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- Mar 15, 2016
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Ari
My friendly local A&P used to build aluminum wings for a living. He wants to build a plane with me. I am absurdly tempted because this method will probably get the thing done in months (or at most years) instead of decades and it will probably fly straight, plus building the plane under an A&P's supervision could lead to qualifying for an airframe mechanic certificate, which will have other benefits in life.
I just checked my logbook. I have 292 hours, of which 125 were solo (43%), 101 were with one passenger (35%), 62 were dual (21%), and 4 were with more than one passenger (1%). (There were a couple of flights with one passenger plus one dog but I have seen a dog ride in the baggage area of an RV-7 so I didn't count these separately.) You're supposed to own a plane for your 90% mission, and my mission is significantly over 90% in the "don't need more than two seats" category. Having a plane for 90% of my flying that I can work on myself will also save money (on entertainment costs because I'll always be working on it and on maintenance costs) that I can use to have access to a bigger plane for trips where it's necessary.
I like the RV-9 and RV-7, which seem about equally capable for normal flying, and lean toward the RV-7 because it can do aerobatics. I don't have any aerobatic experience but I think I am interested in getting some and I think that a plane that can do aerobatics has a better market than an otherwise very similar plane that cannot. I know that the RV-9 is a little more stable, but I would be building with a two-axis autopilot to relieve fatigue on long flights. I also know that it stalls slightly slower than the RV-7, but not a lot slower. Correct me if I am wrong on the market or on the handling of these planes.
I put together a costs spreadsheet for the airframe, powerplant, and avionics. I know that the interior and exterior finish will add to the cost but that should be in single-digit AMUs so having the big-ticket items priced out should give a reasonable idea of the total financial outlay for the plane. It looks like 25% of the cost is in the airframe, 25% in the avionics (G3X Touch system with GTN 650 for IFR flight), and 50% in the powerplant (new Lycoming engine and Hartzell propeller). Being able to sequence the purchases as we go is helpful, although not as helpful as it would be if I expected to spend 10 years riveting the airframe together and saving up for the engine.
What I need now is someone to talk me out of the whole thing. Does anyone in the upper Midwest have a flying RV-7 and/or RV-9 they would like to have a pilot-rated passenger or safety pilot in for a couple hours to help? I'm in western ND so the entire states of MT, ND, MN, and SD are within easy reach and I would fly a little farther than that to get a taste of something before committing over $100,000 and many hours of my life to it. I hope someone can help convince me not to do this!
I just checked my logbook. I have 292 hours, of which 125 were solo (43%), 101 were with one passenger (35%), 62 were dual (21%), and 4 were with more than one passenger (1%). (There were a couple of flights with one passenger plus one dog but I have seen a dog ride in the baggage area of an RV-7 so I didn't count these separately.) You're supposed to own a plane for your 90% mission, and my mission is significantly over 90% in the "don't need more than two seats" category. Having a plane for 90% of my flying that I can work on myself will also save money (on entertainment costs because I'll always be working on it and on maintenance costs) that I can use to have access to a bigger plane for trips where it's necessary.
I like the RV-9 and RV-7, which seem about equally capable for normal flying, and lean toward the RV-7 because it can do aerobatics. I don't have any aerobatic experience but I think I am interested in getting some and I think that a plane that can do aerobatics has a better market than an otherwise very similar plane that cannot. I know that the RV-9 is a little more stable, but I would be building with a two-axis autopilot to relieve fatigue on long flights. I also know that it stalls slightly slower than the RV-7, but not a lot slower. Correct me if I am wrong on the market or on the handling of these planes.
I put together a costs spreadsheet for the airframe, powerplant, and avionics. I know that the interior and exterior finish will add to the cost but that should be in single-digit AMUs so having the big-ticket items priced out should give a reasonable idea of the total financial outlay for the plane. It looks like 25% of the cost is in the airframe, 25% in the avionics (G3X Touch system with GTN 650 for IFR flight), and 50% in the powerplant (new Lycoming engine and Hartzell propeller). Being able to sequence the purchases as we go is helpful, although not as helpful as it would be if I expected to spend 10 years riveting the airframe together and saving up for the engine.
What I need now is someone to talk me out of the whole thing. Does anyone in the upper Midwest have a flying RV-7 and/or RV-9 they would like to have a pilot-rated passenger or safety pilot in for a couple hours to help? I'm in western ND so the entire states of MT, ND, MN, and SD are within easy reach and I would fly a little farther than that to get a taste of something before committing over $100,000 and many hours of my life to it. I hope someone can help convince me not to do this!