What's new
Van's Air Force

Don't miss anything! Register now for full access to the definitive RV support community.

Roadblocks to building

Kintnersville_Mike

I'm New Here
Hello all, I?ve been lurking on this site for some time and enjoy it very much. I have a strong desire to build my own RV (I'm leaning toward the 9A). I have had the pleasure of Flying in a friend?s RV7A and absolutely fell in love. I have also seen many models at Oshkosh this year and am hooked on the RV.
With all that said, I wonder what roadblocks people encounter that causes them to give up their dream to finish their project? The classified section is littered with builders that quit before finishing.
What did those of you who finished your project do to get over/around these roadblocks?

What can I do to increase the odds of finishing?
 
>> I wonder what roadblocks people encounter

Having a baby.

>>What did those of you who finished your project do to get over/around these roadblocks

Parental Leave ;) With my wife and I both off it's allowed me to spend half-days on the plane. Having the baby in a sense actually helped me develop better time management skills than I have ever had.
 
Decline in enthusiasm -- ADHD?

I'll toss out another reason from personal experience (although the other reasons mentioned ALL were in play at one time or another): Decline in enthusiasm.

I was pretty pumped when I started. Enough so that I sold the plane I had to spend more time building. Then, when family demands caused a slowdown in my progress, my enthusiasm ebbed.

I had moments of inspiration (usually immediately following a trip to Oshkosh and being shamed by fellow builders!), but soon found my enthusiasm waning again. After a few years of this cycle, I began to doubt my dedication to the project. After all, if I hadn't flown for a few years and hadn't missed it, WHY am I spending all of this time and money building a stupid plane?

When I was a kid, they didn't diagnose ADD and ADHD. We were just considered "energetic" or "easily distracted". What kid wouldn't rather look outside than pay attention to a stupid teacher? :D Well, when I look at the variety of hobbies I've had in my adult years, it's pretty obvious that I get bored easily. I start a whole bunch of things and finish very few. Drives my wife crazy.

So, that's my contribution. Before you start a project like this, ask yourself honestly if you're a driven, stick-to-it kinda person. If not -- if you start things and don't finish them -- then be smart and don't embark on airplane building. Spend your money elsewhere and enjoy!
 
Last edited:
The advice that I always give is to go out and touch that project EVERY DAY. You might only have 10 minutes to give, but do it anyway. Some days all you might be able to do is tidy up a little bit or re-read the manual page a few times, but you keep your head in it and you will get something done.

Before you know it you won't be able to find anything else to do, so you go fly it.

When I was done with mine, I had averaged about an hour a day. Most of those hours were on Saturday and Sunday with a few weekdays scattered here and there, but I tried to go out to the garage every day. I'd usually find some little piddly thing that needed to be done and do it. Sometimes all I did was pick up tools. Sometimes I just shook my head and went back in the house.
 
It isn't an instant gratification hobby...

...but the rewards are worth it.

Unless you are flat broke or a complete klutz anyone can do it with patience and perseverance. It isn't outrageously challenging, either technically or intellectually.

It took me nine years to get in the air - and it still isn't finished. I built as time, other commitments and finances permitted.

Jim Sharkey
RV-6 Phase 1
 
Roadblocks

I would second everything that has been said and add one comment. In my experience if you have distractions, financial hurdles, etc., the best thing to help you overcome those is support from another builder. I would not have completed my first airplane project if it weren't for fellow builders Buz McAbery, Mike Mahar and Rob Logan.
 
Enthusiasm

OSH cans, bottles, and distills enthusiasm. That's OK, just do an honest self appraisal with regard to diligence, skills and $. Lift doesn't generate flight, $$$$$ and hard work do. How fast, high and far are directly related to that notion.

Good luck
Howard R.
F1 rocket #3
 
Eating an elephant.

One bite at a time, it will amaze you how all those little projects come together some day to create an airplane.

Find others that are building and stay in touch, it creates momentum between everyone.

Money, divorce, moving, job, space etc. The only constant was my friend and mentor and the airport.

7 years to get it all done, then got my license in my RV-7, 100 hours in my log book now. Amazing! It still makes me smile to open up the hangar door and see my plane in there, not to mention taking it out and flying!

One step at a time.

Steve
 
it helps if you like to build

Before I began my project back in what seems like another life I was told by a multiple builder that to build a plane you have to like building (or at least the idea of it).
Don't embark on a build if your only goal is to have an aircraft to fly.
I am sure that there are people out there who will disprove this notion, but I think it is generally right. The magniture of the project will hit you at some point. If the idea of spending very many probably solitary hours in a garage or workshop does not appeal building may not be for you.
Other priorities like babies, jobs, time with kids and spouse will quite rightly intervene and push back the completion date, perhaps by years, but if you like to build, you will keep at it, and the eventual result will be a great flying aircraft.
Other advice, such as trying to do something on the project, however trivial, every day, is an excellent suggestion that will keep the thing a project and not an abandoned dream.
Bill Brooks
Ottawa, Canada
RV-6A finishing kit
 
Balance between burnout and taking too long

I tried to set a pace which kept me getting segments of the project done (and seeing progress) while not getting burned out by spending too much time on it in a given week.
From the start of the project until I got the engine mounted (2 years in), if I stood back and looked at the entire project, I usually shook my head at the audacity of trying to complete such a huge project, then went back into the house for the rest of the day.
If I worked an 8 hour+ day on the project, I usually did little or nothing the next day. I averaged about 35 hours a month for the first 2 1/2 years.

I'm sure if I had taken a slower pace, I would have gotten distracted by something else and may not have finished, ever.

It took me 3 years to finish a quick-build. Find your pace and try to keep distractions down as much as you can. Life WILL happen, though, work through it.

Just my experience.

Seb Trost
RV-7A 370 hours
Henderson, NV
 
Work on the project every chance you get!

Mike,

I started thinking about building an airplane in the late 1990s. I paid for a ride in a fiberglass pusher called the Glassic Composite, which was a variation on the Cozy Mark IV. I thought about a Velocity 173, but I did not like the way it felt when I got in it. I visited both factories in Florida when I lived down there.

In 2001, I got a good paying job and by the time Oshkosh 2002 rolled around, I went there to select an airplane to build. I looked at the high-wing kits, and again, the feel just wasn't right. I climbed into all the Van's Aircraft models at their booth and settled on the RV-9A. A woman was sitting beside me for part of the time I was in the airplane, and that helped with the "feel" of the airplane both solo and with a passenger. I am not an aerobatic pilot. The cross-country capabilities and the efficiency of the RV-9 wing at higher altitudes 10,000 feet and above appealed to me. I cruise much of my long cross-country trips between 10,000 and 13,500 MSL searching for favorable winds and using the leaner fuel mixture settings at those altitudes. I have a constant speed prop and use power settings that yield 160 MPH true air speed and 25 MPG fuel economy.

By October 2002, I had ordered the preview plans and the tail kit. I got started by late October and finished the tail in December, just in time for the wings that arrived in early January 2003. Wing and fuel tank construction went well and I received the fuselage in August 2003 and so on, etc. The engine and prop came in September 2004. The airplane moved from my garage to the airport near the end of April 2005. First flight was on June 9, 2005. I sent my first flight report to Van's and it was recorded on their web site "Hobbs Meter" under RV-9/9A as number 155 to be completed and flown. My kit number was 90622. I passed a lot of other builders in my quest to get airborne. I met the guy with number 400 at Oshkosh 2004.

Now this sounds like a simple tale of dedication. I documented the story in my web site, which is linked in the signature block at the end of this post. I had my share of set backs in jobs. My finances got trimmed a bit along the way. The week after I got back from Oshkosh 2002, I got laid off from my highest-paid job. Fortunately, my previous boss had been asking me to come back for the 18 months I had the "better offer" job and bigger salary. I got my old job back the next day. That lasted about 7 months, then I had to change jobs again with a month of searching in between. I got another job in early 2003, but again took another hit on my salary. This job lasted until the end of February 2005. All during the project up to that time, I would travel on business for a week from time to time. Those trips slowed the construction progress. I mentioned those trips occasionally in the web pages. I had a small inheritance that had paid off my credit card in 2004. I bought the Van's kits on that card with its PRIME interest rate. The inheritance money also bought and paid for the engine, the finishing kit, etc. On March 1, 2005, my regular job became the completion of the airplane and to get it flying. I worked on it every day, all day, and on the weekends as much as I could take in the spring of 2005.

I spent most of June flying to get my phase one tests completed. The Hobbs meter ticked past 40 hours on July 2, 2005 with a lot of flying those last two days. I took July 3rd off. July 4th was my airplane independence day and I flew out of my phase 1 test area on a short cross country flight. The airplane went into the paint shop on July 5th and came out the day before Oshkosh 2005. All that stuff is in the web site with plenty of building photos and text in the first 135 pages of the web site.

The ultimate satisfaction of the completed project really began on page 151 when I flew away on an 8-day trip to Oshkosh, the Great Lakes, New Jersey, New England, and back home. It was the first time since I started flying in October 1991 that I had flown an airplane and did not return to the airport of origin on the same day. This photo was taken on the ramp at Georgetown, Texas on Labor Day 2005
DSCN0070B.JPG


It is worth it to be the builder and owner of one of the 6,631 (today's count) Van's Aircraft airplanes completed and flown worldwide! Build in your garage where you can get to the airplane any time and every time you can. You will see at the end of most of my sessions where I mentioned how many hours were worked that day. I kept a spread sheet of hours worked and costs incurred from the first expenditures to add shop lights and build work tables. In the end, it was just over 2042 hours of building, and about $75k for an airplane with all new engine and avionics. That includes the cost of the paint job done by a professional. Plenty of folks have spent more and some less. It all depends on your mission for your airplane as to how plain or fancy you want to do it. I kept tools and workshop materials separate from the cost of items that became a part of the airplane.

There are plenty of flying stories and photos on my web site. I was fortunate to make a new friend during my construction project who owns an airstrip behind his home out in the countryside nearby. He got the building bug from me, and I got the $100 finder's fee from Van's for bringing in a new customer. I taught him how to build his airplane and to read blue prints. I am an engineer, he was a sales guy.

One of the best stories about flying on my web site is not about an RV excursion, but about a trip to Alaska when my friend sold his Cessna 182 to a guy from Anchorage. That sale made room for his new RV-8 in the hangar. The trip to Alaska produced over 500 photos from my friend and the other commercial pilot with Canada and Alaska flying experience who went along to share the flying duties. I documented the entire trip in 50 pages full of their photos, and maps with GPS ground tracks. I felt like I had been in the back seat of that 182 with them.

You will need high-speed internet connection to enjoy my web site. You will find something in it to motivate you, or you need to consider another hobby. If you have never flown to Oshkosh, you can watch my videos made on my 2006 trip. A short test video is made as my friend and I crossed the Ohio River, then another one of the approach, landing, and finally a departure video. The EAA chapter at Lawrenceville, Georgia downloaded my videos for a training DVD they made for first time Oshkosh pilots. These are real-time NTSC videos with audio from the intercom and communications radio. The FAA controllers are heard clearly during each part of the approach and landing. The video shows the ground handling by flagmen all the way to home-built camping and engine shut down.

It is best if you download the videos to your hard drive and watch them when you are offline. You will find smaller compressed files, and larger files with better video resolution. Those are the ones that you should download.

I get occasional emails with questions from builders who have found my web site via the links on the Van's Aircraft web site. That is why I built the site. There is much to explore there to get you going and open your eyes to the possibilities of building and having your own airplane. I meet other pilots who know me and my friend from the web site photos and stories. Some of them bought their RV's already flying. They still enjoy the flight characteristics of Van's airplanes over the factory-built "spam cans" as we call them.

As for me, I knew when I started building, I wanted that "Repairman's Certificate" to insure lower annual inspection costs on MY airplane. The guys with factory airplanes have to pay an A&P mechanic every year, home builders don't.

Now, what's keeping you from getting started?
 
Bottom line on building an airplane...

Mike,

Think of the project as a lot of little jobs, when completed, result in a flyable airplane you will enjoy for a very long time!

Just so you know, a father and son team did nothing except build their Van's RV and it was finished and flying in 89 days. I guess they had money and did not have to worry about a day job like most of us here.
 
Last edited:
EATING A GALLON OF OF ICECREAM W/BABY SPOON

I LOST MY JOB BUT being 60 i have a little pension. I try to NEVER buy on credit unless I know the money is coming in.Happened that my 9a kit was purchased prior to me losing my job. I have told my wife its a investment. If I stay with it(building) the sooner we will have a flying plane and if we need money we'll sell it. I decided on the tri-gear for insurance proposes and the MA & POP MODEL 9A. I think if I had to sell a RV 9A the market would be bigger for buyers. I bought the Quick built. Theres plenty of work in the QB kit with more than ample satisfaction. Iam half way done with the main body and have had several builders stop by to help. Its the way it is in the builders circle. If you are the type of builder i think you are when you finish your plane you won't stop there you'll jump at the opportunity to help others build theirs. THATS JUST THE WAY IT GOES. New friends with the same Value system,priceless! The foundation to us builders is Dougs website here. VANSAIRFORCE I thank him everytime iam on the website and to all the other builders whom have helped me stay in the right direction. Iam not sure which of our members said If you want something you never had then you'll have to do something you never did. Or something DARN close because it works. As Wally Anderson once said walk 3 miles aday every day for a year and you have walked the distance from Seattle to LA. If I asked you to walk the Seattle to LA distance you would say NO-WAY. But brother we got your back covered and don't forget it! The finest guys in the world are the RV builders and their families. Hope I headed you int he right direction. Ron
 
While I can relate and sympathize, I think there are things one can do to mitigate the short attention span and impetuosity. For myself, I involved my brother. He is a more stable, serious person than I. Or at least that's what folks think. The benefits are numerous; half the cost, comradery, someone to pick you up emotionally when you want to scrap the whole darn thing.. You get the idea. You can read about our status and activity at our blog

Also, you can make it a point to be involved in the local EAA chapter. That boost you get at Oshkosh can happen every month by seeing what you chapter members are doing with their spare time.

Finally, I think it's important to remember that this is a hobby. Try to make sure you enjoy it. It is not a race, and there is no prize for getting it done fast.

Been building since the spring of 2007 and I'm learning to love learning. When this is done, I'm going to enjoy flying it.
 
With all that said, I wonder what roadblocks people encounter that causes them to give up their dream to finish their project?

Being from a different Moon myself I do not see any roadblocks in this great country. Unless we invent them ourselves. Good long-term planning and strict fiscal discipline and your odds of finishing are the highest...

There are tons of good suggestions on this thread. Sometimes I had as Don said a
Decline in enthusiasm.
but after visiting Jerry's site enthusiasm was back on track.

My suggestion is - if you have a job (any job), are in peace with the Uncle, start immediately.
 
I don't have any mental roadblocks to building, just purchasing the last big ticket items (avionics). I'm self-employed. Glorious when it's good, ghastly when it's not ;)
 
Here's how I did it....

I bought a '59 C172 when I was a 13-hour student back in 2001 who hadn't even soloed yet but it was something I knew I wanted to pursue. 7 months after I passed my PPL I started a -7A. My job working with Unmanned Aircraft Systems(UAS) afforded me a couple of financially lucrative trips-Iraq in 2004; which kept the money flowing. That trip financed a used engine, fuselage, finishing kit, FWF kit and some avionics. There were times when I was burned out and just had to walk away from it for several weeks at a time. I'm not married nor have I ever had any kids which helped when I had money to spend. It was all my choice. I bought parts, kits, etc. as soon as I could afford them so before I knew it, I was into it for over $40K. That was too much to just let go, so I pressed on. My standard build took 6 years, but as many have said before me, if I'd have known how much fun it would be to fly, I'd have finished it two years sooner. I feel that the biggest single contributor was keeping my C172 to fly on the weekends. If I hadn't stayed actively flying to keep the motivation up, my project would probably be gathering dust in the garage. After 14 months of flying her naked, I rounded up the cash to get it painted. That was as much of a major milestone as the first flight. Even though I still have little things I want to "tweak", I feel like it's pretty much finished and it's been a **** of a ride! You can't possibly imagine the satisfaction at the end of the road without personally experiencing it. Even now, after a year and a half, I still have to pinch myself and pat her on the spinner to convince myself that it's real. It's not for everyone, but if you have the least bit of suspicion, just do it!!
 
Two things made a big difference for me: 1) supportive wife; and 2) supportive local builder friends (mostly made during the build). Much easier to be in this with someone else for those times when you want to quit because of some (usually temporary) frustration.

As for roadblocks, I didn't have many but have observed that the biggest one for most folks is not getting into the shop on a regular basis (at LEAST weekly if not daily depending on your time availability or travel schedule). Easy to spend extra time figuring out where you were last, and that gets frustrating.

greg
 
no disturbances in the force

Both kids were in high school and had no odd tendencies.
The wife was supportive. She has a major hobby (horses) of her own.
Things were still good in the aviation manufacturing segment (job) in 2004.
The house and vehicles were in good repair.
No debt other than the mortgage. I didn't own a cell phone until 3 years ago.
The hangar / airplane factory is 2 miles from the house so I could put in an hour or so on the way home from work, which was nearby the hangar anyway.
 
Reasons why it works and doesn't

I'm proceeding pretty well on a 7A. The reasons it is going well are: 1) late in life after kids are gone 2) supportive wife 3) some money but need more 4) I own a Cherokee for flying weekly 5) I'm doing it for the fun of the build. Reasons I have to stop working on it sometimes are: 1) Christmas time I have to make presents 2) shoulder surgery 3) business travel.

have fun
 
I'd love building.
My roadblocks are on the front end:

1) Not flying much for 4-5 years during the build...downer
2) Liability concern on the backside (I wouldn't feel comfortable selling it)
3) As a result of #2, it's a financial obligation that I'm married too "forever"
4) Difficulty and expense of hanger access for the build and thereafter.
5) I wanna "A" but I'm still not entirely comfortable with the nose gear (there's a nice can of worms opened)

steve
 
I'd love building.
My roadblocks are on the front end:

1) Not flying much for 4-5 years during the build...downer
2) Liability concern on the backside (I wouldn't feel comfortable selling it)
3) As a result of #2, it's a financial obligation that I'm married too "forever"
4) Difficulty and expense of hanger access for the build and thereafter.
5) I wanna "A" but I'm still not entirely comfortable with the nose gear (there's a nice can of worms opened)

In regards to points (2) and (3), I don't believe there is any evidence that anyone has ever been successfully sued for liability after selling a homebuilt. I could be wrong, but that is what I remember.

Paul
 
There I was, 21, good paying job, girlfriend 800 miles away with her own good paying job, living room workshop just 4 feet from the fridge. I was able to put in 3 hours a day for 2 solid years. Then I moved from the inexpensive Midwest to the expensive east coast, got married, and bought a house that needed a ground up total renovation. I went from 3 hours a day to 3 hours a week. Then when I started renovating the house 3 hours a week turned into 0 hours a week for 7 months. I think these kinds of delays are almost unavoidable if you start early in life. I don’t really know anyone my age that didn’t either relocate for work, switch jobs, get married, buy a house, or any life altering situation. It’s just hard to find an uninterrupted 3-4 year window. Things should be easier for me now that I am married and have a garage to work in. I should be back into full production mode after my garage workshop is complete.
 
Back
Top