MOSAIC and Repairman Work with Experimentals (from Kid wants to fly thread)

[killbilly]

bp said:
the new MOSAIC rewrite allows EAB owners to do condition inspections on the aircraft they own after taking a repairman course. which is cool but also sort of frightening given some of the mx ive seen out there

@bp ...

I'm not sure I'd feel like a Repairman Course would be comprehensive enough to make me confident in my own CIs at least for a few years. I've seen varying degrees of thorough with various shops with respect to CIs for an Experimental and the specialists really dial in some serious details.

Then again, I haven't paid much attention to MOSAIC at all so I don't know much about it - maybe it's more comprehensive than what I understand repairman courses to be. I do know that the tutelage I got from my local (mildly deranged, but extremely competent) A&P was worth its weight in gold.

 

[bp]

frankly I’d be suspect of logs where the owner did several CIs in a row if they werent the builder. I think the 51% rule was fine, if you were smart enough to build it and not kill yourself you should be able to maintain it. But I have seen enough ‘good ideas’ for it to give me pause.
I’d like to think people would know their limitations but they don’t and want to save a buck

 

[Richman]

I strongly considered building an RV, but, yea, no. Man's gotta know his limitations.

 

[GolfChuck]

I strongly considered building an RV, but, yea, no. Man's gotta know his limitations.

I was building an RV for a while, there is a good support network for information. I had only worked on the empannage kit but I was confident in my work. The firewall forward stuff was the most intimidating but I figured by the time I got to that bridge I'd be ready to cross it.

 

[MidlifeFlyer]

frankly I’d be suspect of logs where the owner did several CIs in a row if they werent the builder. I think the 51% rule was fine, if you were smart enough to build it and not kill yourself you should be able to maintain it. But I have seen enough ‘good ideas’ for it to give me pause.
I’d like to think people would know their limitations but they don’t and want to save a buck

One would hope the instinct for self-preservation would kick in.

 

[killbilly]

frankly I’d be suspect of logs where the owner did several CIs in a row if they werent the builder. I think the 51% rule was fine, if you were smart enough to build it and not kill yourself you should be able to maintain it. But I have seen enough ‘good ideas’ for it to give me pause.
I’d like to think people would know their limitations but they don’t and want to save a buck

I strongly considered building an RV, but, yea, no. Man's gotta know his limitations.

I was building an RV for a while, there is a good support network for information. I had only worked on the empannage kit but I was confident in my work. The firewall forward stuff was the most intimidating but I figured by the time I got to that bridge I'd be ready to cross it.

I didn't build mine, but I did a LOT of work on it, and after doing a couple CIs under supervision and quite a few repairs, plus the whole panel refresh, I did learn confidence and I feel like I could build one safely, especially with frequent inspection support from the local DAR and community. It's like cooking. You follow the recipe, so to speak.

EDIT - not all kits are the same. There's no way in hell I'd attempt a plans-only-built airplane like a Long-Eze. I need a damned kit. With instructions.

I have also seen some head scratchingly weird things done in the EXP community, and some questionable wisdom out there that beggars belief. For example, the guy I bought the plane from was absolutely insistent that because the airplane was experimental, the CS prop was not subject to an A/D.

(That a/d was how I learned to install/remove my prop with an engine hoist, and a whole lot of patience. I hate few things as much as I hate safety wiring prop bolts now.)

 

[MidlifeFlyer]

EDIT - not all kits are the same. There's no way in hell I'd attempt a plans-only-built airplane like a Long-Eze. I need a damned kit. With instructions.

 

[drunkenbeagle]

I didn't build mine, but I did a LOT of work on it, and after doing a couple CIs under supervision and quite a few repairs, plus the whole panel refresh, I did learn confidence and I feel like I could build one safely, especially with frequent inspection support from the local DAR and community. It's like cooking. You follow the recipe, so to speak.

The RV-6 / RV-7 empennage is almost a rite of passage in aircraft building. If you can do that, you can do most things. Because doing that requires having the correct tools, knowing how to use them, and knowing what quality looks like.

 

[ahw01]

One would hope the instinct for self-preservation would kick in.

Isn’t that how natural selection works

 

[killbilly]

The RV-6 / RV-7 empennage is almost a rite of passage in aircraft building. If you can do that, you can do most things. Because doing that requires having the correct tools, knowing how to use them, and knowing what quality looks like.

When I first started looking, a very helpful UA pilot/DAR in the PacNW gave me a lot of advice. He said you always start evaluating a prospective RV with the empennage, because that's where all the new builders make their early mistakes.

 

[knot4u]

When I first started looking, a very helpful UA pilot/DAR in the PacNW gave me a lot of advice. He said you always start evaluating a prospective RV with the empennage, because that's where all the new builders make their early mistakes.

Please explain loose cables, it's antithetical to everything I've ever known but there it is. As far as the empennage being a predictor of quality I'd agree. I've never built an RV but one of my best friends (experienced A/P, IA, aircraft owner) is working on his third version. The previous two, both -8s are flying airplanes. He learned a lot building the first one, and incorporated that corporate knowledge (mostly systems, panel and autopilot) into the second one and it was a stunner, just beautiful from the paint to the interior to everything from firewall to spinner was obviously done meticulously and with purpose. He eventually got mixed up with a wonderful lady and she was very uncomfortable sitting in the back seat so he sold it, bought a Bonanza and an RV-7 kit. Back to the empennage kit, back in the olden times I was out chooching around on my dirt bike and I dropped by his place (it was less than a mile from my house) and he had a big wooden box in his garage. He was ignoring the box and seemed focused on insulating the garage for climate control and noise. I helped him with that and installing a small A/C unit, the next week when I stopped by I helped him build benches on wheels (based on plans from Vans) and he still hadn't opened the big wooden box. He built the shop in his garage before he built the kit. When he started building he wasn't stressed about temp or noise, being anywhere near anything being riveted and not being an active participant sucks. One day after he'd built the shop he finally opened the box and started building the tail for his first RV, then he built the wings and eventually the fuselage. If you're up to it you can build your own airplane in your garage, better hurry because I don't think the general public will be granted that sort of freedom for much longer.