The Pedal Gee Bee

The text of the plans is amazingly thorough. I didn’t think that at first, but now that I’m assembling the Gee Bee I’ve come to appreciate their completeness. There were numerous places (too many to count actually) where in the midst of assembly, I’d doubt a particular step, and the combination of re-reading the text and looking at the plans removed all confusion. When in doubt, step back, re-read the instructions, and ponder the drawings over a beer. Works for me, every time.

Something that I found advantageous to do is to go through the plans and identify distinct sub assemblies beforehand. Things such as the wheel covers, the gear, the nose plate, and the firewall are assembled prior to their attachment to larger whole. Therefore, work on these assemblies can commence in parallel with the fuselage. The only thing you need to do is completely read and understand the instructions so that you’re aware of how the assembly attaches before setting out on a sub-assembly. Otherwise you’ll end up wasting wood and effort. Take notes and document your work, not only so you don’t forget what you’ve done so far, but so that when it’s all done you can take pride in the individual accomplishments along the way. My Grandfather did it, I’m doing it, and I encourage you do it to.

I do have one beef about the plans. I have two sets of them. One set of sheets hang un-cut on a plan board for reference, and the other was cut up for pattern transfer. One set I purchased at EAA in Oshkosh, the other I ordered through the website at a later date. The physical difference in the plan sheets is a full 1/8th of an inch! I didn’t realize this until some of the parts weren’t mating up like they should. Let’s just say I doubted myself, my tools, and the instructions, in that order. Once I recognized the problem, I began drawing the parts to dimension myself without using the plans as templates. Since I didn’t go back and re-cut numerous pieces, I’ve got some non-square corners and joints to show for it all. However, on the whole, there’s enough “fudge” in the entire project to make up for these minor size differences. A little sanding here, a little glue there and you probably won’t notice a difference.