In the beginning, there was the tail kit. Parts inventory was kept in a poly
box, the type with a dozen or so compartments.
Then came the wing kit. Inventory expanded into another poly box with 20
dividers plus a small cardboard box to hold the larger and/or heavier items.
Then came the fuselage kit. The concept of getting a couple more poly boxes
evaporated in a rush.
Having heard others describe their problems in finding small parts as the
project progressed, I wanted a method which simplified part location. The
system described below typically allows locating a part in less than 1
minute, plus it simplifies the initial inventory of parts when the kit is
unpacked. While it isn't perfect, it is much better than the large heap
method.
My kit arrived with 3 or 4 large poly bags containing most of the small
parts. The brake parts were in one bag but the other bags didn't seem to have
any particular organization.
The large parts are relatively easy to locate because they are relatively few
and they are hard to mislay because of their size. I checked off the large
parts - anything over a foot long or weighing more than a pound or so - and
stored them in a spare bedroom.
Then I made heaps on the floor containing parts whose identification number
started with one of the following or whose purpose was obvious (e.g. the gas
cap):
AN3 - Bolts etc.
AN4
AN5
AN9 - Washers
Brake System
CS - Control System - Big bag required
DL - Doors
FL - Flaps
FO -- Fuel System
LG - Landing Gear - Several large parts plus smaller items
M - Nuts, split pins, rod ends, etc.
TP - Tail plane (store with other TP parts)
W - Wing
EURO + anything which doesn't fit in one of the above categories
There may be one or two more bags which I discarded when they emptied so
divide it up differently if required.
I used 1 gallon ziplock bags to hold each heap or if a heap was too large I
re-used an original Europa bag. The bags (except CS, Brake, Fuel, and LG)
fit into a 1 foot by 2 foot cardboard box so storage is easy. The 4 exception
bags noted above are stored with the large parts until called for.
Inventory is straight forward once the parts are grouped. Just select a heap
and check off each part as it is placed into its bag. Since the parts in a
bag have similar numbers, they are mostly located near each other on the
inventory sheet supplied by Europa although my kit had two alphabetized lists
so I had to check both in some instances. It is self-correcting in that if a
part is in the wrong heap initially it will be noticed and corrected during
inventory. Thus you are assured that the parts are stored correctly, at least
to start. The weakness of this system is that if you return parts to the
wrong bag you have no easy way to find them again or correct the problem.
Locating a part is straight forward also, given the part number. Often it is
simplest to dump the bag to speed the search, then put everything back once
the desired item is found.
I found that cutting the corner of the baggies the individual parts are
supplied in so that a part can just be forced out works well. As does
re-sealing with tape. Fold 1/8" of the tape back on itself to make a little
pull tab so a baggie can be re-sealed repeatedly.
Hope this is helpful. At least it is a lot cheaper than poly boxes.
John A044
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