We are light on heavy avionics.

1) 12" AFS MFD w/ADAHRS
1) Dynon comm
1) Dynon intercom
1) Kanad 406 ELT
Old-school switches and aircraft breakers ala Bob Nuckolls.
1) Tanis heater
Wiring in place for ADS-B and Transponder but no install plans in the immediate future.

That's it, no other gauges. The hope is less weight and a modern look but there is a lot of wire. Lots of $$$$$'s, not a cheap build.

How many hours do you think you have so far into the build ?

It was a standard, not quick build kit yes?

Quick build, paint by builder.

There are 3 of us working pretty steady, 2) are at least 40 hrs/week and 1) 15 hrs/week. This is not counting all the time at home looking up how to do stuff, head scratching, etc or the 2 weeks it took to unpack and organize. Been going at it since mid-November. I'd say its 1/2 way there.

The 350 hour estimate to complete a QB might be possible if you made no modifications and followed the book to the letter after the 3rd or 4th build or if you've done a lot of other kit plane building. Don't think so otherwise. I would not do it by myself or in a garage. Opinions and skill levels vary of course.

Joel Milloway has done 13 of them. He does the cover himself and mods them to customers wishes. He figures 1000 hours average.

gbflyer wrote: This is not counting all the time at home looking up how to do stuff, head scratching, etc

I've found that for a novice builder, this is how most of the time is spent.

Ready to make it look like an airplane, at least we will be when the rest of the parts get here.

gbflyer wrote:

I felt sure it was a high wing aircraft..?

Hey you might be on to the latest mod there Battson.

Wings on!

Very cool. That's a great day.

Top and bottom engine cowl are fitted and firewall quarter turns installed. Probably the thing we were dreading the most. It wasn't as horrible as we imagined...getting started was the hardest part. We'll get the rest of the fasteners installed tomorrow and a coat of primer. That will be the last "big" piece to paint.

Don't feel alone, though easy in retrospect, the cowl/cowls fitting along with the doors front edge fitting to the cowl gave me pause on both of my S-7 builds. For good reason, this is the part of the plane I see every time I get in or out. Like building a house, you can do a great job framing it, but if you hash up the finish work it'll look like crap! That and the fabric work around the dorsal fin were my two least favorite parts, though both came out great it took a lot out of me. The rest of the fabric work is a piece of cake, the engine install went slick with no surprises, if they could make it without a boot cowl or dorsal fin it would save a lot time.

Looking good!

What engine?

I really want a turbo for high elevation work here in the rockies. How much extra work is it in the cowling to accomodate the turbo?

Hey Soy...get ahold of RANS dealer Mark Pringle @ Rocky Mt Kitplanes in Utah, he is "the guy" when it comes to a retro turbo for the S-7, and can give you all the particulars.

Here's how I finished my boot cowl/door intersection: some rubber molding from Spruce that glues to the cowl and has an offset that the door closes against. It was a super easy way to make a perfect fit at that important juncture, and have a little give of rubber. Part# 05-01700 The Rotax sticker covers up a scratch that happened during final assembly. Another thing is the fire extinguisher location, much more out of the way then on the floor, and even more easy to reach quickly, that open floor space is too valuable real estate to clutter up.

Thanks Tom. That looks real slick.

What are you guys doing for front seat storage? Like maps, phones, etc? I was thinking about having something custom stitched up but didn't know if there was anything that would be an easier solution that you have found. Much of the Savage is a clone of the earlier S7 's

Hey courierguy, I've talked to Mark a few times. Great guy - I was just trying to get a sense of how much work it would be to do it myself.

I have some room in the wing roots.. There is really a lot of room up there.

Crzyivan13 wrote:What are you guys doing for front seat storage? Like maps, phones, etc? I was thinking about having something custom stitched up but didn't know if there was anything that would be an easier solution that you have found. Much of the Savage is a clone of the earlier S7 's

I've got 3 different bike bags, usually for hanging on the handlebars or behind the seat, about fanny pack size or a little smaller. Multiple small compartments, ziptied to the airframe. Much better then one big bag, as I know where everything is, not all jumbled together. My camera (SLR so pretty good size) just goes on the floor on a rag, below the flap handle. I also have the inboard wing root boxed off with clear scrap lexan, more zip ties, this gives me two 5' long by 3 or 4" of storage for whatever, I actually have a lot of storage that I can reach in flight, more then I really need.

Maps go in the AFS EFIS. survival vest for everything else. We've upgraded the baggage area for the bulkier items.

I've done x/c in a cub from Washington thru Canada to Alaska. Never really worried too much about front storage, I just land a lot.

The cowling is fit and now there's some yellow paint on it.


Windshield trimmed and fit


Left door going together

I need to get a picture of the panel also, it looks pretty cool all lit - up.

Might get to start it this week!