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Got My Grin Yesterday

W

Wes R

Member
First I would like to say hello to all, and tell a little story that I'm certain we all share. I have been lurking around this forum awhile now. Seems like a great group here, very knowledgeable and diverse. Until yesterday I haven't really had a need to "chime" in on anything.
Nice morning yesterday so the lady and I rolled out of bed early and to airfield we went. Pulled the 172 from its resting place and headed over to T82 for breakfast at the airport diner. Straight over and back since she had to report to work around 10. Landed back at the home and sent her on her way. While coming in to land I notice a fellow aviator washing his RV-6 by his hangar so I walked over to take a look. I have met the gentleman before but I'm terrible with name so I introduced myself again. One thing lead to another and we decided that the plane need to be dried off. Boy was I excited, my first ride in an RV. We took off and head towards GYB to see a mutual friend who runs the FBO there. As soon as we were safely off the ground to my surprise I hear "your airplane". I have never flown anything like it, it's fast, it's responsive, it seems to read your mind through the stick, I was blown away to say the least. Made our stop and shot the bull for a few minutes. All I could think about was the ride back home. We did some sight seeing on the way back and to soon the fun was over, but the the grin, well now I can relate. My lady returned home shortly after me and she immediately ask what's with the smirk on you face? Fortunately she love to fly to so maybe I won't need to twist her arm to much.

Now the question is build or buy?

WR
 
That is charming

I vote for the build to get the full depth of the experience. It is worth having. For a "6" you will have buy a kit somewhere in the builder "didn't work out" world but I see your signature statement says you are a RV-8 dreamer anyway so there is no problem there. I rode in an RV-8 recently and one tiny little comment I will make about the beautiful slimline RV-8 - no i'll just let it slide. It must be a great personal airplane. Come up to Taylor just north of Austin in November and there will be quite a few RV's of all kinds there for the Rocket 100 race.

Bob Axsom
 
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Hi Wes and welcome. You are in correct place to decide on build/buy. Lots of helpful and knowledgeable friends here who can answer those questions for you.
 
Buy Now & Fly

Wes,

Buy one now and start flying. You can always buy a kit or a project later but get one now to satisfy the RV grin every day. If you're like me with a full time job it will take a lot of years to get one in the air.

Welcome to the club!
Oly
 
I'm in the buy and build boat myself and highly recommend it. About the only drawback is building slows down noticeably. On the bright side though, there's nothing like having a completed plane to look at while you're building. It helps to see where you're going. You'll also learn how you want to place the instruments and controls like flaps and trim.

Don't think of buying/building as an "either/or" choice - its really a "both/and" choice.
 
QB

Welcome.
If time is an issue...buy a QB kit or surf the classifieds section. I've seen components for sale already built. Some of were for sale in Austin.
I'm from Austin too and bought my empennage that way. It was not started though.
One word of advise though. Have your spouse sit in and possibly fly as passenger in the various models you like. Spousal support is key to success.
My Sweetie loved the 7a slider and insisted we build one. Of course I said, "well I guess so".:D
She really enjoys helping.
 
Build or buy

I appreciate the warm welcome.

Two things that concern me about buying instead of building..
1) hangar space in the Austin area is almost nonexistent
2) I'm a low time pilot (100 hours) with no tail dragger time. Not sure if I'm ready for such a nimble airplane. The curb appeal of an -8 with its nose high sitting on the ramp is just to cool, so it has to be a tail dragger.

If I build...
- it gives me more log time during the build and some tail wheel time
- I'm on the hangar waiting list at GTU so maybe that would solve the hangar availability problem
- the cost would be spread out of time

Lots of great deals out there on finished RV's to be had. Decisions, decisions.
WR
 
Welcome, Wes. I would love to build some day, but if I were to build now, it would take me 10 years! I would hate to have deprived myself of the joy of RV ownership for that long, so I definitely vote for the buy now and when able begin to build. Owning my RV (first airplane) has been/is a great experience!
 
Buy means Fly - Fly means no building

If I had a flying RV while I was building I would have never finished building. It took six years of building, while not flying.
 
Buy

Buy a flying RV 8A .
Grady has a good one at 52F.
The worst time after getting my pilot licence was when I sold my RV6 and was building the second one. I missed out on a lot of flying adventures. Guess you could rent? but a bunch of us are going to OSH,, you want to miss the next three OSH while building? DUH,,, Not
 
Buy and Fly then build

I am in the buy and build camp. I bought my -7 in January and have been putting a ton of hours on her. I build/restored a few cars before but building an airplane would keep me on the ground for too long. I eventually plan on building, something, but for now, the wife and I are having too much fun flying places. I am sure that my grin is not as big as it would be if I built it myself, however, I have a grin many years longer than if I built it myself.
 
Hum baby!

Hi Wes,

The first ride in an RV is ... magical! I started building mine, and a good soul offered me a ride. Oh, my .. what a great plane (though, the wings look awfully short, compared to the Warriors/Archers that I fly). A little bit of acro, and I'm sold. I'm building; buying is fine, too. Just get an RV and fly.
 
Hey Wes. I'm spoiled. My first ride was in Lee Logan's awesome F1. Yep, visions of Maverick and Goose ( Hey Shiloh, careful with that pilot stuff!). The choice was easy. An RV. Then it got hard---a 9A, or a 7A, or a 8. Life got in the way alittle, even though the decision was made.
Take the advise of the people here-----just do something! I did---yep
 
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