RV7A And a 1 car garage...

SkyHog

SkyHog

Touchdown! Greaser!
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Everything Offends Me
Anyone who has built an RV7 know if it will fit out a one car garage door without damage to either the RV or the door?
 
I have no idea, but you probably still can't take off from a cul-de-sac... You moving to an airpark?

For a better idea, the dimensions are here. With a 25-ft wingspan you'd have to slide it out almost sideways even if you could get it out, and that would also mean you'd probably have to have more interior space in the garage so the tail had somewhere to go.

In short, "I doubt it."

But you could probably build it in your garage with the wings separate and finish it up in your hangar that you'll need to store your baby in shortly thereafter anyway... :yes:
 
That was kind of the idea, my bad, I wasn't specific enough. Planning on building the entire thing up to wing roots, and maybe the wings separate, and then attach the wings in a hangar.

Do you know the dimensions of the plane sans wings?
 
SkyHog said:
Do you know the dimensions of the plane sans wings?
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My hangarmate is building one in our hangar. This weekend I can measure his enclosed work area and the width of the airframe sans wings if no one gets to it before then.

He has built an enclosed work area that is air conditioned inside the hangar. It holds all his tools and the fuselage with (barely) enough room to work, but things like the parts delivered but not yet installed (interior, cowl, fairings etc) are in the loft above his work room. The completed wings are on a rack in the hangar. No engine yet. Just by looking at it, the work space appears to be a bit smaller than a 1 car garage.
 
the only thing i would think would be that the tail *could* hit if you didnt push it down when pulling it out. of course it depends on how tall your garage door is too. otherwise with the wings off i see no reason why it wouldnt fit.
 
Yes. It can (and has) been done.

We did all the smaller components (tail, wings - which are assembled individually, and the fuselage bulkheads) in 1/2 of of the basement (http://www.oncloud7.com/shop.htm).Once the fuselage was ready to be assemble and skin, we moved out to part of the garage. My parents have (what is marketed as) a 3 car garage - one big double door on one side w/ one smaller door on the other side. We were able to complete work on the fuselage in the 'small' side while my mom continued to park in the 'big' side. (http://www.oncloud7.com/aft_page_1.htm).

What's interesting about the RV's is that you can leave the plane in movable components until final assembly. We did a test fit with the tail on the fuselage. Once we had the bolt on points lined up and drilled, we removed the tail section and stored it. When we did a test fit of the wings, we pulled the plane into the middle of the large garage (you could pull out into a driveway), fit and mounted the wings, then removed and stored them as well. We hung the engine and did all FWF & finish kit with no wings or tail sections attached. (http://www.oncloud7.com/rv7a_assemblypage4.htm)

If I remember correctly, we never saw the plane completely assembled w/ wings, tail, canopy, etc. until we did final assembly at the hangar after retrieving it from the paint shop. (http://www.oncloud7.com/rv_7a_move_to_paint.htm)
(http://www.oncloud7.com/rv7apaint4.htm)

So, yes, it can be done. :D

http://www.oncloud7.com/rv7.htm
 
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SkyHog said:
Anyone who has built an RV7 know if it will fit out a one car garage door without damage to either the RV or the door?
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This local guy built an RV-7 in a single garage attached to a duplex. I've seen the plane, and it looks nice (don't like the colors, but oh well).

You can spend a lifetime reading his web page:

http://www.n2prise.org/
 
Henning said:
What happenned to the other plane you were building?
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The KR2? Junked. Broke it while bending, waited a few days, tried to fix something, broke it worse, and then chopped it up into little pieces.
 
SkyHog said:
The KR2? Junked. Broke it while bending, waited a few days, tried to fix something, broke it worse, and then chopped it up into little pieces.
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Ahhhh, that's one of the problems with working wood in the desert. Should have warned you to throw the parts in the pool for a few days before attempting bending.
 
Ken Ibold said:
My hangarmate is building one in our hangar. This weekend I can measure his enclosed work area and the width of the airframe sans wings if no one gets to it before then.

He has built an enclosed work area that is air conditioned inside the hangar. It holds all his tools and the fuselage with (barely) enough room to work, but things like the parts delivered but not yet installed (interior, cowl, fairings etc) are in the loft above his work room. The completed wings are on a rack in the hangar. No engine yet. Just by looking at it, the work space appears to be a bit smaller than a 1 car garage.
Click to expand...
Checked out the dimensions a little more carefully yesterday. The air conditioned space is 12x25. Right now it contains the fuselage, not on the gear, with empenage attached. He has tools storage and workbenches on one of the short walls and one of the long walls. BUT he also has additional work space in the main part of the hangar, storage above the work area, and the wings on a rack in the main part of the hangar. A one car garage would be, um, less than optimal. But if that's what ya got ...
 
I built a Zodiac 640, which is considerably larger than the 7A, in a 1 car garage. You do need to be creative (I hung the completed wings from the ceiling), and will need storage elsewhere to keep it uncluttered enough to work. Even if the space is sub-optimal, your project will progress much faster in the garage a few steps outside your door, than it would in a hanger or rented space that makes working on it much less convenient.
 
Henning said:
Ahhhh, that's one of the problems with working wood in the desert. Should have warned you to throw the parts in the pool for a few days before attempting bending.
Click to expand...
He was warned. And also cajoled, told, pointed out, rendered, informed, advised, let know, tipped off, taught, inspired, illuminated, and notified.

Best wishes, Nick.
 
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