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Are you really going to fly that thing?

J

JakeLewis22

Well Known Member
My wife and I went out to dinner last weekend with a couple we hadn't seen in a while. The airplane project came up in conversation and my wife noticed that we seem to get the same list of questions whenever people find out that I'm building an airplane in the garage. I thought it would be fun to just start with a few and let the RV community add to the list.

1. You mean like......a REAL airplane?
2. Are you really going to fly that thing?
 
Coworker:
- Papa what is this thing on the wall? Ye those pictures you are glueing there for three years?

Me: - It's an airplane.

Coworker: - Nooo, impossible. Is it a model? Even if you give me one million dollars I would not fly in it.
 
Previous thread

There was a thread on this a while back that had lots of funny responses. I don't have the link but you could add to that one. Good fun!!!
 
Most asked question

As I am building in my walk-out basement, my most heard question is "how will you get it out of the basement"? My usual reply is: I'm going to hire a crane to pick up the house and I'll just fly it out...:eek: That is met with a dumbfounded look:confused: and followed quickly with the real explanation. :rolleyes:
 
I checked the archives

RV7Guy said:
There was a thread on this a while back that had lots of funny responses. I don't have the link but you could add to that one. Good fun!!!
Click to expand...

Hi Darwin,

I searched the archives but couldn't find a string but I'm sure there's been a few before. Here's one more............

I hope you have life insurance!
 
*Divorced woman to my wife. "I'd never let my husband waste money on something like that."

After hearing divorced friends strong opinions my wife talked to her mother.

*Mother-In-Law to my wife. "Better two wings than two legs dear."
 
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My coworker in St Louis was looking at a pic of my plane on my office wall while he was giving me advice just before I got married. He said "Every man gets three silver bullets, and whether you know it or not, you've already used one"
 
After landing in the Bahamas, one of the airport workers came over to me, pointed to my RV and asked, "Did you fly here in that?"
"Yes I did"
"Oh. I like flying, but not that much, mon" (said with a carribean accent)
 
Q & A

1. When will it be finished?
Best answer - "Thursday"

2. What color ar you going to paint it?
Best Answer - "Don't know yet"

3. Are you really going to fly that?
Best answer (from wife) - "You would too, if you'd seen him build it."

Geoff Kimbrough
N1707M Stearman
N6978C RV-8
 
The answer I finally settled on for "When will it fly?" was:

"Oh...probably about 60mph".

The most common comment I here is "I would never fly in something I built!". I've always wondered why someone would say that.......... ;)
 
My Dad used to keep his Long EZ at an airport where there was lots of skydiving activity. Nearly every weekend at the airport I would hear skydivers file past Dad's open hangar and point and say "that's what John Denver got killed in", as if it were some sort of death trap.

They would then proceed to board a junky 40 year old King Air, flown overloaded off a short runway by a kid with 50 hours of multi time so that they could hurl themselves out of it from 14,000 feet. :eek:

Who cares what others say. They often don't know what they are talking about, anyway! :D
 
Several years ago...

...my wife & I were heading to our first EAA Christmas party. I had only been in the chapter a few months & my wife only knew that it was a bunch of folks that liked airplanes. On the way to the party, I was getting my wife "tuned-in" to what EAA was about and asked her: "Do you know what EAA stands for?" She said "No, what?" I said "Experimental Aircraft Association." Then there was this long pause as I waited for some kind of response. Then she said: "Why in the world would anyone want to experiment with an airplane?"
I was dumb-founded & just sighed. At the time I couldn't even come up with a response. :confused: Eventually, everything turned out fine....thank goodness.
(and I can give a decent response to the question now.):)
 
This usually works on little old ladies

When I started building almost 4 years ago the word started getting around and little old ladies at church would always ask me, "How are you going to get it out of the basement?" I would then patiently explain that I have a daylight basement with a three foot door and that I could disassemble the plane into pieces less than three feet wide and reassemble them at the airport when I am ready to fly. Now, however, upon hearing that question, I give them the blankest stare that I can muster and then slap my forehead, saying "sheesh, I didn't think about that."
 
Something I built?

You know this thing didn't get assembled by accident!..

I built my own house too, presumably you don't want to stay in case the roof caves in?..:)

Frank
 
Best response

"Are you sure you're actually smart enough to build an airplane"?

Response: "You know how your microwave always flashes 12:00, 12:00, 12:00.....mine doesn't:D"
 
RV confusion

I was not there but my wife told me this story. One of her coworkers asked her what I did in my spare time and she said he is building an RV. She is very used to "RV" being thrown around by me. As they asked questions like where is he building this and she says in the garage but eventually he will need to move it to the airport, it is going to carry two people and it will go 200 mph. It was about then that she realized they were thinking RV as in camper.
The other funny one was a coworker felt worry for me that I could not afford a factory built airplane and I had to build one myself, that one made me laugh.

Poor me I have to build my own RV :D

Cheers
 
One of my neighbors asked me how many trees I was going to cut down so I could take off on our street and if I really thought I would clear her house?

(I live on a cul-d-sac and her house was at the very end.)
 
My favorite is "You couldn't get me up in that thing." Do they really think I am laying in wait just to jump them, truss them up, and force them to fly in my airplane?

If only they knew how uninterested I am in forcing unwilling participants to fly in my airplane and how much joy there is in making it possible for interested people to experience the magic!
 
Take all the time you need....

The most common comment I get about my husband Wallace and myself building a plane is: "Take your time...take your time....you don't wanna rush it !" ......since the thought of flying an airplane you've built yourself scares the beejiminies out of them. :eek: These comments come from my boss (a doctor), my parents (of course), and the security guard at the airport.
- Marietta Goodloe
 
"when will it be done?" --- "Tuesday, and I might even beat that and get it done Monday." surprised look until it sinks in.

"Oh, it's one of those kits you put together." --- "yep, sort of like Home Depot is a house kit. It's all there, you just have to put it together." That usually makes the point.
 
Vic's favorite question: Does it come in any other colors.

My favorite question: Do you actually ride in it. My reply- yes, but the true test is I let my kids ride in it.
 
I simply tell people what $200k gets you performance wise in your typical spam can compared to what an RV will do...or I compare it to a brand new $150k super decathlon...and the fact that a nice VFR RV can be built for <50.

I then follow it up with the fact that most WWII military aircraft were built by initial non airplane builders (a lot if not most of them women I remember reading) and that RVs are built using a lot of the same techniques...

I also try to mention that an RV airframe is much stronger than a spam can, hence it's aerobatic and G limitations..and that I will be opting for a similar aircraft sourced engine for reliability. It usually ends up being a pleasant conversation. (not sarcastic)
 
I got the best one to date from a friends son, he is a very cautious 10 year old. After he looked it over, I asked him if he wanted to go for a ride when it was done. He thought for a minute, and asked "are you going to follow the directions? I will only ride with if you follow the directions"


The one that really shocked me was when I bought a Cessna 180 in Virginia.(I live in North Dakota) I could not believe how many people asked me how I was going to get it home. I told most of them I was gonna drive it:D
 
Believe it or not....

......but in the early 70's, fresh out of the Army, I worked for a Cessna Ag airplane dealer and we always had two or three really pretty Agwagons in stock. One day a visitor was mosying around and after finding out that they were assembled in Wichita asked, "How'd they get here?":D



Regards,
 
The one that counts..........

Before I met my wife about twenty-five years ago, she went to a psychic with her sister in Wisconsin, he told her that he saw her in a place with all these small airplanes. She questioned this with no apparent meaning. Years later, I bought a rather large "hobby shop" with about 75 RC planes hanging from the ceiling. Also I was a very avid RC'er.

About a year ago she again visited her sister and went back to psychic, he commented that he saw an airplane, it wasn't finished, but he kept on commenting on how well it was built.

From that time on, no problems or flack in my building efforts. I really don't believe in psychics, but it works for me............No more I can't believe we're going to fly in that thing.
 
Hey, Chuck....

CNEJR said:
Before I met my wife about twenty-five years ago, she went to a psychic with her sister in Wisconsin, he told her that he saw her in a place with all these small airplanes. She questioned this with no apparent meaning. Years later, I bought a rather large "hobby shop" with about 75 RC planes hanging from the ceiling. Also I was a very avid RC'er.

About a year ago she again visited her sister and went back to psychic, he commented that he saw an airplane, it wasn't finished, but he kept on commenting on how well it was built.

From that time on, no problems or flack in my building efforts. I really don't believe in psychics, but it works for me............No more I can't believe we're going to fly in that thing.
Click to expand...

Did your wife ever find out that you had paid off the psychic?:D

Kent
 
Here's my favorite:

Neighbor: "So all you do is buy the parts and put them together?.."

Me: "Yup!" :D
 
The most common question for me was by far:

"How will you get it out of the basement?"

The answer: Link
 
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Vladyspassky said:
Coworker: Even if you give me one million dollars I would not fly in it.
Click to expand...
That happened to me years ago but about them flying with me in a Cessna. I hadn't even invited them, just mentioned I was a pilot. My response: "Well, you have to be invited before you can refuse."
 
P-Squared said:
That happened to me years ago but about them flying with me in a Cessna. I hadn't even invited them, just mentioned I was a pilot. My response: "Well, you have to be invited before you can refuse."
Click to expand...

I've had that happen, too. I guess folks don't realize how insulting that is. If you told that person you wouldn't ride in a car they were driving for $1 Million, I wonder how they would respond.
 
Hmmmmm

I get amused by being told about the "number of aircraft crashes" that happen every day.

Let's see, in the USA:
There are about 8.5 million car crashes each year
There are about 45 thousand traffic fatalities each year
There are about 1,700 general aviation accidents each year
There are about 300 fatal crashes with about 600 aviation fatalities each year

Your odds of getting killed on a long distance trip is just about identical when comparing car to plane.

Here's the best part.....I am not concerned about drunk pilots hitting me head on. I am very concerned about drunk drivers or drivers impaired on drugs such as Xanax/Vicodin every time I get behind the wheel of a car.

Come to think of, I haven't ever flown with air rage.
 
I am getting ready to move my project to the airport and am REALLY going to miss the interaction with my neighbors and passers by. To me, this has been the best part of the building process. Kids are the best...I love the sparkle in their eyes when they sit in the cockpit and I close the canopy over them. They grab the stick and go to places that only their imagination can limit! I have had a young teen fire up my KMD-150 and "fly" a course to his home some 500 miles away without even reading the manual...this kid is destined to be a pilot!!! I have had The Greatest Generation stop in for a look. When I see the look in their eyes, I realized that I am building not only an aircraft, but also a time machine...
Building in my garage has brought me closer to my neighbors, and it has brought my neighbors closer to each other as they gather to watch. One thing is certain- I owe many people many rides for putting up with me. We are going to throw one heck of a block party after she makes her first flight! I will miss the funny questions...
 
Don's post reminded me when I was finishing up my Long-EZ, I was living in a rented house at the time and I did most of the finish work out in the driveway because of space. Even though I lived on a cul-de-sac, it seemed we had "more than normal" traffic on the weekends, many of the cars I'd seen before.
 
When I get told by someone that they would never fly in airplane that someone built, I tell them that my plane is:

Designed to the same standards as a "real" plane
Built to the same standards as a "real" plane, and
Uses the same material as a "real" plane, and

The only difference between my plane and a "real" plane is that mine is built by someone who has looked at every rivet and bolt knowing he will fly in it himself as opposed to being built by someone who has a hangover because he got drunk the night before and knows he will never fly in the plane. Then I ask them which they would rather fly in.


Paul
 
ptrotter said:
When I get told by someone that they would never fly in airplane that someone built, I tell them that my plane is:

Designed to the same standards as a "real" plane
Click to expand...

Actually we don't know if that's true and it's not remotely required by the regs.

ptrotter said:
Built to the same standards as a "real" plane, and
Uses the same material as a "real" plane, and

The only difference between my plane and a "real" plane is that mine is built by someone who has looked at every rivet and bolt knowing he will fly in it himself as opposed to being built by someone who has a hangover because he got drunk the night before and knows he will never fly in the plane. Then I ask them which they would rather fly in.


Paul
Click to expand...

I get the point, but I think folks who build aircraft for a living would find that assertion rather insulting, including our own Mr. Galati who shares a lot of his valuable experience with us on a regular basis.
 
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JHines said:
I get the point, but I think folks who build aircraft for a living would find that assertion rather insulting, including our own Mr. Galati who shares a lot of his valuable experience with us on a regular basis.
Click to expand...

Fair is fair - I find the workmanship and performance of a factory built aircraft insulting when you look at the price they charge for them.

Nothing against Rick....
 
JHines said:
I get the point, but I think folks who build aircraft for a living would find that assertion rather insulting, including our own Mr. Galati who shares a lot of his valuable experience with us on a regular basis.
Click to expand...

I didn't mean to insult anyone, least of all Mr. Galati whose knowledge and experience I respect immensly. I was just pointing out that airplanes, like everything else, are built by people who for the most part never see the product after it is completed and like everyone else have good days and bad days that can affect their work. When we build our own planes, we take extra care knowing we will be flying them. It used to be said that you should never buy a car that was built on a Monday because the absentee rate at the factories was higher and quality suffered.

With respect to design standards, I think Van would argue that his standards are just as high as production airplanes even if he technically not required by the regs to meet any particular standards.

Anyway it was just a response to a silly comment that keeps coming up.

Paul
 
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