uninc4life2010
I'm New Here
Hello,
I first garnered an interest in kit airplanes when I visited Oshkosh about 15 years ago as a young child. I was amazed to learn that some of the small planes on display were actually built by an everyday person. Well, I recently revisited Oshkosh over my Christmas vacation with my father, and seeing the RV-3 on display re-kindled my interests. Well, the more research I did, the more questions I inevitably needed answering. I really hope that this is the right place for this on the forum. Anyways, below are a few questions that I currently had on my mind.
Is a Van's practice kit or practice toolbox the right place to start?
Like many of you here, I do not have any experience working with sheetmetal or building flying aircraft. I do, however, have experience building and flying my own FPV RC aircraft, and I have always been a very mechanically minded person who enjoys projects like this. I understand that many of you probably learned as you went, but I am a bit nervous about learning to do things like dimple and rivet on an airplane that I may one day fly in, so I figured that a practice kit could give me nice head start before I begin work on a real airplane's tail section.
How much would I need to spend in tools before starting a practice kit?
I'm sure all of you are going to say something along the lines of "If you're already asking this question now, run for the hills." but I figure I'd do it anyway. I have heard that all of the tools needed will generally run around $3,000, but I'm not sure if those tools will all be required through every stage of the build. I know some of them, like the DRDT-2, can get REALLY pricy.
Why is the RV-12 listed as such a lower build time and cost?
I noticed on Van's site that the RV-12 has a 700-900 hour build time, which is considerably less than what I have heard for the RV-7. Why is this? I know that the RV-12 isn't acrobatic, and I know that the Rotax engine it uses is significantly less than a Lycoming, but I'm not sure why else it would be less.
Is it reasonable to think that an RV-7 empennage could get completed in one summer?
Don't get me wrong, I anticipate this project, if it ever even happens, to take a long time from both a build perspective and a financial perspective. I'm still in school (NC State) and possibly considering graduate study now, so even if I were able to finish an empennage, I wouldn't have the time or the money to begin a set of wings or fuselage until I was done with my studies. However, my parents do have a spacious garage and work station, and I likely will have a good amount of spare time over the summer when I'm not in school, likely 6 weeks or more. It seems like most people are able to get the empennage done in around 100-200 hours. If I set 40 hours per week aside over the summer, it would seem reasonable that I could get it done in 6 weeks or so.
From what I have read, things appear to get quite serious from both a building and cost perspective when the wings and fuselage start to get underway. I have seen pictures and videos of many people building their empennage in their apartment living room, but it seems like they consider moving to a dedicated work shop or large garage once the other sub kits arrive. My plan, should I ever complete an empennage, would be to build a few padded plywood crates to store the VS, HS, and rudder/elevator long term in the loft of out garage until I can complete school and start work on the other sections of the plane.
Is a build class recommended, how much do they cost, and are they available in the North Carolina area?
I figure they are a good idea, but I would like to hear from people who are more familiar with them.
Looking back on your experience building an airplane, do you view it as a rewarding and worthwhile experience? Are you glad you chose to take on such a monumental project?
I just ask because I would hate to look back on the project wishing I had spent my time doing something else. I had always enjoyed building my RC airplanes, as I felt like they gave me an important sense of satisfaction once I saw them fly. I was attracted to the idea of building an RV-7 because I feel like it would give me that same feeling, just on a much larger scale. Plus, I like the idea of joining an exclusive club of people who have actually built and flown their own airplanes.
I'm sorry that this was a long post, but I would like to thank anyone in advance who answers any of my questions. If you have anything you would like to add that isn't directly related to my questions above, please feel free to do so. I want to learn as much as possible, even if I never end up building an airplane.
I'd like to add that I've been following the progress of a few people who currently have an online presence, and I'd like to list them below.
I followed Andrew's RV-7 blog, but I was disappointed to see that his last post was in 2012. I wonder if he ever finished his project. If anyone is aware of how his project is coming along and con point me in the direction of an update, I would really like to know.
https://n999za.com/2010/05/29/primed-some-left-elevator-stiffeners/
Jason Ellis seem like a really smart guy and appears to have made incredible progress on his RV-10. He stated that his goal was to have it flying by 2020, and I think that he very well could meet that time frame. He certainly has the space to do so.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SdrOhVh8bQQ&t=1s
Andrew Atalla is one of the apartment builders I was referencing earlier in my post, although I would bet that he ends up with one of the finest built RV-7's in Canada since he is a mechanic by trade. Regardless, he's going to need to find a larger workspace soon.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J7aHjetiOcs&t=70s
I first garnered an interest in kit airplanes when I visited Oshkosh about 15 years ago as a young child. I was amazed to learn that some of the small planes on display were actually built by an everyday person. Well, I recently revisited Oshkosh over my Christmas vacation with my father, and seeing the RV-3 on display re-kindled my interests. Well, the more research I did, the more questions I inevitably needed answering. I really hope that this is the right place for this on the forum. Anyways, below are a few questions that I currently had on my mind.
Is a Van's practice kit or practice toolbox the right place to start?
Like many of you here, I do not have any experience working with sheetmetal or building flying aircraft. I do, however, have experience building and flying my own FPV RC aircraft, and I have always been a very mechanically minded person who enjoys projects like this. I understand that many of you probably learned as you went, but I am a bit nervous about learning to do things like dimple and rivet on an airplane that I may one day fly in, so I figured that a practice kit could give me nice head start before I begin work on a real airplane's tail section.
How much would I need to spend in tools before starting a practice kit?
I'm sure all of you are going to say something along the lines of "If you're already asking this question now, run for the hills." but I figure I'd do it anyway. I have heard that all of the tools needed will generally run around $3,000, but I'm not sure if those tools will all be required through every stage of the build. I know some of them, like the DRDT-2, can get REALLY pricy.
Why is the RV-12 listed as such a lower build time and cost?
I noticed on Van's site that the RV-12 has a 700-900 hour build time, which is considerably less than what I have heard for the RV-7. Why is this? I know that the RV-12 isn't acrobatic, and I know that the Rotax engine it uses is significantly less than a Lycoming, but I'm not sure why else it would be less.
Is it reasonable to think that an RV-7 empennage could get completed in one summer?
Don't get me wrong, I anticipate this project, if it ever even happens, to take a long time from both a build perspective and a financial perspective. I'm still in school (NC State) and possibly considering graduate study now, so even if I were able to finish an empennage, I wouldn't have the time or the money to begin a set of wings or fuselage until I was done with my studies. However, my parents do have a spacious garage and work station, and I likely will have a good amount of spare time over the summer when I'm not in school, likely 6 weeks or more. It seems like most people are able to get the empennage done in around 100-200 hours. If I set 40 hours per week aside over the summer, it would seem reasonable that I could get it done in 6 weeks or so.
From what I have read, things appear to get quite serious from both a building and cost perspective when the wings and fuselage start to get underway. I have seen pictures and videos of many people building their empennage in their apartment living room, but it seems like they consider moving to a dedicated work shop or large garage once the other sub kits arrive. My plan, should I ever complete an empennage, would be to build a few padded plywood crates to store the VS, HS, and rudder/elevator long term in the loft of out garage until I can complete school and start work on the other sections of the plane.
Is a build class recommended, how much do they cost, and are they available in the North Carolina area?
I figure they are a good idea, but I would like to hear from people who are more familiar with them.
Looking back on your experience building an airplane, do you view it as a rewarding and worthwhile experience? Are you glad you chose to take on such a monumental project?
I just ask because I would hate to look back on the project wishing I had spent my time doing something else. I had always enjoyed building my RC airplanes, as I felt like they gave me an important sense of satisfaction once I saw them fly. I was attracted to the idea of building an RV-7 because I feel like it would give me that same feeling, just on a much larger scale. Plus, I like the idea of joining an exclusive club of people who have actually built and flown their own airplanes.
I'm sorry that this was a long post, but I would like to thank anyone in advance who answers any of my questions. If you have anything you would like to add that isn't directly related to my questions above, please feel free to do so. I want to learn as much as possible, even if I never end up building an airplane.
I'd like to add that I've been following the progress of a few people who currently have an online presence, and I'd like to list them below.
I followed Andrew's RV-7 blog, but I was disappointed to see that his last post was in 2012. I wonder if he ever finished his project. If anyone is aware of how his project is coming along and con point me in the direction of an update, I would really like to know.
https://n999za.com/2010/05/29/primed-some-left-elevator-stiffeners/
Jason Ellis seem like a really smart guy and appears to have made incredible progress on his RV-10. He stated that his goal was to have it flying by 2020, and I think that he very well could meet that time frame. He certainly has the space to do so.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SdrOhVh8bQQ&t=1s
Andrew Atalla is one of the apartment builders I was referencing earlier in my post, although I would bet that he ends up with one of the finest built RV-7's in Canada since he is a mechanic by trade. Regardless, he's going to need to find a larger workspace soon.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J7aHjetiOcs&t=70s