Hangar "help."

As I continue to tweak and improve my little Bebe in the hangar, I'm running into the issue of "help."

It breaks down into three broad category of visitors:

Actual help: Folks that either have built an airplane or are handy in some way (A&P's, mechanically inclined, etc.) that will either throw in and give a hand or realize that it's a one man job, stand back, or even go away.

Advisers: Folks that don't actually get hands on, but have a level of expertise to where one will stop working to gain advice or listen to critiques from. This is the smallest wedge of people, but really helpful. Adviser types usually don't take much of one's time, and if they do it's worth it in the long run.

"Help" in quotation marks: Folks that don't just hang about and watch, but actually distract from work, either opining about things in non-helpful ways or just being distracting talking about unrelated things.

They're the opposite of help, though I don't think they realize it. Since they're pilots and generally nice people, I've tried a variety of polite ways of getting rid of them without much success.

I can't be alone in this, and is it something that I just have to take into account and accept, or should I become more blunt?

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Originally Posted by Frank Giger

As I continue to tweak and improve my little Bebe in the hangar, I'm running into the issue of "help."

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I have similar issues. In a sense, you're lucky you have a single seat airplane. The people who hang around and watch often think the next step is to be a passenger in your airplane. I haven't figured out an effective way to deal with that situation and I've had it on and off for 20 years.

Burt Rutan had what he called the "7 minute rule", IIRC. He'd talk to anyone for 7 minutes, but after 7 minutes he either put them to work or shooed 'em away.

yup, you pretty well nailed it, Frank. Of course, I also believe that any one of us kinda drifts into the other categories from time to time, depending on weather, side of the bed from which we arose, general attitude, etc.

What is nice is when you have a wife that goes with you to the hangar and actually does provides substantial assistance.

People who have built planes will easily realize that you are busy and will voluntarily leave hangar. The ones who just talk and distract have to be shooed away before you make unrealized mistakes.
Those need to be asked to leave now. I once had folks in hangar distracting me and forgot to tighten radiator hose clamps on a Rotax 912 that caused engine catastrophe.
I have asked fiends to leave because I'm in the middle of something serious and need to concentrate. They understand and leave for another less demanding day.

Now you know how I feel as a mechanic when aircraft owners come by and expect me to talk to them. How do I bill the customer for my time when he is standing there talking to me? I don't think that happens at auto facilities: they don't let customers "in the back". Am I supposed to keep the hangar door locked? These are customers; I cannot be rude.
It is dangerous to try to keep working on an aircraft when distracted, just as distractions are when flying them, so I stop and talk.
So next time you hear of me billing someone an outrageous amount of dollars for maintenance time, stop and consider how many times that someone was in my hangar!

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Originally Posted by whankinson

Now you know how I feel as a mechanic when aircraft owners come by and expect me to talk to them. How do I bill the customer for my time when he is standing there talking to me? I don't think that happens at auto facilities: they don't let customers "in the back". Am I supposed to keep the hangar door locked? These are customers; I cannot be rude.
It is dangerous to try to keep working on an aircraft when distracted, just as distractions are when flying them, so I stop and talk.
So next time you hear of me billing someone an outrageous amount of dollars for maintenance time, stop and consider how many times that someone was in my hangar!

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XX dollars for shop work.
XXX dollars if you are in the shop while I work.
XXXX dollars if you want to help !

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Originally Posted by Frank Giger

As I continue .....

"Help" in quotation marks: Folks that don't just hang about and watch, but actually distract from work, either opining about things in non-helpful ways or just being distracting talking about unrelated things.

They're the opposite of help, though I don't think they realize it. Since they're pilots and generally nice people, I've tried a variety of polite ways of getting rid of them without much success.

I can't be alone in this, and is it something that I just have to take into account and accept, or should I become more blunt?

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Try nice. If that doesn't work, then they deserve blunt.

I tell them I really enjoy their company, and please come back another time, but I need to concentrate on what I'm doing now. If that doesn't do it, I'll walk them to the door and point the way out. Most people understand, and those that don't, you really don't want back. Somehow it became a mark of some level of achievement as an airport bum to have been kicked out of my hangar. But after having built 3 aircraft and performed a lot of A&P work over the years, it has become a long list of folks that have been invited to leave at one time or another.:) Most really do get it.

Cute little girl came by the EAA hanger I was using as a cut shop for the bookcase I was building last week. She was all proud chattering away about getting to fly her daddies plane the other day. I kept working while talking and she finally left. End of the day I found one upright was cut 7/16ths too long and the next morning had to cut it out. Being older I don't multitask well.

Jim