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  #21  
Old 12-30-2009, 10:48 AM
Pirkka Pirkka is offline
 
Join Date: Feb 2006
Location: Europe, Finland (EFTU)
Posts: 542
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If you assume that you build 1 hour on each day and will spend x hours for building. That leads to fact that every day you skip workshop day will move first flight for one day and if you delay the start of building, the first flight will be as well as many days later as you now keep considering whether to build or not...

However as said many, this ain't small decision and for most of us couple moths ain't much so going to Sun'n'Fun and making decision after that might be clever. If you want make the decision quicker, get contacted with local builders.

Summarum: sooner you start, sooner you finish and don't you think it's nice to fly when do not have to worry about medical or such things?
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- RV-7 -
Tail: Waiting for fiberglass.
Wings: Some priming left, then lot of riveting.
QB Fuse + Finishing kit: in crates.

Last edited by Pirkka : 12-30-2009 at 10:50 AM.
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  #22  
Old 12-30-2009, 10:57 AM
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tyconnell tyconnell is offline
 
Join Date: Jul 2007
Location: Keller, TX
Posts: 220
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At some point, it will be too late to start, or finish the build. Why push your luck?
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  #23  
Old 12-30-2009, 11:58 AM
OceanBob OceanBob is offline
 
Join Date: Oct 2009
Location: Trabuco Canyon, California
Posts: 95
Default You're in a good position Frank.....Just do it..!

At age 24 with an FAA job in Aviation; a pilots license and a desire to build your own AirSheen. What could be better..?.

Plenty of good advice has been offered. Without a wife/kids you could build in your living room...hahah...I've often had the desire to build without regard to family considerations (what could be better than having a new IO-360 on an engine stand in your dining room?...)

However when I was 24 life was in the way; a child in the oven a flying job as a Corporate Pilot that kept me criss-crossing the Country several times a week; getting transfered to a new division every 8 months prevented anything but apartment living. No space, no time. I attended Rockford (pre-Oshkosh) in 68 with my dad earlier and became interested in the Cassuit Sport Racer.

So I envy you because you are focused and have goals. Don Hall mentioned Sun and Fun. Get to know the tool people. Start collecting TOOLS....you will be surprised at how many tools you need. ($). Even if you have to put the project on hold, never sell the tools. Heck...build yourself a small apartment in a hanger...the possiblities are endless.

*make sure your future ex-wife is aware of your priorities from the get go.
(a joke, but in some ways not)

Bob
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  #24  
Old 12-30-2009, 01:11 PM
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Snowflake Snowflake is offline
 
Join Date: Oct 2009
Location: Victoria, BC, Canada
Posts: 3,932
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In my experience (which i'll summarize that at the bottom), I think you need a few things to build an airplane:

1. Space. I assume you've considered that you'll need at least a one-car garage worth of space to build the components, and then something two-car sized or a hangar to assemble in. I started in a basement room in my townhouse that was the size of a one-car garage, after working out that I could get the tail surfaces and wings out when the time came. Fuselage was another issue that I planned to deal with later.

2. Time. You need to be able to dedicate at least an hour a day to keep the project going. If you miss even a day, it gets harder to come back to it. If you plan to work on it full time one day a week, you'll take longer, as you'll spend half the time remembering where you left off last week. Shorter bursts more regularly are better.

3. Support. You need this to make the Time. If you're single, it's easier. If you're married or living with someone, you need their support and sometimes their boot in your butt to get in to the workshop for an hour a day. Eventually you'll need their help too, as you start bucking rivets in awkward places.

4. Money. The kit price is known, and you can figure out with a few google searches what it's going to cost to put together a stack of instruments, an engine, an upholstery, and paint. Once you've done that, and made a guess how long it will take you to build, you can work out a budget for how much it will cost you as you go. Once you've done that, don't give up. Money always seems to be available once you've decided you can do this. Really, if you're going to biy a plane instead, you'll need the same money. All that changes is when you start flying.

Now, i'd like to say that i'd completed an RV and could say that I speak from experience as a result. But I can't. I started 10 years ago at 28, and i've still only got the tail kit, and it's only partially completed. Just this month I purchased a completed RV-6 because my desire to be up flying has finally outweighed my desire and patience to be down here building. That, and at the rate i'm going I figure by the time I finish i'll need Depends rated for +6/-3G before i'll be able to enjoy it. One of the goals when I started was to have the RV flying before I was 40, and I can see that there's no way i'll finish the -7 by that time.

In my case, I lost a lot of Time due to changes in employment (both expected and unexpected) and change in residence (townhouse to house). And while I love my wife of 20 years dearly she isn't really an aviation person and as a result it probably wasn't fair to expect her to Support my need for the Time to work on the project... Especially when we also needed to renovate first the townhouse, and now our house. Space has never been an issue, the townhouse was good for the first half of the kit, and the house now has a two-car garage that would let me finish it. Money hasn't been an issue either, after all I did just buy a completed -6. The money always seems to be there when you need it.

For now the -7 will remain a side project, or maybe it'll be a retirement project. Although by then there may be an RV-17 instead. One option is to finish the tail and put it on the -6, it seems a lot of people are doing that now. But i'll fly the -6 for a while first, and decide what i'd want to do differently before I go back to building.

For you, 24 is a good age to start. But get going on it, and get it done quickly. The main reason is that if you don't, you'll fall behind all the other projects around you, and get lost in the desire to be up there flying rather than down on the ground building. You'll also fall victim to encroachmnets on the other requirements... You'll find a girlfriend and then a wife, take on more important roles at work which take more time, and eventually you'll buy a house that takes more money. Each of these are double-edged swords that have the potential to help or hinder your progress. Choose wisely!

So good luck, and get going!
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  #25  
Old 12-30-2009, 05:08 PM
WilburD2 WilburD2 is offline
 
Join Date: Aug 2007
Location: Houston, Tx
Posts: 163
Smile Practicality

Snowflake pretty much covered his subjects. But there are a couple more to consider.

Tools: You mentioned you are building a list of required tools. What I did to start building my tools was to take the lists of tools from the various tool dealers kits and make a composite list and cross off the ones I already owned. One suggestion I have is visit the pawn shops around the area of the Kazoo airport and WMU. You might pick up some tools cheap from the guys who were students or workers at the shops I know are based there at Kazoo.

Skills: Hows your mechanical skills? Ever done any wrenching on an aircraft? Driven rivets? You did say you were learning the ATC gig; Are you a student at WMU? If so, consider auditing the maintenance courses to pick up the skills you think you might need. Or make friends with the Maintenance instructors to maybe pick up some free lessons on the basic skills. ie: riveting, wiring.. Or even volunteer a couple days at the Kalamazoo Air Zoo in the restoration shops if you can find an 'in' with them.

Thats my $0.02.. for what it's worth...
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  #26  
Old 12-31-2009, 03:39 PM
Echo Tango Echo Tango is offline
 
Join Date: Nov 2009
Location: SFO Approach
Posts: 204
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Quote:
Originally Posted by WilburD2 View Post
Snowflake pretty much covered his subjects. But there are a couple more to consider.

Tools: You mentioned you are building a list of required tools. What I did to start building my tools was to take the lists of tools from the various tool dealers kits and make a composite list and cross off the ones I already owned. One suggestion I have is visit the pawn shops around the area of the Kazoo airport and WMU. You might pick up some tools cheap from the guys who were students or workers at the shops I know are based there at Kazoo.

Skills: Hows your mechanical skills? Ever done any wrenching on an aircraft? Driven rivets? You did say you were learning the ATC gig; Are you a student at WMU? If so, consider auditing the maintenance courses to pick up the skills you think you might need. Or make friends with the Maintenance instructors to maybe pick up some free lessons on the basic skills. ie: riveting, wiring.. Or even volunteer a couple days at the Kalamazoo Air Zoo in the restoration shops if you can find an 'in' with them.

Thats my $0.02.. for what it's worth...
Thanks for the advice, Wilbur. I don't attend WMU, went to UND for aviation , though I'll definitely consider dropping by the restoration center to see if they're actively doing anything at the moment. I know they just got the tri-motor back flying, though I think the work was done elsewhere. Also, one of my co-workers is pretty active with the local EAA chapter at AZO, so I'll probably try to tag along with him to a few meetings.
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  #27  
Old 12-31-2009, 03:41 PM
Echo Tango Echo Tango is offline
 
Join Date: Nov 2009
Location: SFO Approach
Posts: 204
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Thanks again to everyone for the well thought-out replies. Greatly appreciated and certainly a HUGE motivational factor!
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