RV-14 #140665
So, long story: In the late 1980s I was a subscriber to Kitplanes magazine, and saw ads and articles about the RV-3 and -4. That was the plane I wanted to build. I was living at the time near the original location of ACS in Fullerton, so I went there and bought several books by Tony Bingelis, which I still have to this day.
But life and family, as they often do, took precedence. The thought of building took a seat in the "way back" as we used to call it, but I still held onto the books.
In late 2016 I got the itch to look back into building (a RV-7 this time) and set to work locating a partially completed kit. I bought an emp kit from the classifieds here on this site, brought it home and completed the horizontal stab. The vertical and the rudder were done by the previous owner.
December of 2017 my wife and I went to Portland for a long weekend, and my ulterior motive was to get a tour of the Vans mothership. During the tour, I sat with her in their -14 factory plane, and was impressed with the amount of room that it had compared to the -7. I tried at the time to convince my wife that we needed the larger version. But she said we should just continue on with what we already had.
Fast forward to last week at OSH, at the Vans display, I sat with her in the same -14 and in the silver and gray -14A. Without much prompting from me, she agreed that she liked the roomy cabin, and suggested that if I wanted to, we could put a deposit down on the emp kit
I didn't waste a minute going back inside and getting in line with my Visa card.
Got the email yesterday with the agreement to sign, and this evening I got my order acknowledgement and wire transfer instructions. I called Anne to give her my shipping information, and she said they have something like 39 tail kits on order from OSH, and that the crating guys are slammed right now. So in 3 to 6 weeks I should be picking it up in Michigan and bringing it through customs home.
I just keep reminding myself "one bite at a time"
So, long story: In the late 1980s I was a subscriber to Kitplanes magazine, and saw ads and articles about the RV-3 and -4. That was the plane I wanted to build. I was living at the time near the original location of ACS in Fullerton, so I went there and bought several books by Tony Bingelis, which I still have to this day.
But life and family, as they often do, took precedence. The thought of building took a seat in the "way back" as we used to call it, but I still held onto the books.
In late 2016 I got the itch to look back into building (a RV-7 this time) and set to work locating a partially completed kit. I bought an emp kit from the classifieds here on this site, brought it home and completed the horizontal stab. The vertical and the rudder were done by the previous owner.
December of 2017 my wife and I went to Portland for a long weekend, and my ulterior motive was to get a tour of the Vans mothership. During the tour, I sat with her in their -14 factory plane, and was impressed with the amount of room that it had compared to the -7. I tried at the time to convince my wife that we needed the larger version. But she said we should just continue on with what we already had.
Fast forward to last week at OSH, at the Vans display, I sat with her in the same -14 and in the silver and gray -14A. Without much prompting from me, she agreed that she liked the roomy cabin, and suggested that if I wanted to, we could put a deposit down on the emp kit
I didn't waste a minute going back inside and getting in line with my Visa card.
Got the email yesterday with the agreement to sign, and this evening I got my order acknowledgement and wire transfer instructions. I called Anne to give her my shipping information, and she said they have something like 39 tail kits on order from OSH, and that the crating guys are slammed right now. So in 3 to 6 weeks I should be picking it up in Michigan and bringing it through customs home.
I just keep reminding myself "one bite at a time"
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