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jdalton77(at)comcast.net
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 Posted: Wed Feb 22, 2006 6:16 pm Post subject: EAA Tech Counselor visit |
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I just had my first EAA Tech counselor visit. There's a guy in our local EAA chapter that helps a lot of people out in the area - he really seemed to know his stuff.
Question for the group - what kinds of experiences did you all have with tech counselors and how would you recommend best working with them to get the most out of it?
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coop85(at)bellsouth.net
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| Posted: Wed Feb 22, 2006 7:02 pm Post subject: EAA Tech Counselor visit |
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Jeff,
Having been a Tech counselor, I’ll offer some thoughts.
First, it sounds like you have a strong player, but realize the only requirement to become a Tech Counselor is to have built an airplane and send in the paperwork so there are no guarantees about the skill of who you are getting.
Second, time is a valuable commodity so I’d suggest making the most out of his/her time and not expect more than they are willing to give. Having said that, I suspect most counselors enjoy looking at other projects and the time spent doing so or they shouldn’t have signed up to be one.
As for how to utilize them, I’d suggest steering them toward any areas you have concerns over. Then just cut them loose to wander about the project primarily as a second set of eyes to catch things you are too familiar with to notice are wrong. They also tend to have experience with other types of projects and can offer unique insight to particular problems or catch something that doesn’t quite make sense.
I have never heard of a bad experience with a Tech Counselor so I recommend you continue the visits if possible. I’d take lots of notes and then decide what items need to be tweaked as it’s your machine and nothing he says is mandatory.
Marcus
40286
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jjessen(at)rcn.com
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| Posted: Thu Feb 23, 2006 8:08 am Post subject: EAA Tech Counselor visit |
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Jeff, just a few thoughts from a non-Tech Counselor.
My tech counselor did what I had hoped he'd do, but at first I didn't know what I wanted him to do. He first took a look at my basic techniques and found areas that were wanting.
Consistent rivets was one such area, and probably is for every newbie. He got some scrap and gave me a lesson, which I first I sort of didn't like. I knew about the bad rivets, and I even had told him that I knew they were bad, and I'd had already taken the EAA course in RV building. However, he said something interesting as he began the demo. He said, and I paraphrase, "It took me a long time before I was able to be consistent in my approach to riveting and therefore in getting consistently good rivets, and my method may not be what you end up doing, but I found that...." Then he popped off some perfectly good rivets. I tried and got good rivets. He then did a blasphemous thing! He drilled out my bad rivets! He didn't even ask me if I wanted to keep them in! The nerve. Actually, I had not wanted to drill them out because, I must admit, I was worried that I'd make things worse. He showed me that it was easy, quick and the right thing to do. He drilled out a few and then I tried.
We then looked at my edge deburring. He thought it was acceptable, but then he showed me how he did his, and explained his rationale for the steps. His technique produced better edges. We also discussed priming, preparation for priming, tools that would be helpful, and so on. I ended up going from defensive to grateful for all the time and effort he put into the visit. He and his wife (she had come along and was doing work over on the couch that I have in the hanger) then got back into his beautiful RV-6A (he's currently building a 10) on a gorgeous day that they could have been somewhere else, and flew off.
I am a much better builder for that visit, and highly recommend finding the most anal of all tech counselors you can, because these are the folks who will show you the small details that make everything so much better and faster and more consistent. You may never be as detailed, but at least you'll know how it can be done.
John Jessen
~328 (Tailcone and almost ready to go prime time with the web site)
From: owner-rv10-list-server(at)matronics.com [mailto:owner-rv10-list-server(at)matronics.com] On Behalf Of Marcus Cooper
Sent: Wednesday, February 22, 2006 7:01 PM
To: rv10-list(at)matronics.com
Subject: RE: EAA Tech Counselor visit
Jeff,
Having been a Tech counselor, I’ll offer some thoughts.
First, it sounds like you have a strong player, but realize the only requirement to become a Tech Counselor is to have built an airplane and send in the paperwork so there are no guarantees about the skill of who you are getting.
Second, time is a valuable commodity so I’d suggest making the most out of his/her time and not expect more than they are willing to give. Having said that, I suspect most counselors enjoy looking at other projects and the time spent doing so or they shouldn’t have signed up to be one.
As for how to utilize them, I’d suggest steering them toward any areas you have concerns over. Then just cut them loose to wander about the project primarily as a second set of eyes to catch things you are too familiar with to notice are wrong. They also tend to have experience with other types of projects and can offer unique insight to particular problems or catch something that doesn’t quite make sense.
I have never heard of a bad experience with a Tech Counselor so I recommend you continue the visits if possible. I’d take lots of notes and then decide what items need to be tweaked as it’s your machine and nothing he says is mandatory.
Marcus
40286
-----Original Message-----
From: owner-rv10-list-server(at)matronics.com [mailto:owner-rv10-list-server(at)matronics.com] On Behalf Of Jeff Dalton
Sent: Wednesday, February 22, 2006 9:15 PM
To: rv10-list(at)matronics.com
Subject: EAA Tech Counselor visit
I just had my first EAA Tech counselor visit. There's a guy in our local EAA chapter that helps a lot of people out in the area - he really seemed to know his stuff.
Question for the group - what kinds of experiences did you all have with tech counselors and how would you recommend best working with them to get the most out of it?
| | - The Matronics RV10-List Email Forum - | | | Use the List Feature Navigator to browse the many List utilities available such as the Email Subscriptions page, Archive Search & Download, 7-Day Browse, Chat, FAQ, Photoshare, and much more:
http://www.matronics.com/Navigator?RV10-List |
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LessDragProd(at)aol.com
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| Posted: Thu Feb 23, 2006 8:46 am Post subject: EAA Tech Counselor visit |
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A friend decided recently to build a RV-4. I had a completed RV-4 vertical stabilizer setting around (don't know from where) which I gave him. The rudder attach brackets had been drilled off.
His first task was to drill out the rivets holding in the rear spar so new rudder attach brackets could be installed. Obviously, this wasn't much of a gift.
He started on the rudder, recently. When a rivet didn't set properly, he just drilled it out and installed a new rivet. He didn't give it a second thought.
From an A&P friend, I learned to just start to drill the rivet. Then check to see that the drill point was centered. If it wasn't, cock the drill sideways, and walk the drill point to the center. For skin and rib assemblies, just drill through the head of the rivet, but not through the body. Then, with a pair of pliers, pull the rivet tail out from the back side.
Jim Ayers
EAA Tech Councilor
| | - The Matronics RV10-List Email Forum - | | | Use the List Feature Navigator to browse the many List utilities available such as the Email Subscriptions page, Archive Search & Download, 7-Day Browse, Chat, FAQ, Photoshare, and much more:
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