild it with XYZ. And you may/will change your mind on stuff as you go. Budget will go up, as will time when you realize that 20 minute bolt replacement is 3 hours because you have to get 12 things out of the way first, or it just isn't coming out without persuasion. It happens. I had a bolt removal on my engine that should have been measured in single-digit minutes, and it took the better part of 4 days to get it out without damaging other parts, borrowing tools from literally every A&P on the field, and so on. I think my A&P wanted to light it on fire by the end of it.

My best advice is to think about the end result you want to achieve, and put together a list of what you think it will take to get it there. That list will evolve constantly and you will probably exceed both time and money forecasted, however it at least gives you a place to base things from.

My strategy has always been to wait until someone finishes a project, then buy it from them. I'm lucky though...I got to watch someone building an airplane before the idea ever occurred to me to do it myself. I think it took about twenty minutes to make up my mind...

I would apply the same concept as my college professor's used to mark term papers. I'd place each project into it's own pile, walk to the top of the stairs and toss them all down and whichever pile landed first I'd start with it, thankfully I have no such piles of paper to apply the theory too.

If you can, keep the plane airworthy during the project. Do a little at a time, it’s way too easy to snowball and be in way deeper than you ever planned. I didn’t do that, and after pulling my first door panel in May, work got busy and I didn’t look at the plane for 5 months. I’ll have my interior finished and back flying sometime in January.

CenterHillAg wrote:If you can, keep the plane airworthy during the project. Do a little at a time, it’s way too easy to snowball and be in way deeper than you ever planned. I didn’t do that, and after pulling my first door panel in May, work got busy and I didn’t look at the plane for 5 months. I’ll have my interior finished and back flying sometime in January.

That was my plan, but then I found something that made it unairworthy. In the process of working on that one thing, it snowballed into a full-on restoration as I found more worn out components and stuff that I couldn't, in good conscience, put back that way (or didn't want to waste time and money going back into later anyway).

I definitely advocate keeping it airworthy if you can, but after what I've learned on this one, be prepared to dig in and do it right if the rabbit hole takes you there. Doing it right is way more important than doing it fast.

Center, glad to hear yours is almost back in the air! I'm targeting end of Feb on mine, it will end up being a solid year and a half. Way more than I expected, but the end result will be worth the wait and effort. I think that's the moral here too - planning is good, but the results matter more.

One expense on a kitplane is all the numerous little things that you will need, odds and ends not included in the kit. NOT the cost of these smaller items themseves, but the frigging UPS/FEDEX charges can really add up. And, time wise, expect all crucially awaited shipments to always fall during a multi day holday weekend, it never fails.

My last build, I found that working half days worked best (if I didn't have to work on my day job that is), and while up at the nearby ski area I would, while riding the chairlift, mentally (and on a notepad) organize my day's work after I got back in the shop. I'd really think through the various steps of whatever process I was going to be doing, and I often couldn't wait to get off the mountain and back in the shop, where no time was wasted standing around wondering what to do, I had my ducks all nicely alighned. Something about riding the lift and then snowboarding, focused my mind on the build. Coversely, once in the paint booth or when deburring holes, all I would be thinking about was the next day's powder. The physical contrast between indoor shopwork, not to mention the paint booth, and being on the mountain, which is outside...... was great. By the time I got sick of one, I was ready for the other.

I would also plan crucial tasks, critically important ones (installing the windshield, cutting into the cowling, setting the washout) when I was at my sharpest, and save deburring and sweeping the shop, etc. for the tail end of the day. Having built 5 planes, and never having bought one someone else has built, I can attest to the fact that just buying a completed project makes a lot of sense, though it IS cheating. Everytime I built another plane about halfway through the process, well after the honeymoon, I'd say "never again." But once it's done all the hassle, time, and expense is forgotten.

Nb11 wrote:Hello all,

Long-time lurker, first time posting. I enjoy seeing all the projects documented here. I’m a young A&P looking for advice and input on how you all plan out your projects. I know experience helps in estimating the time required to restore or remanufacture an airplane, but does anyone care to share some insight on how you go about breaking the project down into bite-sized pieces? Thanks!!
And I know, “this thread is worthless without pics,” so I’ll oblige you all..


Husky at our grass strip is backcountry-ish.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

On the last plane project (that I flew home)... I made a list of airworthiness items (stuff that will kill you), passing but marginal, and aesthetics. I fixed all of the airworthiness items and the plane is now flying. Now I have a list of stuff before the next annual I am working on as I have time. My white board in my hanger gets a lot of use.

Tim