What's new
Van's Air Force

Don't miss anything! Register now for full access to the definitive RV support community.

What's the build record??

toolmanmike

Well Known Member
Patron
I know what the average hrs spent/years spent is on a build but what is the record for quickest build? I heard of one guy who finished in 15 months! Flying aircraft! What about total build hours?
Inquiring minds want to know....
 
I doubt it is a record, but I finished my 10 in 18 months from kit delivery to first flight. That included doing the engine overhaul, custom EI build, paint (full paint job) and all avionics. Nothing was outsourced. In fact I made several parts at home in my shop that I was too cheap to buy, like the third door latch for example. I won't even buy pre-made hoses and did my own upholstery, though did that during phase I. It was a QB and the Emp was mostly completed by the original owner, so not relative to those that do SB's. I was retired and worked pretty much 6 days a week. No idea on hours, but most days were at least 8 hours, so you could estimate.

Larry
 
Last edited:
Me and my wife finished our 14 in 14 months.

I think the newer kits have a distinct advantage in build time, especially if you factor in quick build wings and fuse.
 
I finished a quick build RV8 in 10 months including paint. I had flying fever back in the younger days. Been working on a RV7 over 4 years now. Time gets harder to find as you age.:(

PS: Anyone know the whereabouts of this plane now? it has changed hands a few times now. I know the N number was changed also.
 

Attachments

  • PICT0024.jpg
    PICT0024.jpg
    274.6 KB · Views: 121
I presume we're not counting the one-week-wonder RV-12, or the many organizations where high-schoolers build an RV-12 in less than one school year ;)
 
Some (Jurassics) might remember the RVator articles about Alan Toole. He was an early adopter and built several of the first production versions of the RV-6's. First sliding canopy version, first 6A if I recall correctly.
He was said to have built several airplanes in the 6 month timeframe each.

And this was before pre-punched kits and quick builds.

I met him once at a Bakersfield fly in. Super nice guy.

Not sure any non-professional or multiple partner builders out there that can beat that.
 
In 1992, Jerry Scott of Chino CA completed an RV-6 from a standard kit ( no QB kit available at that time), in 85 days.
He received a workmanship award for it at OSH that year.

https://www.vansaircraft.com/time-to-build/

I spoke with him at either OshKosh or Sun-N-Fun! Thanks Scott. I was thinking 86 or 87 days.

As I recall, he worked something like 16 hour days, 6 days a week with a helper.

He said it was FASTER to do it with a **standard** kit than a Quickbuild kit. Don't recall if it delays for Quickbuild or if it was because he knew EXACT what he was going to do. By the way, it was NOT his "first rodeo". :)
 
I honestly spend more time scratching my head over the plans then actually building! I’m sure the 2nd one would go much faster! ;)
 
I believe the build record holder is 6 months for a RV6.

My 7A took 15 months from start to first flight which included paint.
My first 14A took 11 months from start to first flight (QB) with nothing outsourced other than the seats.
My second 14A took 13 months from start to first flight (SB) nothing outsourced other than the seats. I believe I could have done it faster if it wasn't for the supply chain issues.
 
RV-8 from a QB kit, 7 months. When I started, I had everything in the shop that I was going to need to assemble the aircraft, including engine, prop, FWF kit, etc. Panel was laid out just waiting for the radios to arrive. No paint. It was my fifth RV, so I had some practice.

I built a couple of 7A's and a 9A from QB kits. Neither took over a year.
 
This leaves a bit of a bad taste in my mouth, the goal should be best quality, not the quickest to finish.
I’ll take the tortoise build anytime.
 
This leaves a bit of a bad taste in my mouth, the goal should be best quality, not the quickest to finish.
I’ll take the tortoise build anytime.

Neither mean quality, slow or fast.

We had three Kawasaki 100 Enduro's donated to our Industrial Ed Shop in College. Our class was split up into three groups.

Group One finished first. They started the engine, all good, until the main crank nut screwed itself through the side of the case.

Group Two, my group, finished next. I had a lot of motorcycle and small engine experience to be fair. Ours ran well and those of us with endorsements got to drive it around campus.

Group Three didn't finish before that semester was over. It was still in parts and pieces.

They never did that class again.....

Its a fun topic. I am alway impressed with those that dedicate themselves fully and completely to the build, including paint, upolhstery, etc.... and work it like a job!
I am pretty average. 8 years, one Wife, and $80 grand. I got an airplane out of the $80k !
 
Alan Tolle had an RV-3 called Six Bits because he built it in 75 days.

He told me that he built one airplane, and then repeated the process several times. His workmanship was safe but not pretty...

I think he built six RVs. I tracked them down for his widow, five were in the US and one was in Great Britain.

And there's lots more to tell. When Questair (think Venture) went out of business, he bought the whole shootin' match.
 
53 days 4 builders

We completed and Flew a RV8A QB in my shop in53 days . Wil Ramsey owner, was an Energizer Bunny. Worked a bunch of 16 hour days, I worked a bunch of 12 hour days. Two more guys did part time work. We had everything here to complete the kit. Including flying with wheel pants.
I had another RV8 QB. flying in 92 days. Lots of owner hours.
I built my First RV6 in 18 months 7-1995 to 11-1996
My current RV8 QB took 14 months . I’ve done that time twice on two 8s
After you have built a few kits it goes pretty fast.
 
Last edited:
Some of us OG’s remember Alan Toole. One of the Bakersfield boys. College professor I believe. He was the speaker (great) for Van at OSH in the early days. His calming voice and presentation sold hundreds of the early kits at OSH. Really nice guy. He did build a 6A slow build in six months

Bob Grigsby
RV3B Going backwards
J3C 65 flying regularly
 
7A

Quick build 7A kit took 16 months. Average about 25 hours per week on the project with help from various friends and neighbors.

Having a heated hangar connected to my house and experienced help was a big advantage.
 
This leaves a bit of a bad taste in my mouth, the goal should be best quality, not the quickest to finish.
I’ll take the tortoise build anytime.

I think the first (non-negotiable) goal should be safe and airworthy. Beyond that, people have different goals and motivations and that is okay. Some want to build an award winner, some want every cool modification available, and some want to get in the air and share the joy of flight with friends and family as soon as possible. In my mind, all of those goals are equally valid and in the spirit of home building. All it takes is a look at some of the original homebuilts, and it is immediately clear that their goal was simply to FLY. There is nothing wrong with that.

I would also suggest that most of things that add build time have nothing to do with airworthiness but rather are details and bells and whistles for those who want gizmos, or a show winner, or something else. None of those things adds to safety.

Chris
 
I would also suggest that most of things that add build time have nothing to do with airworthiness but rather are details and bells and whistles for those who want gizmos, or a show winner, or something else. None of those things adds to safety.

Chris

As the old saying goes "wish I had a nickle for every time...", well in my case if I had a nickle for everytime I've been cut/wounded/bled due to sharp edges I wouldn't have to work anymore. It takes time to round every corner, smooth and debur every edge, apparently a lot of folks 'forget' this step when you're in a hurry to 'get it done' and I got the scars to prove it!
 
As the old saying goes "wish I had a nickle for every time...", well in my case if I had a nickle for everytime I've been cut/wounded/bled due to sharp edges I wouldn't have to work anymore. It takes time to round every corner, smooth and debur every edge, apparently a lot of folks 'forget' this step when you're in a hurry to 'get it done' and I got the scars to prove it!

Absolutely agree. To me, those types of things (smoothing, deburring, rounding) are part of a minimum standard of craftsmanship / airworthiness. My point was more that many people spend years on things like complex panels, fancy paint, perfect fiberglass, modifications, alternate engines, etc. Yes, they add to build time, but I don't believe they add anything to safety.

Chris
 
As the old saying goes "wish I had a nickle for every time...", well in my case if I had a nickle for everytime I've been cut/wounded/bled due to sharp edges I wouldn't have to work anymore. It takes time to round every corner, smooth and debur every edge, apparently a lot of folks 'forget' this step when you're in a hurry to 'get it done' and I got the scars to prove it!

Build time != build quality ... I don't think it's fair to assume that because it got done fast it's poor quality.

Everybody has their own priorities and schedules. We spent 20 hours/week on the 14 and got it done in 14 months without being in a hurry, it was just part of our weekly schedule, we went into it knowing our goal was to have a flying plane in under 2 years and allocated time and adjusted our lives accordingly.

Also, we saved and purchased everything up front so we wouldn't have any long delays waiting on things.

I see so many builders spending 3-5 hours/week, sometimes taking breaks for months, and they've been working on their project for 5+ years.
 
Build time != build quality ... I don't think it's fair to assume that because it got done fast it's poor quality.

Everybody has their own priorities and schedules. We spent 20 hours/week on the 14 and got it done in 14 months without being in a hurry, it was just part of our weekly schedule, we went into it knowing our goal was to have a flying plane in under 2 years and allocated time and adjusted our lives accordingly.

Also, we saved and purchased everything up front so we wouldn't have any long delays waiting on things.

I see so many builders spending 3-5 hours/week, sometimes taking breaks for months, and they've been working on their project for 5+ years.

I agree
And everyone has a differing degree of what amount of productive work, and what level of quality the work is, that they can accomplish in a given amount of time.
 
We spent 20 hours/week on the 14 and got it done in 14 months without being in a hurry, it was just part of our weekly schedule, we went into it knowing our goal was to have a flying plane in under 2 years and allocated time and adjusted our lives accordingly.

Bill, I remember some years back on a thread I started on build quality you said that you liked to build on the basis of "no shame left behind".

Your statement stuck in my mind. I thought it was a very good building philosophy.
 
This leaves a bit of a bad taste in my mouth, the goal should be best quality, not the quickest to finish.

Walt, over a long period of time you have consistently used the VansAirforce forum to encourage builders to build to the best of their abilities. I suspect that comes in part from you seeing so many woeful build features in your commercial maintenance role. :)

And inevitably you always cop a fair bit of flack for your efforts to encourage better standards. It's the way it goes on VansAirforce.

I have a theory that the quality of an amateur-built aircraft is largely determined before the first rivet is set. It's in the mindset and general outlook of the individual...it's in the DNA....and everyone's different. That results in a very very broad spectrum of build qualities. Bill Kervaski says he likes to build on the basis of not leaving any shame behind. That's probably a philosophy of life as much as an aircraft building philosophy.
 
Last edited:
Walt, over a long period of time you have consistently used the VansAirforce forum to encourage builders to build to the best of their abilities. I suspect that comes in part from you seeing so many woeful build features in your commercial maintenance role. :)

And inevitably you always cop a fair bit of flack for your efforts to encourage better standards. It's the way it goes on VansAirforce.

I have a theory that the quality of an amateur-built aircraft is largely determined before the first rivet is set. It's in the mindset and general outlook of the individual...it's in the DNA....and everyone's different. That results in a very very broad spectrum of build qualities. Bill Kervaski says he likes to build on the basis of not leaving any shame behind. That's probably a philosophy of life as much as an aircraft building philosophy.

I don't think anybody is against the encouragement of "better standards", nor are we giving him flack for that. We are pointing out that build time and build "quality" (if you can even define that) are not directly related, at least they don't seem to be in the eyes of many well-seasoned people on VAF. I can certainly understand Walt's frustration at the many things he sees working on EABs, but I'm not convinced that build time was the cause of these issues as opposed to simple lack of basic building skills and standards.

I built my RV in about 4 years, which is probably pretty average (SB). It won't win a Lindy - the fiberglass isn't perfect, the paint job was budget, there are some rookie dings and oops rivets and there is the slightest amount of friction when I slide my canopy. What you won't find, however, is a single hole that wasn't deburred, a missing safety wire, a non-rounded edge, a bolt without edge distance, or anything else that violates a standard. If anything was even close to questionable, I rebuilt it. With what I learned, I'm pretty sure I could build another RV in a year or so if I had nothing else on my plate, probably with even less dings. There still wouldn't be any sharp corners to cut any unsuspecting A&P's, I promise.
 
Some (Jurassics) might remember the RVator articles about Alan Toole. He was an early adopter and built several of the first production versions of the RV-6's. First sliding canopy version, first 6A if I recall correctly.
He was said to have built several airplanes in the 6 month timeframe each.

And this was before pre-punched kits and quick builds.

I met him once at a Bakersfield fly in. Super nice guy.

Not sure any non-professional or multiple partner builders out there that can beat that.

Yep. I met Alan Toole at the 1988 Dayton Air Show with his blue RV6A. He built it in 6 months while still teaching full time. His secret? He drilled holes at night. His wife deburred and dimpled the holes the next day. Great teamwork 👍
 
Alan Tolle

Alan also had strips of aluminium with appropriate distanced holes drilled in them.
The older kit the drawings stated max between hole distance between rivits. For example a wing rib hole position would be given on the spar and rear spar then a fan tool was used to give an equal rivet spacing of less than stated on the plans. Alan had strips of aluminium for all of these so he saved many hours on measurement.

As an aside the RV4 in the UK had a sudden partial disassembly at my local flying field a few years ago, not confirmed if it is being rebuilt.

Rob
 
I'll wait for the looongest build thread

My RV-4 took over 15 years..its the life distractions that affect most builders. Amazes me how the "fast guys" can do it and still have a life ! But then again, my day job is heavy jet structures specialist, so I wasn't far from the 12-14 hrs. a day in the shop! And us Jurassic age builders need to be in our own group (Except Alan Toole).
 
The fastest way to build is to do it right the first time. Do-overs eat the clock up.
 
Longest Slow Build.......

My RV-4 took over 15 years..its the life distractions that affect most builders. Amazes me how the "fast guys" can do it and still have a life ! But then again, my day job is heavy jet structures specialist, so I wasn't far from the 12-14 hrs. a day in the shop! And us Jurassic age builders need to be in our own group (Except Alan Toole).

Back in the Slow Build Days, SuzieQ took 6.5 years to put together which I thought, at the time, a long time! There was one builder who started when I did and finished way before mine got done. Which is OK. Life distractions: I moved, changed job locations, got married (WARNING! WARNING! TERRAIN! TERRAIN! PULL UP! PULL UP!:eek:), Moved my Mom, and other Life Goes On things. Not to mention the fact that I am a little bit of a perfectionist when it comes to things that fly, especially when it is my butt in the front seat. Worth it? WO, yeah! Would I do it again? Let me get back with you on that one....... Did I love building? Yes! An amazing process that takes a big pile of aluminum sheets and molds them into a piece of ART that also happens to FLY! And fly very well, I might add! It was nice to have the Cub to fly and stay current, and as a distraction. Mostly the 'stay current' thing.... Sign me up to the Jurrassic Builders Club!:p

I love the question So you built this from a kit....? as I see on their face the look of my airplane coming out of a Revell box, glue not included....:rolleyes: Yessir! A KIT! With all of 13,000 hand-driven rivets, each hole drilled, deburred, countersunk, hand-driven and bucked....Sir.....:cool:
 
Back
Top