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What are the best parts/assemblies to buy vs build or vice versa?

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  • What are the best parts/assemblies to buy vs build or vice versa?

    I know this is rather subjective but I would like to know your thoughts and experiences. For instance, I have access to wonderful EAA support and a master welder to oversee my work. I'm comfortable working with steel, building jigs, etc., so building the airframe seems very doable to me. But I understand that you can purchase a materials kit with all the steel that is cut to length and pre-coped or fish mouthed (I'm not sure on the terminology).

    I don't have the capability to bend the longer items in the wing, so that would be a buying option for me.

    But I'm sure there are many items that are easy to build.

    What else on the plane is either very intricate or so time consuming that it would make more sense to buy.

    Thanks,
    Paul


  • #2
    This is definitely variable from one person to the next. On one end you can build it all, and it is nice to know we can do that if we need. On the other end, you can get the quick build, and still have a huge airplane building project left to complete. It will depend on which tasks you are looking forward to or will enjoy the most, which tasks are tool and waste intensive, and how you value your time. If a factory made part seems expensive, keep in mind that you will almost certainly not be able to do it yourself any cheaper, unless you leave out labor costs. Sometimes even then, you will not be able to beat the factory pricing just because of material waste, having to make a part more than once, having to make and buy tooling, not being able to buy big volumes of material to get a better price, etc. Most folks who chose to scratch build for economic reasons, when asked after the fact, will tell you that they underestimated the cost of materials and the value of their time. I can think of a few exceptions, but they are a small percentage.

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    • #3
      My personal list would include:
      • Engine mount
      • Main landing gear
      • Landing gear struts
      • Machined lift strut ends
      So far I’ve had the equipment or ability to do the other things I’ve attempted, but those are the immediate ones I’d pick from those available for purchase.

      Aside from a QB kit, of course
      Christopher Owens
      Bearhawk 4-Place Scratch Built, Plans 991
      Bearhawk Patrol Scratch Built, Plans P313
      Germantown, Wisconsin, USA

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      • #4
        I enjoyed building the fuselage from scratch, but if I was to do it again, I would buy the pre-cut tubing kit. When you get the frame done, seems like a huge accomplishment, but you aren't halfway there. Making all the fittings, tabs, standoffs and welding them, time wise, took longer. I would buy the wing and landing gear fittings to save time.

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        • #5
          I built almost all of my LSA from scratch.

          I purchased the tail rib set because I would have had to make multiple "one time use" form blocks plus would have had lots of wasted material from cutting airfoil shapes out of sheet..

          I purchased the fish mouthed fuselage tubing kit(from AviPro) because I think I would have had a lot of wasted material in drops that would have offset any savings from making it from scratch.

          I purchased the tail wheel "stinger" as I would have had to deal with heat treating.

          Everything else is pretty straightforward to make though the wings involve very repetitive "Make a few hundred of each of these" (rib attach brackets, spacer bars, rib stiffeners, etc.) that a commercial shop could turn out pretty competitively.

          Note I have a pretty good set of tools(mill, lathe, shear, metal brake, vertical and horizontal steel cutting band saw, various belt/disc sanders, good drill press). Without those, I would suggest buying as much as possible from AviPro

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          • #6
            Like has been said, this topic is so incredibly subjective.

            I can agree with Jared that if you put a price on your time then buying from Mark is probably the better way to go. But for guys like myself that like building, you can’t put a price on your time when doing a hobby.

            For my plane I bought:
            Main Landing gear
            shock struts
            H-stab
            elevator
            rudder
            front seats
            pedal assembly
            control stick assembly
            machined lift strut ends
            fuel caps
            fuel tanks
            wing steel (flap and aileron rigging in the wings)

            Rod is 100% right, welding the frame is just step 1 out of 100 when building the fuselage. All the fittings, tabs, standoffs, etc are what the majority of the work is on the fuselage.

            If I were to do it again or when I build the 5 I’ll be calling Mark to see about getting a fuselage frame in a mostly complete condition. I’d also get the pedal assembly, stick assembly, strut ends and QB wings.
            Scratch Built 4-place Bearhawk. Continental IO-360, 88" C203 McCauley prop.

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            • #7
              I bought the wings, motor mount, landing gear, fuel tanks, wing strut ends.and a couple small odds and ends.. If I were to do it again I would have just bought the kit. I loved creating what I did and all that I learned from it, but to get flying scratch-building added many years to my build. Granted, life got in the way. Deaths, births, marriages, etc. I have wanted to build an airplane since I was a teen and have a strong background in aviation and mechanics. But I grossly underestimated my time to finish. It is a big project. If I took the time I thought I would need to finish, then double it and add 50%, that would have been more accurate.
              Last edited by alaskabearhawk; 07-24-2020, 12:29 PM.

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              • #8
                I would say buy what you are not set up to make, if you don't intend to use those tools/skills a lot in the future. Gas welding is probably the cheapest equipment to buy, but it intimidates some people. If you wanted to save money, a gas welding setup will save you some bucks. TIG costs a bit more, but will still save you money.

                If you have a machine shop, you will obviously be able to make all the machined parts yourself. If not, you won't want to buy 10-50k worth of equipment and build a machine shop to build one airplane. The machined steel parts Avipro sells are excellent quality, and a very fair price.

                If you can't bend a big spar, and don't have local access to something that will, buy a spar kit.

                If I were going to scratch build, I would still buy a pre-cut tubing kit, and spars. Without a lathe and mill, I would also buy every machined steel part. If you can't or don't want to weld, a QB fuseage.



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