In visiting projects as a tech counselor and a DAR I’ve often thought telling the story will help others avoid the predicament. While every project is different, and there is nothing better than experience, having a few handy tips can save time and effort. Many of the questions I get are as psychological as they are technical. That’s one of the reasons I begin a TC visit with planning and self-knowledge, because no one wants to think about that, and it’s the one big thing that can delay project completion.
If you’ve built before, are a serial builder or are just thinking about it, there will always be something new or something you learn from every project. In this column, I’ll tell some of the stories and suggest how to avoid the traps builders fall into.
And So…
“Thanks for coming,” said Tom, as I looked into his two-car garage. There were parts scattered everywhere. There wasn’t even a path through the space to get to the door into the house. “Ah, let’s close the door and go into the house. That’s where I have the papers from the factory,” he said.
We went inside the house. There were airplane parts scattered everywhere, with hardware and boxes sitting on furniture. I tried to be tactful. “Tom, how do you know where and what everything is?”
“That’s the problem. I don’t. I got excited and went through everything!”
“OK. Understand,” I replied. “But let reason prevail here. Let’s decide first how you are going to keep track of everything. A methodical unpacking is critical. Let’s look first at the paperwork you have now, organize it and then start an inventory.”
“Yeah, OK, I know you’re right. I feel like a kid,” Tom said.
“I sure do understand that,” I replied.
Documentation—a dreaded word. But one we can’t live without. Documentation is part of planning, designed to give you lots of help. In that moment when we are desperately looking for the invoice for a part we have to send back because it doesn’t work, we will be glad we made the notebook with all the parts information and the invoices, dates, prices and contact info. Otherwise, we’ll be casting about for hours looking for things.
Right after your airplane kit arrives, make up a notebook series. Even better, get the manuals before the kit arrives and make up the notebooks. Let your waiting excitement fuel your energy. When the truck pulls up, you will know exactly what you’re getting. As you unpack the crates, inventory all of your parts. It feels like a longcut, but it’s a huge shortcut.
When I arrive at a project and the builder has a technical question, the first thing I ask for is the build manuals. The builder spends a lot of time looking for things. This is the longcut. I know this isn’t you—you spent the “long” time organizing everything ahead of the build.
When you need to locate a part, when you need to order something, when you need to find information later for testing or for the owner’s manual, you will be very glad you took the time at the beginning to assemble everything. If you get a TC at the outset, they can help you organize your paperwork and your space.
How to Organize
Many builders are now keeping digital logs, inventories and records of their build on their computer or tablet, with the files in the cloud. My advice is to use what you are most comfortable with or you will not want to use the system. Getting the paperwork lined up, deciding how you will keep your logs and doing the inventory all up front will mean shortcuts, not longcuts, later. This detailed rigor will also give you the makings of your Pilot’s Operating Handbook (POH) and your aircraft maintenance manual. Good start.
Lisa, truer words were never spoken. I work with the Young Aviator Program here in our chapter and constantly trying to get our young aviation future folks to understand the concepts of just putting tools and unused parts back in the correct location so minimal time is spent just looking for something to continue a project We spent almost an entire session just organizing one bench…I only hope it sticks with them. Thanks for a great article
Thank you!
I deal with tool and parts organization at work as an engineer. I stress constantly to others to put the tools back where they belong at the end of Every day, in the labs, in the workshops, etc.
When people take tools and don’t put them back for days, people start borrowing specific tools from one another until no one remembers who had it last, who took it last. But if everyone put ALL their tools back EVERY day, any time a tool goes missing, we know the time window in which it was last taken, and can figure out which people used it in the time, and we quickly establish where it went. People worry others will take it and use it if they put it back, but at least you know who took it and if you need it too they’ll bring it back quickly.
It’s extra effort to put everything back every day, but when it becomes habit, it’s not that hard. I earned special favor with our machinist for doing this, and he’d prioritize my projects or let me borrow certain things he wouldn’t let others borrow, because he knew I would Always bring it back.
In the military, our mechanics were given Snap On toolboxes with padlocks, and trays with foam inserts so every tool had its place and was easy to inventory 100% in mere minutes. Every month they had to inventory their toolboxes and open them for inspection. Every tool that went missing they got charged for out of their paycheck. This resulted in the mechanics taking great care to put their tools back and be Very careful who they allowed to borrow tools. Those who could not be trusted were forced to scrounge for tools from the crappy collection of random stuff, the mechanics would never loan those individuals a tool from their kits (the mechanics being personally responsible if they were lost). But if you proved to them to be trustworthy, they’d start letting you borrow tools. Again, best way to gain trust is to use the tools, then immediately put them away, and never leave tools out overnight.
In building my airplane, I keep everything in marked boxes. I’d inventory each box one at a time, then mark All sides of the box with a sharpie so I could identify that box easily later. With the inventory sheet and marked boxes, it’s super easy to find the exact parts I need per the plans when I need them. When I bought avionics and such, I found another box to keep all of those items in until ready to install. I created a binder for copies of ALL documentation such as inventory sheets, special build instructions, manuals and documents for avionics and other items. I also created a mechanical reference binder that has things like a rivet ref sheet I created, AN bolt hardware ref sheet I created, copies of ALL the material data sheets for ALL of the hardware in my airplane (including cotter pins, piano hinges, washers, rivets, etc.), Sheet metal gauge tables I created from the original material standards, drill ref table I created, thread tables (thread specs, tap drill hole sizes, reamer holes, clearance hole sizes, etc.), and much more. I also create shtmtl bending references, and more. But that keeps all my documentation organized and in one place.
I also keep all of my tools organized in low cost Stanley toolboxes. Files and deburring, air tools, rivet tools, wiring tools, marking tools, punch tools, etc. All the rivets and hardware are organized in trays on a Harbor Freight organizer. Etc.
Organization makes things easy. I hate wasting time organizing too, but I’ve learned easy ways to do it over the years, and I’ve learned the hard way just how much time overall it truly does save me to stay reasonably organized. It also makes it super easy to restart something when I have to pause for a few days or weeks (or even months), I can quickly figure out where I left off.
Really well said, Mike. Similar experiences in my days as a manufacturing engineer. Thank you for taking the time to post this. I know it will be helpful to readers.