Getting
Organized: This page covers
my approach to the challenge of getting organized. It starts with
a brief walkthrough of my thoughts/rationale and then outlines my actual
project information/organization structure.
To jump down to the
project Info structure (below)
click here.
Getting Started:
I began by looking at my anticipated
project information needs:
In reviewing these needs/activities,
it seemed obvious that adopting a formal, common information "filing
system" (i.e. data structure) and applying it as the primary
grouping and sorting approach for each of the activities above would
greatly simplify things and allow an more integrated and organized
outcome. (i.e. workplans, progress tracking, issues, tips,
costs, etc would all be categorized/grouped/sorted/stored the same
way).
Since most of the information related
to the needs/activities listed above pertain to some part of the
airplane, it also seemed obvious to use the aircraft structure as
the basis for my common information structure. However, since
the airplane is comprised of thousands of individual parts, I needed
a way to summarize (roll-up) the detail into a useable model.
After a couple trial iterations, I
finalized on a 4 level rollup comprised of:
This structure is used to
capture, group, store, and sort data for each of the project
information areas above. For example: status/progress is
tracked by sub-component and "rolled-up" to component or category as desired.
Project Information Structure:
(categories and key components/systems)
The four level (Category, Component,
Sub-component, Item) structure is perhaps best understood via an
example. Listed below are the top level Categories and selected
components for each.
| Category |
Description
(selected "Components") |
|
1. Administrative
|
FAA Regulations,
Contracts, Insurance, Budgeting, etc.. |
|
2. Airframe |
Wings, Fuselage, Landing Gear, Hstab, Vstab,... |
|
3. Flight
Controls |
Ailerons, Elevators, Rudder, Flaps, Trim, Speed Brakes,... |
|
4.
Systems |
Brakes, Electric, Fuel, HVAC, Lighting, Oxygen, DeIce,... |
|
5.
Cabin |
Seats, SeatBelts, InstPanel, Overhead, Luggage, EquipBay,... |
|
6.
Firewall Fwd |
Engine, Prop, Spinner, Firewall, Eng Mount, Cowl,... |
|
7.
Avionics |
Flight Instruments, Radios, Nav/GPS, Engine Monitor,... |
|
8.
Finishing
|
Paint, Upholstery, Placards, Weight&Balance, FAA
Inspection,... |
|
9.
Testing
|
Planning, Bench Tests, Taxi
Tests, Flight Testing, Squawks,... |
|
10.
Operation
|
Flight Log,
Inspections, Maintenance Log, Ongoing Improvements. |
For a sorted listing of all the Components
Click Here
For a sorted listing of all the Sub-Components
Click Here
|
N727RT: Project Notebook
