ALL RV lovers... RV history

N624EJ · #1 02-08-2008, 09:41 PM

I had a remarkable evening. I just recently moved back to a small town in Oklahoma which just so happens to be my hometown. I am a curious young man, so I decided to find out who around here flies or builds rv's. I came across one old man. He is a retired, ex-marine, 2 war veteran, 78 year old man who happens to live 20 miles from me, and he just so happened to be a old school RV builder and pilot. I could talk to that man for hours. He had flown and owned numerous great planes in his life.
Greatest of all, he built three flying RV3's . The RV3 is a piece of history to all RV pilots, and there are only roughly 200 flying out there. So that is pretty outstanding in my books.

We ventured out to his hangar to look at his last RV3 built in 1992. It was covered in dust and cobwebs and hasn't been flown in many years. He is in too bad of health to do anything, much less crawl into an RV3. He told me I could clean it up, and throw some fuel in it and putt it around his grass strip. Although I would want an annual done on it before flying, as well as a few minor things fixed.

The plane has a sliding back canopy, instead of a tilt. has a wheel manual trim, which is sort of uncommon. it weighs 709 pounds empty with a converted lycoming O 290gpu and wood prop. has an electric system , and is wired for lights. for a RV3 it was simple but more than I expected.

This is a rare plane, that deserves some love and attention... everyone agree?

More to come after a bath and some engine running, and taxing.

How much would all of you think this plane is worth to purchase?

Neal@F14 · #2 02-08-2008, 11:06 PM

What a great find!

This plane definitely needs to be put back into flying condition. I have no idea what it might be worth as-is, since that would depend on how much TLC it needs to put it back into airworthy condition and whether the engine has any corrosion in it from sitting so long. See if you can get a look in thru the spark plug holes to see how the cylinder walls look and I'd definitely want to give it a fresh oil change and pre-lube it by spinning the prop with spark plugs removed to try and get some oil splashed around inside the engine before starting it up.

EDIT: I was just looking at those pictures a little closer... it that a mud dobber's nest near the lower left corner of the instrument panel... just above the throttle? If so, then it would be prudent to go over the plane with a fine tooth comb and look for more of them and clean everything up before even thinking of addressing getting the engine started. It would be a shame to risk any harm like maybe to any moving parts in any control surface mechanism from a dobber's nest restricting travel or coming loose and getting stuck in something. If there's one dobber's nest on the plane, there are probably more... deep down in hidden places too. There used to be an old Bonanza parked in the big hangar in my airport, and once day we saw mud dobbers coming out of the tail. Turned out there was huge nest built inside the tail that probably weighed over a pound and was as hard as a chunk of concrete.

N624EJ · #3 02-09-2008, 10:49 AM

yes, i think it was. I was planning on having an RV4 /a&p pilot friend of mine look it over before starting the engine or anything. And full maintenance before flying. I climbed in he plane and moved the stick around and the control surfaces seemed to be fine. if there were mud dobbers in the plane would it be hard to get them out? He told me it wouldn't take much at all to get it flying again. he has been caring for the engine, and plugging up everything that needed covered.

minus the dobber issue, i don't see it needing more than a grand to get flying. what you guys think?

Michael White · #4 02-09-2008, 03:04 PM

I'd want to make sure it had at least the "A" mod incorporated, if not both "A" and "B" mods.

See this thread: http://www.vansairforce.com/communit...ad.php?t=21839

And also Van's website for a pdf on the "B" mod (sorrry, couldn't find one for the "A" mod): http://www.vansaircraft.com/pdf/sb96-03-1.pdf

Best,

captainron · #5 02-09-2008, 03:18 PM

I love the panel!
Aren't you glad he used Dials? Don't you wish everybody did?

rvbuilder2002 · #6 02-09-2008, 04:49 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Michael White

I'd want to make sure it had at least the "A" mod incorporated, if not both "A" and "B" mods.

See this thread: http://www.vansairforce.com/communit...ad.php?t=21839

And also Van's website for a pdf on the "B" mod (sorrry, couldn't find one for the "A" mod): http://www.vansaircraft.com/pdf/sb96-03-1.pdf

Best,

Michael is making a good suggestion.

I noticed the "No Aerobatics" pilot warning sticker on the panel. Van's makes these available for RV-3's that have not had the wings modified with the A and B mod. Since this sticker is installed it probably doesn't have the mods done. If you fly it please keep that in mind.

N624EJ · #7 02-09-2008, 07:49 PM

i knew about the wing mods, and no it has not been modded.
I plan to do the mods if I got it.

i just don't know if it is a good deal or not for what he is asking.
it seems good, but i don't know how much will need to be spent to make it airworthy again.
he wants 18k. he said it is pretty much ready to fly, just a little maintenance.
is 18k too much for the condition it is in?