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Looking for some ball park estimates 90-95% Complete


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I am trying to get a ball park idea of how long it might take to finish the attached Long EZ. My uncle, who built all the pieces says he could do it in 3 weeks...but that might be 3 weeks of 20 hour days...so I am looking for a second opinion. (No offense if you read this Scott) Please take a look a the pic.

 

1. He has a 118 hp engine.

2. All fiberglass work is complete.

3. Wings, Canard, and Cockpit are complete.

4. Instruments are installed but not wired.

 

My uncle says all it really needs is to be assembled. The engine is at TBO, but will have compressions checked and some other stuff. IE No rebuild until the plane is test flown and working well.

 

Does anyone care to make any guess's? He has offered to let me assume responsibility and I am trying to get an idea of what I would be getting into.

 

We are assuming there is no rework on the stuff that is done. Uncle Scott is pretty good.

 

Thanks!!!

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10-14 Jack M. Days

LOL. Wiring and painting are big tasks, then there are always things you want to change or do over. Engine overhaul you say? I'd count on a year more if you have no experience with homebuilding.

-Kent
Cozy IV N13AM-750 hrs, Long-EZ-85 hrs and sold

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I am trying to get a ball park idea of how long it might take to finish the attached Long EZ. My uncle, who built all the pieces says he could do it in 3 weeks...but that might be 3 weeks of 20 hour days...so I am looking for a second opinion. (No offense if you read this Scott) Please take a look a the pic.

 

1. He has a 118 hp engine.

2. All fiberglass work is complete.

3. Wings, Canard, and Cockpit are complete.

4. Instruments are installed but not wired.

 

My uncle says all it really needs is to be assembled. The engine is at TBO, but will have compressions checked and some other stuff. IE No rebuild until the plane is test flown and working well.

 

Does anyone care to make any guess's? He has offered to let me assume responsibility and I am trying to get an idea of what I would be getting into.

 

We are assuming there is no rework on the stuff that is done. Uncle Scott is pretty good.

 

Thanks!!!

Your uncle sounds like most builders. 3 weeks give or take a year or two. I guess 1 year because it looks 90% done so that means that you have about 90% to go. wiring alone will take you 2 months of evenings, if you have experience in aircraft wiring.

if every thing is really done and they never are. and every thing that is done works perfect and it never does you will have at least 5 weekends to get all the perfectly built and working systems to really work correctly. and to take an engine that is a runout and been sitting for a while and expect to use it for test flying a plane that has never flown is to put it bluntly, not very smart. are you building this plane to just test it and thats it? I don't think so, if you are going to commit to the project then you should build everything in the plane to the highest standard before the first flight. I have seen to many people have first flight engine problems and homebuilding does not need any more on the record books.

this may seem a bit harsh but I have been assisting builders like yourself for 25 years and have lost a few good friends along the way because they made light of the task ahead of them and did not follow the advice of the people that know better.

Evolultion Eze RG -a two place side by side-200 Knots on 200 HP. A&P / pilot for over 30 years

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If it is not painted then you have a lot of work ahead. You could fly it in primer with no real issues other than knowing one day it will need the TLC anyway.

 

If you have the space available go ahead and assemble it. Create a detailed punch list and assign estimated times to each line item. Simply add them up and see where you are. Be honest with yourself on the times then double it.

 

Been there and done that on three EZ's now.:cool2:

 

Mike

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I am trying to get a ball park idea of how long it might take to finish the attached Long EZ. My uncle, who built all the pieces says he could do it in 3 weeks...but that might be 3 weeks of 20 hour days...so I am looking for a second opinion. (No offense if you read this Scott) Please take a look a the pic.

 

1. He has a 118 hp engine.

2. All fiberglass work is complete.

3. Wings, Canard, and Cockpit are complete.

4. Instruments are installed but not wired.

 

My uncle says all it really needs is to be assembled. The engine is at TBO, but will have compressions checked and some other stuff. IE No rebuild until the plane is test flown and working well.

 

Does anyone care to make any guess's? He has offered to let me assume responsibility and I am trying to get an idea of what I would be getting into.

 

We are assuming there is no rework on the stuff that is done. Uncle Scott is pretty good.

 

Thanks!!!

My estimate is about 1000 man-hours.......and probably two years.

Wayne .......Varieze 725EZ

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All I can see is a framed up fuse and one wing. No pictures of the inside, engine compartment , wiring, engine cowlings, brakes comntrols etc.

 

Finishing depends on the amount of time you can spend on it. A few hours at night & weekends maybe a year. Less available time means more time to completion.

 

What's the hurry. If the plane was built as well as your uncle says and has this much done, you have a real gift on your hands. Take the time to finish it, whatever time that is.

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Once again thanks again for all the responses. In all honesty...Those were more the responses I was expecting.

 

It is painted...so it sounds like that is a big step out of the way. The reason I was holding up on the engine rebuild is I wasn't sure if the break-in procedures for a new engine would coinside with test flight procedures of a new plane. I still don't feel dumb though because a lot of experienced pilots have recommended the same thing.

 

He has had the plane assembled and the controls working on the ground. Still expecting a lot of tweaking.

 

So we have anywhere from 10 days to 10 years...Cool. :cool:

 

Step 1 is moving the airplane from Iowa to Colorado. I will let you know when its complete.

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Once again thanks again for all the responses. In all honesty...Those were more the responses I was expecting.

 

It is painted...so it sounds like that is a big step out of the way. The reason I was holding up on the engine rebuild is I wasn't sure if the break-in procedures for a new engine would coinside with test flight procedures of a new plane. I still don't feel dumb though because a lot of experienced pilots have recommended the same thing.

 

He has had the plane assembled and the controls working on the ground. Still expecting a lot of tweaking.

 

So we have anywhere from 10 days to 10 years...Cool. :cool:

 

Step 1 is moving the airplane from Iowa to Colorado. I will let you know when its complete.

the break in of a new engine is not a problem to do during flight testing. the main concern I have with using a runout engine is not the engine it self. its the other systems, the carb, alternator, fuel pump, vacuum pump, oil pump, mags, or fuel injection, if they have been sitting for a long time. secondly, how long has it been stored without being properly preserved for storage. how much corrosion is inside the engine. how bad is the cam as they usually go first.

Evolultion Eze RG -a two place side by side-200 Knots on 200 HP. A&P / pilot for over 30 years

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  • 2 weeks later...

90-95% done will take you 1 year of part time work. Thats my estimate.

My Lancair was 95% done a year ago. I just ran the engine last week. Still tweaking things here and there but I have at least another month of part time work to get it flying.

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90-95% done will take you 1 year of part time work. Thats my estimate.

My Lancair was 95% done a year ago. I just ran the engine last week. Still tweaking things here and there but I have at least another month of part time work to get it flying.

The estimates need to be in man-hours not calendar days.

Jack's eRacer Extreme is a perfect example. He lost his eRacer just under a year ago today. It's looking like he will have his new plane flying this summer (and it had a long way to go this time last year.)

It all depends on hot determined you are to get it flying.

 

How many hours went into it last month? ...... this month?

T Mann - Loooong-EZ/20B Infinity R/G Chpts 18

Velocity/RG N951TM

Mann's Airplane Factory

We add rocket's to everything!

4, 5, 6, 7, 8. 9, 10, 14, 19, 20 Done

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In fairness we should say that Jack did buy somebodies ERacer tub. [big whoopin deal because he did cut off the nose from the tub, rebuilt it to his liking it longer, built up a custom Lancair canopy and fitted a turtleback to that and etc etc, ad infinitum.

Yea, Jack "MOVES right along" as he is fond of saying...and this is a guy with a full time job with the city of Auroras management. Everybody who moans about not enough energy etc, and flops each night for TV in a Barcalounger...could take a lesson from this 65+ year old. I know I have. Oh, and BTW, he is routinely having to have surgical pinpoint laser procedures on his spine for terrible back pain, as well.

Jack, is Jack...and he is a doer, not a talker. My hats off to him.

If you liked Jacks previous ERacer Extreme...this next plane is going to wiggle folks socks up and down their shins even when its just sitting on the ramp.

Self confessed Wingnut.

Now think about it...wouldn't you rather LIVE your life, rather than watch someone else's, on Reality T.V.?

Get up off that couch!!! =)

 

Progress; Fuselage on all three, with outside and inside nearly complete. 8 inch extended nose. FHC done. Canard finished. ERacer wings done with blended winglets. IO540 starting rebuild. Mounting Spar. Starting strake ribs.

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...... Everybody who moans about not enough energy etc, and flops each night for TV in a Barcalounger...could take a lesson from this 65+ year old.

That is exactly the point!

I know people with better than 13 years in a canard project. Does that mean they have 13 years of work in it?

 

Jack is not a superman. He's made the same as the rest of us but the big difference is ...... HE WORKS ON IT!!!!

 

I came home from work Tuesday night, shipped some stuff off to some lawyers in Chicago, printed/stapled/posted the newsletter for our homeowners assn., installed some software at work (remotely) and STILL got around to pulling parts out of the vacuum bag and trimming them up to go on the next day.

 

That's what I learned from Jack. You get out of the project exactly what you put into it! It is totally objective.

 

It like math:

Work = Results

 

I can't wait to get off work ....... so I can get to work! :D

T Mann - Loooong-EZ/20B Infinity R/G Chpts 18

Velocity/RG N951TM

Mann's Airplane Factory

We add rocket's to everything!

4, 5, 6, 7, 8. 9, 10, 14, 19, 20 Done

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Ok You want hours. I have at least 1,000 hours in the past year in filling, sanding, priming and fit and finishing. That does NOT include the time the interior guy spent making and installing that or the 50 hours the avionics tech has in installation of the wiring and avioinics.

Oh and before I spent this 1,000 +++ hours finishing my plane it was 90-95% done.

 

Bryan

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if you are going to commit to the project then you should build everything in the plane to the highest standard before the first flight. I have seen to many people have first flight engine problems and homebuilding does not need any more on the record books.

This may seem a bit harsh...

It does sound a bit harsh. I had a brand new engine on my Velocity when I first flew it in February, and I wish I hadn't. I wish I could have flown the plane slowly for the first dozen hours or so until I got used to it, but the new engine needed to be run at high power settings for break-in.

 

If the engine is inspected and tested and is still running well, I also would postpone the overhaul until after flight testing has begun. I mean, what are the odds that this plane will ever actually fly? Before you go to the trouble and time and expense of overhauling the engine, see if you will finish the project and get an airworthiness certificate. You probably won't.

 

Doug Holub

Velocity Standard FG w/ electric nose lift, 55 hrs

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