weight, weight, weight
Not having a go at you personally Darwin, but frankly I get tired when people respond to such a question with "don't worry about it".
For me, weight of primer/paint is enough to avoid priming the inside of skins, except for the fayed surfaces. I will also be running a partially polished finish for the same reason. Many people think I'm nuts, but it's my bird. I will have the first 1000lb RV-8. Well, maybe I won't, but I will try my damnedest!
A
Andy,
With all due respect, unless you are using a 0320 with wood prop, absolute minimal instruments with no interior other than a seat pad, your chances of getting 1000lbs probably isn't going to happen. It is a noble gesture to keep it light but what is that few pounds getting you? A little better climb rate, that's about it.
I have a crazy neighbor building a 7 that is going to go after a couple of CAFE records, (time to climb to 10,000 and time to climb to 25,000). He is absolutely driving everyone crazy about the weight. He estimates his weight will come out to around 1030. No lights, no Auto pilot. When I started asking if he considered, fuel lines, clamps, screws for the clamps etc, he had not. So, add another 15-20 lbs. He is polishing most of the plane with only the tail and cowl painted (Red Tail) design. He has spent hours and hours working on charts about what his climb rate should be, yet he has no real experience flying RV's. Paper and reality can be greatly separated. He's expecting a prolonged climb of 2500+fpm. Ain't gonna happen.
I challenged him to a distance flight when he is done. I said we could plan a 300 mile or so trip with formation take off to a preselected altitude. He said he will get there first because he will have roughly 100 fpm better climb. I said my 1133 lb 7 will get there just as fast if not faster because I will be flying a direct course with the auto pilot while he adds a few miles as he chases the line and altitude.
Regarding the paint, people get worked up about the potential weight of the paint. My point was simply that the paint doesn't weigh nearly as much as most think. Further, what are you going to do if it ends ups being 5 lbs heavier than expected, not fly it? I don't think so.
I wish you the best of luck on your light weight quest but be prepared for disappointment if you don't make your goal.