QuickTalk 10 - "HOW TIME FLIES..."
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- Category: Q-Talk Articles
- Published: Thursday, 30 June 1983 07:11
- Written by Jim Masal
- Hits: 2210
A much talked about subject among those considering homebuilding is "hours to build". Most designers project a figure for their aircraft (whether they want to or not, I suspect) solely because they will be questioned over and over on this point. The fact is that any such projection is almost pure speculation except where a builder has kept an accurate log of his time. Even then, the hours to build are only accurate for THAT builder with THAT experience on THAT airplane.
Consider a real life situation - a builder gets home from work, eats dinner and goes out to his project. He has a cup of coffee, looks at his plans a while, lights up a cigarette and hunts up a piece of aluminum. Just as he's rummaging through his drill bits, a neighbor comes over to see his progress. After a little tour and some hanger flying, our builder finds his drill and bit, measures the location of his hole (two or three time to prevent error)( and drills it. Then he goes into the house to show his wife what a nice part he's made after which he discovers it's time to hit the sack for the next day.
How much time did our builder spend on his project that night? Six years of building can add up pretty fast (or slow, depending on your viewpoint). The case is clear, however, building time depends on YOU - your organization, your experience and your motivation. Three or four hundred man-hours to build could mean nothing or everything to you depending on how honest you are with yourself.
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