receiving kit

[Flybyjim]

For those of you who have received the SS7 what advise do you have when the kit arrives and things to do before starting the build?

[rocketman2tm]

As with any project that will take up large amounts of space in your workshop, make sure you have your workshop exactly as you want it before hand. It is hard to do something like paint the floor white when you have airplane everywhere.

I'm assuming you're going with Partain. This only applies if you are building at home. If you live in a place where people might be parking in front of your house, beat them to the punch and put your car there first. That way you can move it right before the big truck shows up.

There are a couple of large items that don't have any padding: fuselage, wings, and flapperons. If you look at my builder's log, the fuselage was sitting on an old rug, I cut out blocks out of 2X4 for the wings, and used some dog beds that our dog decided that she no longer cared for with the flapperons.

If you are going with Partain, those guys are pretty good about making sure you're not missing anything. I had my wife checking shipped items off the list.

Prepare yourself... your workshop is about to get smaller (but way more awesome).

[ken nougaret]

If you got the quick build option, have supports/rotators made for the wings. See tom wade's site (tropical tuba) for pics.
I wish i had insulated and airconditioned my detached garage long ago. I certainly don't want to take the time now.
Good luck, ken

I was going to paint the floor but instead i bought outdoor carpet for the garage. I think it worked out good. I could set the powder coated parts down and not scratch them, and dropped hardware doesn't go far. I just vacuum now instead of sweeping.

[jiott]

Do a thourough inventory of all parts in every box, check each one off the supplied list, after they arrive. Kitfox is good, but it seems there are always a couple of items missing, and it is not very fair to them to claim missing parts six months later.

[t j]

After fighting with the thick builders manual for the first couple 100 hours I split it up into two thinner three ring binders. Much easier to flip around in.

[Jch]

I bought two small furniture dollies (inexpensive) from Harbor Freight. I set the fuselage on them and easily moved the fuse from the truck to the garage. Then, I moved the fuselage around the garage to work on it until I put the landing gear on. Then I put the dollies under the wheels and continued to move the SS7 around the garage very easily. I used them right up to the time I moved the SS7 to the airport. My $.02 worth.