Problem with homebuild: the manual

The guy that started this said he wanted to do it to get his kit cheaper.
I seriously doubt that a first time builder will have the forsight
to see real problems in the structure/instructions that would be
meaningful to the kit manufacturer. In fact his narrow minded
thoughts are the very reason Vans has excellent advice available.
IF THEY HEARD THE SAME QUESTIONS ALL THE TIME
THEY WOULD BE ANSWERED IN THE MANUAL. The fact
is that every individual approaches their project with a different
personal skillset, this makes them look at the problems from their
individual perspective and makes for new and unique questions.
The manual isn't the problem, the problem is the necessary
dumbing down of the process to make it repeatable for unskilled
workers. It is a very difficult and complex task.

A manual does 2 things. It gives you an order of tasks
to accomplish and it also limits the knowlege base of the
first time builder. I have listened to a friend of mine say
"thats how Vans says to do it", with the implication that
its the ONLY way to get the task accomplished. I've also
walked him thru areas where the plans were ABSOLUTELY
correct but the written discription of the task was not explicit
in the work instructions. The manual is a 2 edged sword. Its'
nice, but it can get inexperienced people chasing their tails.

Prepunched kits IMHO limit the learning experience, but they
get much higher completion rates than plans only a/p's. The
joke around these places is that if you shake the box long enough,
it falls out built. No welding, limited tooling needed, artistic
skills not really needed, just grunt assembly work. I've been
around metal structures long enough that I know there
is more than one way to get a task accomplished.

Personally I find the Rans S7 manual very well done, but then
it needs to be in that I never saw a complete set of drawings.
The Vans drawings are very very good and I have no trouble
figuring them out, but I do have to look twice sometimes........

Scott.