RV project around SF Bay area or Raleigh?

Greetings to the RV community.

I have been gathering info about building an RV. This site has been instrumental. A big "Thank You" to those that share their knowledge and to Doug for providing the place for it to happen. 2016 donation just sent!

If I proceed with this plan, this plane would primary be a commuter once a week or so. I fly a corporate aircraft and its base will likely change in a year or so. Any of the RVs would turn my current 2:00-2:30 commute into a 35 minute commute. If the base gets changed then the drive could easily become a dreadful 4:00-5:00 affair. The RV could do it in under an hour.

I like the side-by-side concept. Initially, I thought a 6 or 7 would be ideal. However, after sitting in a 6, I'm leaning more towards a 14 or possibly an 8. The 6 was a little narrow for me.

The 8 would be an awesome commuter and fun for local flights. However, with a passenger aboard, I believe I would prefer the 14. It sounds like the 14 may be slightly easier to build too.

We have a long layover this weekend in Raleigh. If anyone working on a project around there has a few minutes to show me their project so I can get a good idea of what is involved, I would really appreciate it. Or, back home around Nor Cal.

Again, thanks.

Bay Area RV

I am based at KLVK Livermore with a 7a. She has 140 hours on her. Glad to show you.

email me at [email protected] if you want to come by.

My 7 is based at Reid Hillview in San Jose. Happy to show it to you and take you for a flight.

My RV8 is about 90% complete, firewall forward is complete (almost) and working on the panel/electrical systems. I am located in Davis, Ca, just let me know if you want to take a look.

Thanks to all that replied. I will reach out to you when I get back on that side of the country.

I have a couple of big chucks of the fuselage put together at LVK if you make a trip out there you can certainly take a look at what's involved in the construction. Nothing to sit in yet though, but you can get an idea of the width of the cabin area.

I can't help with your request about a project in cali, but maybe my experience commuting applies to the other part of your post.

I work away from home. It is a 3.5 hr drive which I do roughly 20 to 25% of the time vs flying. Even though I am instrument rated, there are some situations I will not fly in the RV.

For that distance of around 180nm, the time saved is not that much in my situation if one measures the time "door to door". For me, the savings is about 45 minutes.

Your situation might be different depending in the conditions at each end of the flying task.

Here is a list of my outbound and inbound.

OUTBOUND 2.5 hrs
Drive to airport.
Pull plane out of hangar, park car, close hangar, preflight.
Fly
Tie down and install all covers etc.
Drive to work.

INBOUND 3 hrs
Drive to airport.
Remove covers, preflight etc.
Fly
Land at cheap gas stop that is right on flight path.
Fill up.
Fly
Put in hangar.
Drive home. (This is highly variable due to crowded fri PM rush hr)

All that being said about minimal time savings. I fly EVERY chance available. There is a HUGE difference from a mental standpoint between the leisurely operation of an airplane vs many hrs with breakneck highway rush hr traffic.

Well, one big step closer.

We were looking for something to do today and found a fly-in happening not too far away at Cox Grantham Airport south of Raleigh.

There were quite a few RVs there. A beautiful freshly minted 3B and an excellent example of a 7A as well as a few others. One of the builders/owners of the 7A let us snoop around his 7A. They really did a superb job on it. Then, he offered me a ride! Wow. Now I seed what all this "RV Grin" stuff is about. Thank you again Darryl!

rzbill, your points are noted. I haven't wrapped my head around it completely. I would certainly save some time primarily because of traffic. How much would depend largely on the time of day. I suppose I will still need to leave time to drive to work just incase the weather doesn't cooperate or there is an issue with the plane. I will have to consider that. Plenty of flexibility on the return though.

Given, I would be commuting specifically to an airport I would save one of the drives in your equation. Still, some time would be used up on the ground like you said.

All things considered, commuting in a plane, especially if our current base is moved would be much more predicable time wise. Not to mention, more enjoyable.

Hi Gordon!

I'm building an RV-10 in Santa Clara, happy to show it if you'd like, just drop me a PM. I'm close to finishing the wings.

Rodrigo

runt said:

I suppose I will still need to leave time to drive to work just incase the weather doesn't cooperate or there is an issue with the plane. I will have to consider that. Plenty of flexibility on the return though.

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As you know from your piloting carreer, on Sunday night and Thurday night you can get a pretty solid idea whether you are flying the next day or not so the alarm clock setting (and arrangements with SWMBO Fri night ) can be done ahead of time and you can get your own expectations set. Prepare for the worst and take advantage of positive changes if they happen.

As a joking admission........relatively early in this current job I was driving the commute and in a crabby mood. I was thinking "Man, its awful driving in bad weather". Right afterwards I remembered it will ALWAYS be nasty when I drive, otherwise I would be in the air.