I am a self-proclaimed protectionist and in light of a recent post about an RV for sale that had very questionable build quality I thought it might be timely to write a post about perfection.
I will make a bold statement, no RV is perfectly built. Some may argue but the parts aren’t perfect, the riveting sometimes isn’t perfect, if you get a dent it isn’t perfect…..
One definition of a perfectionist is “a disposition to regard anything short of perfection as unacceptable”. I found that when building my first RV and being a perfectionist was driving me nuts. Yes I wanted everything to be perfect but sometimes things don’t always go as planned. Whether it is a dropped bucking bar, poor communication with your bucking partner or just a stupid mistake, things happen that detract from perfection.
The most important thing is to build a safe airplane. I hope we can all agree on that. Build quality is evidence of the builder doing their best and fixing the inevitable problems that arise during building such a project. Sometimes it requires replacing parts.
Most builders say their quality improved as they progressed from the empennage to the wings and further on. That is because they were in the Sheetmetal 101 learning phase when started their project. They were learning about how to use many new tools and work with materials they may have never touched before. Additionally they might have found better tools along the way the improved their build quality. In fact many talk about building their empennage again since it isn’t of the same “quality” as the rest of their project.
Not all rivets or bolts carry critical to flight loads. Sometimes edge distances don’t always follow the general guidelines of 2X the diameter of the fastener. So one might see an instance on an RV and pass judgment. There are parts supplied by Vans that don’t meet this edge distance guideline. That doesn’t mean that this is an unsafe condition. Engineering isn’t an exact science. We typically us a safety factor of 1.5X the actual load value because we don’t know exactly the effects of manufacturing, assembly etc.
There has been a few saying over the years that have great merit when building an RV.
With respect to dents while riveting- “Try your best-fill the rest”
“Are you building for show or building to go?”
Summing up:
1. Try you best to build a quality and safe RV.
2. Don’t be afraid to ask for help when needed.
3. No question is a stupid question on the forum.
4. Don’t get caught in the perfection trap.
I will make a bold statement, no RV is perfectly built. Some may argue but the parts aren’t perfect, the riveting sometimes isn’t perfect, if you get a dent it isn’t perfect…..
One definition of a perfectionist is “a disposition to regard anything short of perfection as unacceptable”. I found that when building my first RV and being a perfectionist was driving me nuts. Yes I wanted everything to be perfect but sometimes things don’t always go as planned. Whether it is a dropped bucking bar, poor communication with your bucking partner or just a stupid mistake, things happen that detract from perfection.
The most important thing is to build a safe airplane. I hope we can all agree on that. Build quality is evidence of the builder doing their best and fixing the inevitable problems that arise during building such a project. Sometimes it requires replacing parts.
Most builders say their quality improved as they progressed from the empennage to the wings and further on. That is because they were in the Sheetmetal 101 learning phase when started their project. They were learning about how to use many new tools and work with materials they may have never touched before. Additionally they might have found better tools along the way the improved their build quality. In fact many talk about building their empennage again since it isn’t of the same “quality” as the rest of their project.
Not all rivets or bolts carry critical to flight loads. Sometimes edge distances don’t always follow the general guidelines of 2X the diameter of the fastener. So one might see an instance on an RV and pass judgment. There are parts supplied by Vans that don’t meet this edge distance guideline. That doesn’t mean that this is an unsafe condition. Engineering isn’t an exact science. We typically us a safety factor of 1.5X the actual load value because we don’t know exactly the effects of manufacturing, assembly etc.
There has been a few saying over the years that have great merit when building an RV.
With respect to dents while riveting- “Try your best-fill the rest”
“Are you building for show or building to go?”
Summing up:
1. Try you best to build a quality and safe RV.
2. Don’t be afraid to ask for help when needed.
3. No question is a stupid question on the forum.
4. Don’t get caught in the perfection trap.
Last edited:
