I never really flew until I built my RV. I had my license for 4 years and was in a flying club with a really nice 172. However, I never really went anywhere. Never overnight because of the scheduling issues and additional costs for keeping a plane out without putting hours on it.
I was debating getting out of flying because I was bored with just flying locally to the same airports, and I didn't feel like buying something I couldn't maintain myself (I fix everything I own). A friend of mine forwarded me a link to Dan Checkoway's website, and that immediately changed my interest in flying. I never even heard of Experimentals or Kit airplane before I ran into Dan's website (they were never mentioned in the Flying or AOPA magazines). Before I knew it, I had an empennage on its way and my life would be forever changed for the better.
Like CJ, I was planning on a Blue Mountain EFIS for my panel. At the time it was lightyears beyond everyone else. At that time, AFS only made AOA and engine monitors, and Dynon only had their D10 EFIS. GRT I believe had their Horizon EFIS, but it was well outside what I wanted to pay.
Mike Bullock http://www.rvplane.com RV-7 | Superior IO-360 | Whirlwind 200RV Garmin GTN650 | GRT Dual Sport SX EFIS
Status: FLYING!
i had bought a 1977 Cessna 172XP and had begun doing a lot of the work on it myself under the watchful eye of my friendly neighborhood IA. I have always enjoyed tinkering with stuff. to give credit where it is due, it was this website that finally made me go for it. I had seen this site, gotten my first ride in a 8 through this site, so I bought the kit and since have mostly lurked in the background absorbing and learning
My original intension for the 8 was a light fast, powerful aerobatic airplane with steam gauges only. Now Im building a IFR capable, fully redundant traveling airplane that I can do aerobatics in.
I really enjoy working on the plane but realize there is so much I dont know how to do. Tomorrow I start school at the Teterboro school of aeronautics to get my A&P certificate. Now I will learn everything i did wrong building the RV
I always wanted my own airplane. Understood I couldn't afford certified one in decent shape. Was shamelessly milked while in training. Had a lot of free time waiting for Uncle Sam decision. Run a calculator for about a year if I could swing the adventure. Planned new motor, nice interior and nothing on the panel. Toiled three years assembling the hardware learning on the way. Looks like the plan worked.
Two years later and I have hundreds of friends all over US and abroad. Thanks RV.
In two years I covered all CONUS and some more. Thanks RV.
I've even been to the Bungalow. Thanks Captain John.
I had a Cherokee 180 that I got my IFR rating and my son got his PPL (he's now starting to fly F-16s). I put $20k into the panel and got extremely frustrated when I had to show the shop how to wire the new instrumentation. They wouldn't read the manuals or call the vendor and after many hours of billing at $60/hr I ot upset. To add insult to injury, I was getting tired of the $2k-$4k annuals.
I did underestimate the cost a bit, but to be fair, there has been plenty of scope creep too. (ADSB, APRS, four EFIS screens, GTN650, leather interior, etc)
I re-planned my entire panel after finishing complete schematics. I was originally planning on a GRT HX, GNS430, and VP-200. The final panel has AFS 4500s, GTN650, VP/X PRO, ADSB, and more. I would have loved to put in AFS 5600s, but the budget got extremely limited due to being unemployed for a year during the build.
Six and a half years later, the dream is about to become a reality. I wish I could have kept the CHerokee until the build done, but with two kids in college there was no way that was going to happen.
If no more items show up on the punch list, that magic day will be here shortly.
What were you thinking when you began this project?
CJ
Building an airplane has been on my bucket list forever. I joined EAA while in college, then after grad school I was determined to get my Private license. My father and I bought a Rockwell Commander 114 shortly after and we did a bit of flying for several years. It was expensive and annual's were always an adventure. The last one found a cracked spar that had to be fixed by the factory (part of a lawsuit settlement by the owner's group). The plane had a high time engine when we bought it, and getting it overhauled was the tipping point. It was sold at a profit, so we lucked out financially. I spent the next 22 years raising my family, so no flying.
I never thought I would be able to build an airplane until I ran across some builder sites. I poured over every builder site I could find for 2 years and then decided to do it myself. Without the internet forums and the collective knowledge swap that occurs there daily, it would be quite a task for someone like me with no aircraft building skills to be able to pull this off.
I should have my RV-9A to the airport in the next month or two to begin final assembly. Now I just have to knock off the rust on my flying skills and get current again. That's probably the scariest part of this adventure!
I was a newbie pilot that met a Rans Builder Assist guy. He wanted help building a S-6(low&slow), I was local so jumped in just for the fun of it. He also had an RV-4(fast), which we looped and rolled around one day.
I was thinking...I WANT one of these!
I talked with the wife, she said if you're going to build one...make it fast I don't like being in them. Fast it is!
I have been around airplanes all my life, attending OSH beginning as a kid and even attending Rockford once.
Building was always in the back of my mind, but I didn't think I had the time to complete an airplane. After owning several airplanes and being directly involved in my maintenance for 20 plus years, I decided to take the plunge. It has been a really enjoyable ride so far, but I was probably correct in thinking I really didn't have the time.
This has been a life changing amount of work and I still have a very long ways to go. I am confident I will complete the project, but I'm not sure how long it will take. I have already been on the project 3 1/2 years and I think I will have at least another 3 -5 years to completion. From what I can tell, I think I will have 3,000 to 4,000 hours in it when completed.
"A man without a dream in his heart already has one foot in the grave."
I have dreamed of owning and flying my own airplane since childhood. I decided as a young kid that I would have an airplane when I grew up. But when I was in college I found out how expensive airplanes can be. I took an FAA ground school toward the goal of getting a pilots license. I logged one or two hours of flying in a Cessna 150 with an instructor, but as an unemployed student, I didn't have money for flying lessons. So I took up skydiving as a hobby. I actually got P.E. credit for the training class! Skydiving became my biggest passion. I had 10 jumps logged by the end of my sophomore year in college. By the end of that summer, I had 36 jumps under my belt and my own parachute. I went on in the following years to make over 450 parachute jumps. This gave me a lot of contact and experience with the world of aviation. I've been in and around a lot of airplanes. A lot of airports. And a great bunch of people.
After college came marriage, four beautiful kids, and the pressures and toils of life. As the years slipped by, my dreams of flying slowly slipped away. Let alone the thought of owning an airplane. Fast forward many years. I suddenly find myself almost 50 years old and divorced, finishing raising 4 kids on my own. As I see an empty nest in the not-too-distant future, I do a lot of soul-searching and I made a conscious decision. I decided it was time to re-kindle an old dream that had diminished to barely a spark. I decided to renew my interest in aviation and plug myself back in to the world of airplanes, flying, and adventure. I started reading and surfing online.
Somewhere along the way, I stumbled across a story about a guy in Australia who was building his own airplane. It was a Europa composite model. I didn't know you could do that! I knew nothing of experimentals, airplane kits, the EAA, the fly-ins, the support groups and the resources that are available. Nor did I have a clue that Van's Aircraft was literally right here in my backyard, less than 25 minutes away!
I read all about the Europa and then I discovered the GlaStar. I found out that Stoddard-Hamilton was up in Arlington, Washington. So when the next EAA Arlington Fly-in came along, I went up there to attend the fly-in and check out the factory. That was about 2001. I was shocked to find out when I got there that the factory had been closed. Bankruptcy was underway. Yikes! That was a big lesson.
I looked at lots of airplanes at Arlington that year. I saw some RV’s for the first time. I went to Van’s booth and picked up some literature, and later when I came home I discovered a local builders group, their website, and some builders’ sites online. I read every word of Randy Lervold’s RV-8 site, and later discovered Dan Checkoway’s RV-7 site. His plane was still under construction at the time. I followed his progress and emailed him several times.
Like CJ and Mike, my first exposure to a modern EFIS was the Blue Mountain EFIS. I had my heart set on one of those for a long time. Now, I'm getting ready to install an AFS 5600 with what I need for a VFR setup. Then I'll need to go get my pilots' license! My wife Jamie is eager, as I am, to get it finished and begin our flying and traveling adventures all over this great country. Vlad is the example of who we will be emulating very soon!
CJ
