Every pilot wants his own airplane. When I looked around at the production airplanes that were available, they are either slow (100-125 MPH) or expensive and burn a lot of gas ($75,000 and 16 gallons an hour). The RV is fast (about 190 MPH), burns the same gas as the slow ones (under 10 galls an hour), and will cost about the same as my Jeep Cherokee.
In my basement. I have a walk-out, so I'll be able to get it out the door. When we had the house built, I asked the builder to install a door that I could open to the full width (about 6 feet). Standard installation would have been a sliding glass door, which of course only opens to half the width of the opening. When it gets time to mount the wings, I'll have to move to the airport.
Some guys have a spare, heated garage for building. I envy them.
I'm moving soon. I'm selling my house and getting remarried; we'll live in my fiancee's house. Prior to moving in, I'm going to build a 2-car detached garage where she currently has a small shed. If the city lets me, I'll make a small office upstairs of the garage. The entire structure will be heated, plumbed for the air compressor, with lots of electrical outlets and tons of light. I'll paint everything -- including the floor -- white. It should be very bright and a great place to work.
Yes, it is. Looking at one of the completed planes, if you didn't know better, it looks like a factory-produced aircraft. Carrying two people and flying 190 MPH means this isn't a toy.
I'm having a ball! When I bought the first subkit, I figured I would enjoy the project, but it was really the end goal that would keep me working on it. However, building this airplane is a perfect project for me, and I highly recommend it to anyone else.
One of the overriding factors involved in selecting in one of Van's airplanes instead of one of the other excellent kitplanes on the market was the extensive help network. There are over 1200 RVs now flying. The Minnesota builder's group has over 200 members, representing 140 airplanes. 30 of these planes are flying, the rest are under construction. And there's a mailing list devoted to RVs: rv-list@matronics.com.
It seems to take other people a little over 2000 hours to get their RV in the air (although there's a guy in California who recently completed one in 87 days!). At my current rate, I expect to be done after 4 to 5 years building. However, I'm also hoping to increase the time I spend working on the plane.
I have a couple of comments to make. First, see the answer to the question "Are you having fun". Also, I believe it was someone from Van's who talked to a prospective builder about the project. The prospective complained that if you only can work 1 day a week, it'll take you about 5 years. The response was, "5 years is going to go by anyways. You could have 5 years of Sunday football and beer, or you could have an airplane."
Actually, no one asks that question. They dance all around it instead. Basically, to most people, this just isn't something people do.
However, the kitplane industry is growing by leaps and bounds. New production airplanes are extremely expensive and they don't really perform that well. The kitplane industry provides good aircraft at an affordable price. You just have to build it.
Building isn't at all difficult. Most people already know how to use basic tools such as a drill, files, measuring tapes and rules, etc. There are only a few new tools to learn to use, and their operation can be taught in just a few minutes. You can learn everything you need to know to get started in an hour or two.
I used to say a "Lycoming O-320 160 HP aircraft engine". I think I've changed my mind to a somewhat more expensive answer. At this point, I'm planning a Lycoming O-360 180 HP engine with a constant speed prop. This will run me approximately $6,000 or $8,000 more than an O-320 with a fixed-pitch prop. However, there are some nice advantages. First, I'll get better overall performance -- at the cost of more fuel. However, the constant speed prop will save me about a gallon an hour at cruise and result in a much quieter ride. Also, if I want the same cruise performance as the O-320, I can throttle back a bit and work the engine even lighter. This will result in similar fuel burn to an O-320. All-in-all, everything is a trade-off. But after spending all the time and money on everything else, it seems a shame to not put in the best engine and prop.
It's pretty early for me to answer this question. However, I've completed my instrument flight rating, and the RV will be IFR equipped. I suspect I'll have a fairly "standard" package similar to what you'll find in the average Cessna 172. However, I won't bother with an ADF receiver and will probably have one of the radios be a IFR Approach GPS.
There are also some very interesting products on the market associated with engine and fuel flow management. I intend to install one of these units.
Navaid devices has a wing leveler. Everyone I talk to says some kind of simple autopilot is required if I'm going to fly in the clouds. I'll mostly fly by hand during approaches, but it's nice to have a device to hold the wings level while I consult the approach plates. Matronics makes a nice unit.
It's now January 2002, and I have an update on radios. More of an "I don't know" again. But there are some very interesting glass cockpit type devices I could get -- at not-horrid prices. Decisions, decisions...
There are some things I'd do differently based on what I know now. Of course, I didn't know this at the time I started. But basically, I'd set up a better building area. I'd take the time to plumb my air compressor with built-in pipes, for instance. This would allow me to move the air compressor into the garage, where I wouldn't have to listen to it.
I'd also get a QUIETER air compressor. The portable compressors from Sears are horridly loud. They have some nice features, but the noise is unbelievable.
In general, I'd just like my work area to be laid out better.
I'd also get more in the habit of pre-assembling parts before I drill holes. I'm finding that sometimes it look obvious how a part is assembled, and I just start drilling. But if I actually take the time to pre-assemble everything, I make fewer mistakes.
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