Buying a flying RV
JD,
Buying a used aircraft requires due diligance, but a used experimental really requires study.
1. Get the checklist from Van's website which lists most of the paperwork items that you must have.
2. Hire someone who has expert knowledge about the RV aircraft to do a pre-buy inspection. Your local EAA chapter can help. Some DARs will do a pre-buy.
3. Don't restrict yourself to a specific geographical area - the best aircraft for you might be on the other end of the country.
4. Be willing to pay for your pre-buy inspector and yourself to travel to the prospective aircraft location, or to pay the owner to fly it to the inspector's location. The inspection should be to the standard of an annual inspection.
5. Every RV is different. The most important (read expensive if you make a mistake) items that you need to consider is the quality of the build (to be determined by the inspector) and the quality of the engine and constant speed propeller. A poor build will be apparent to anyone who has built one, and is always a negative. An undocumented engine and propellor will cost a fortune to rebuild or replace. I strongly recommend purchasing an aircraft that has an engine built by a professional (Lycoming, Aero Sport Power, Lycon, and many others) for the peace of mind. Obviously the Experimental owner can build his own engine, and many are capable of building a fine engine. It's not worth the risk as a second owner.
6. Since #5 is most important, do not worry about whether the aircraft has dated insrumentation and radios. You will probably want to build your own panel someday, anyway. Obvously a modern "glass cockpit" and multi-axis autopilot will demand a signifigant premium over the "steam gage" cockpit.
7. Be sure that all of the Van's Service Bulletins that apply have been done.
8. Be sure that all applicabe ADs and Service Bulletins have been accomplished on both the engine and propeller. (This takes quite a bit of research, especially if the engine is listed as "Experimental." You will have to go through each engine component by part number and compare them to the list of ADs applicable, whereas with a certified engine, the owner of the engine will be notified of applicable ADs.)
Even following all of the steps above, mistakes can be made. When I bought my RV8, I checked off "Airworthiness Certificate" on Van's checklist, not realizing that the operating limitations (part of the Certificate) were missing. I had to jump through a bunch of hoops with the Dallas FISDO to get that fiasco fixed.
You might think from the discussion above that I would reconsider my decision to buy an RV8. NO WAY! After nearly 2 years and almost 300 hours in the aircraft, I've still got the RV grin. Acrobatics, Formation, and ACM are a ball in the airplane. Plus it goes nearly 200 MPH at 7.0 GPH for cross country! And the RV community is the best bunch of passionate and helpful friends that you could find.
Go for it!
Craig
__________________
Craig Taylor
RV8 flying
2020 VAF dues paid with thanks
Navy A7E Vietnam era
Ret. Corporate Pilot: G1159, IA Jet, Jetstar, Falcon 10, 20, 50
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