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Newbie here... Planning on building a RV10

huzilulu

Member
Hi Everyone

My name is Huzi, and I am in the planning stages of my RV10 build... I must admit I do not know a ton about these kits/planes, and will be studying up as much as I can through the forums...

I hope you guys can help me with some initial questions:

1) What are the recommended tools (in addition to the list on Vans website) that will help with the RV10 build?

2) What are the recommended mods builders have to the factory kit?

My goal is to have a 4 seater plane that I can fly cross country/neighboring countries with relative ease...

Thank you in advance!
 
Search

The search function here will give you enough info to last at least a couple years of reading. Have fun with the build is the most advice I can give though.
 
Start reading all the builder's logs. Tim's at myrv10.com was the gold standard for quite awhile, but some of the information is a little dated due to updates in the last few years. He does talk about some of the basic issues with the plans and the appropriate course of action.

Find some local builders. I know that there are several RV-10s in your area.

Understand that all of us have an opinion and usually think that ours is the only way to do things. Usually it's just a bit of ego and attempting to justify our own purchase decisions. It's your aircraft. Build it the way you want it.

Last but not least, try to make Oshkosh. There is a strong RV-10 builder community there, with even a RV-10 dinner on the Sunday before. You'll learn more talking with the other builders face to face.
 
Thanks for the suggestions...

I live in dubai so I doubt there are any RV builders here (any model)... my plan is to start the build here and then move it to Houston when I move back to TX in summer 2019...

I'd love to visit Sun n Fun or Oshkosk, but it'll have to be next year as this year is just not possible ...

Cheers!!
 
Bob's advice is good advice. Before you pull the trigger, you should do some more research and talk to some RV-10 builders and flyers. There are several 4-seat designs to choose from, besides Vans. You may still decide that the 10 best fits your needs, but then again you may not. I would recommend starting your build in Texas, instead of starting in Dubai and then moving it. It will cost you less and you will have a lot more support when you start, which is very much needed, as you will be a beginner and have lots to learn, initially.
 
Hi Huzi
Welcome to VAF , im a -10 builder coming toward the end of the emp this spring and what a year its been for learning. Now in regards your questions and this is just my opinion:

1) TOOLS: Do not scrape the budget here, quality tools will make the experience enjoyable. As Todd has posted follow the link its probably all covered, I personally gathered a majority from a previous -10 builder here in the UK and then met a fellow RV builder and now a good friend whereby i gained some great hands on experience. I soon learned that i needed extra tools and must say that I have found Cleaveland / Browns & Spruce to be excellent. Youll find yourself ordering alot! But come around mid plans on the emp, your using everything youve ordered and confidence begins to grow.

MODS:
Your way ahead at the moment mate, spend time with the emp kit if after that you want to continue then concentrate on this subject as youll have enough to contend with during the first few parts of the emp as your learning the trade. Not sure what your background is but for me this was new ground, i worked on my old honda civic alot but this was completely new. Have you ordered the VANS Training kits as they are well worth the investment and time; you can learn using the drill, deburring, dimpling, rivetting , priming before even going near your airplane.

As others have said check out the other builder pages, i always do before starting a major piece (Justin Twilbeck / Good Plane Living/ myrv10.com )as there are always ?lessons learned? with this and if you can seek out a fellow builder not sure how easy that is in DXB but maybe when back home......just dont rush into it!

Good luck
James

All the best,
James, Prestwick
 
Suggestions

Huzi
Welcome to the RV 10 club!
I suggest you talk to the folks at the factory to see if they will ship you the empennage kit without the tailcone parts. That would save you shipping on both the delivery and getting the completed parts to Texas.
The vert, HS, elevators and rudder are more than enough to keep you busy for your first year of building.
Jim Frisbie
RV 9A flying
RV 10 in process
 
Huzi
Welcome to the RV 10 club!
I suggest you talk to the folks at the factory to see if they will ship you the empennage kit without the tailcone parts. That would save you shipping on both the delivery and getting the completed parts to Texas.
The vert, HS, elevators and rudder are more than enough to keep you busy for your first year of building.
Jim Frisbie
RV 9A flying
RV 10 in process

I disagree.....

Since you live just down the road, that probably isn't an issue. But for those of us that live farther away shipping and crating is a huge expense. The more you can bundle, the less expensive shipping will be.

Schedule is strictly based upon availability of time and skill set. My build goal was 20 hours a week. Most weeks I was able to hit that mark.

When I started, I was very novice with almost no experience. In other words, I was slow and made some mistakes that had to be redone. I just looked at my logs and I spent 369 hours on the entire empennage kit. Even if you just work 1 hour a day, you should be able to finish it in about a year.

If you want to SWAG what if may take you, look at the RV-10 build in mykitlog.com. mykitlog tracks time per task entry and summarizes them on the front page. Then the math is simple. Just divide by the amount of time you anticipate working each week to get an estimation on how long it will take.

Van's states that it will take 2200-2400 hours. My build took me about 3200 hours, but like mentioned, I'm not the fastest builder plus I had a fair amount of mods.
 
Build start

My recommendation is at least have a Skype discussion with an experienced builder before you begin your empanage build if you can?t wait to start it in Texas. The empanage can be a learning curve on quality building. However, you want to be further up the learning curve before you begin. There are many skills/ tips/tools that you will need to acquire if you want a quality job. PM me and I can try to help.
 
Best Advice

The best advice I got during the build was: if you want to fly your plane a lot when you finish it, look at people who are flying theirs a lot and do what they did.

The implication is that you avoid as many "modifications" as possible, recognizing that there are some great ones for the RV-10 that are well worth doing. But folks who get carried away with add ons run up their cost, their time to build, and frustration level.

Burt Rutan is famous for saying, "once you have all the essentials on your plane, if you want to add something, throw it up in the air. If it doesn't come down, you can add it."

The other thing I would tell you is, if you don't have any experience building then get some training. The more the better. It will save you years and many $$$ and greatly improve your chances of being a finisher instead of a seller.
 
There is a tailcone section for sale on Vans Classified right now in the Dallas area. Perhaps you could get a head start by purchasing that?
 
Wow! What an awesome group :) I appreciate all the replies... I think I will try to speak to a couple builders (at least by email) and may even meet some if possible when I visit Houston in May to get a better idea of what I'm getting into...

I have a little background in building kits - I've built an ultima, which is a much simpler kit than a plane... but I do know that mods can stretch out timeframes like crazy (I built a custom 4 wheel lift kit to clear bumps/driveways and that added about 30 hrs to my build)...

Thanks again everyone!!
 
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