"Working Smart"
(or how to get the most from your shop time)
by Sam Buchanan
I have received many comments on the pace with which my RV-6 took shape. Several builders
have asked,"How did you build so fast?" The answer is certainly not due to my
exceptional shop skills (some builders would probably leave my shop in disgust) but rather
to a systematized and rational method of approaching the project. It is for the benefit of
new and early builders that I submit the following
thoughts about how to "work smart". However, all of use have limited time
available for RV playtime, so it behooves all builders to get the maximum bang for their
investment in shop time.
The construction hours listed in my builders log are shop hours
only. This does not include the time spent reflecting on upcoming tasks while in idle
moments at the office or sitting in a traffic jam. And herein lies one of the keys to
working smart....
1) Hit the shop door running. I suspect many novice builders spend a great deal of time
standing at the workbench just staring at the project. This is not productive shop time.
The time to figure out how
you are going to approach a task is away from the shop. Instead of watching
another mind-numbing sitcom, get out the preview plans and really study the
sequence of steps that you face in the course of completing the next task. And that brings
us to the next step....
2) Previsualize your shop work. When I had my first Pro-Seal Party, the tanks took shape
just fine because I had already built six sets of tanks. "HUH?" Yep, I
had "mentally" completed several tanks by visualizing the tools required, the
steps necessary, and the mental prepping needed to "hit the shop door running".
When I started the tanks, I already knew which tools I would need, what order in which I
would proceed with the task, and had a pretty good idea of how long it would take to
complete the task. Consequently, I had that feeling of "I have done this
before...". And speaking of tasks....
3) Divide the project into small "tasks". An RV is by far the most complex
project most of us have ever attempted. This thing makes those Christmas bicycles we
assembled pale in comparison! It is very easy to be overwhelmed by the sheer magnitude of
the project at hand. The way to conquer this feeling of helplessness is to forget that you
are building an airplane, and concentrate instead on building airplane "Parts"!
Just build the rudder....forget about how complex the fuse may be. Or, break it down even
further....just build the stiffeners for the rudder.
Every time you walk into the shop, you should have the task in mind that you intend to
complete by the time you leave the shop. Don't set the mark too high, keep in mind that
your time may be limited. But if you want to work smart, you will never just aimlessly
wander into the shop and try to figure out what it is you want to work on today.
Those of us who have been teachers see this as identical to the process we used to prepare
lesson plans. The first step was to establish the objective for that day's lesson. Next we
determined what "tools" (books, VCR, lab equipment, etc.) we needed to attain
that objective. We then made sure the tools were close at hand. And finally, we had a way
to evaluate whether or not we met the objective.
It should be evident how this translates into our shop habits. It is very difficult to
work smart if the shop is in a state of chaos. You need to to know exactly where
every tool is stored. You need to know
where those little brown bags with the little parts are located (you did inventory and
label all the bags with their contents?). There is no reason why you can't do this
headwork before you ever walk into the
shop. Then as soon as you turn on the lights, fire up the compressor, take your first gulp
of iced tea, you are ready to WORK!
Also, when you have completed the evening's task, the last thing you do before leaving the
shop is clean the tools, return them to their proper place (unless you have really taken
this lesson to heart and have already visualized tomorrow's task, and layed out what you
will need (In that case, you get an A+!)), and sweep up the filings. The whole point of
this exercise is to prepare yourself and the shop for a "new task". This is key
to feeling that you are making real progress and generating a pile of airplane parts. It
also means that tomorrow you will arrive in a clean shop that is optimized for working
smart.
Hopefully you get the idea. There is more to be said about the construction sequences used
to maximize shop efficiency and personal fulfillment. I apologize for bordering on
verbosity, but hey, the whole point is to fly these critters as soon as possible so we can
boast of one of those "First Flight" stories! I suspect that many projects have
been abandoned because the builder "lost his way" and lacked a cohesive plan for
seeing the project to completion. I readily admit that circumstances beyond our control
can derail our projects, but let's be sure that it is not our own lack of shop discipline
that is responsible for our RV becoming another orphan.
© 2009 Sam Buchanan
Please submit all questions and comments to sbuc@hiwaay.net