The prize

[kens_cockpit]

Yesterday was Easter Sunday morning and time for the Easter egg treasure hunt at our house. My wife's Easter egg hunt is one of the traditions which our six children enjoy, even the teenagers.

This one is special because our eldest son is completing a couple of days leave with us before heading back to the Australian Defence Force Academy where he is completing his science degree before commencing his pilot training in the RAAF.

After my wife's treasure hunt was completed our two girls, 9 and 11 years, announce another treasure hunt. They explain that they have planted different coloured balloons around the house and yard which must be popped to obtain the clue to the next location and at the end there will be a prize. What beautiful girls; already showing they have taken on their mother's passion for creating happy family memories.

My wife and I have the pink balloons and we head out to the summer house and pop the first balloon which sends us back into the piano. That clue sends us into the study.

My wife puts the pin in the balloon. The bang makes me jump even though I'm expecting it. The little white paper with the clue on it drops out and I pick it up. I read:

"Go to the plane for your next clue"

As we head into the garage, our seventeen year old son comes racing out, off to find his next clue and yells back over his shoulder exactly what I was thinking:

"How many people can have that as a clue? Go to the plane..."

It brought home to me how fortunate I am. My family is the greatest blessing on this earth. But on this Easter Sunday morning, that little clue in the treasure hunt brought home to me the significance of another blessing, albeit one that now feels to be a rather mixed one.

In one of the many times of doubt I have had about this very slow ?quickbuild? project, I received a word from a close friend who said, "Sometimes God gives us the desires of our heart."

Most of the time this project is too big for me. Full time work, exercising regularly, family activities ...life, all interfere with the plane. But really that?s just an excuse. I could make time if I wanted to.

I started enthusiastically about 7 years ago. The empennage was done in a few months. The wings were basically complete a few months later. I would head out to the garage every Saturday night and every Sunday and sometimes during the week. The seats are in, the instruments are in the instrument panel and talking to each other without any smoke. The magnetometer is down the back of the fuselage. All sorts of bits and pieces have been installed. The landing hear has been aligned and drilled and removed again, though not without it?s dramas. And that?s where things have basically stalled for the last 3 or 4 years.

Everything else has taken over. Truth be known I?ve lost the joy of building. When people ask me how the plane is going I usually respond with a sigh of resignation and say ?...slowly....too slowly.? I get home from a day of solving everyone else?s problems and the last thing I want to do is pick up the threads of the last problem I was working on with the plane.

I just want to fly this plane. But I can?t fly it unless I build it. And my wife won?t let me sell the project. I think she knows I have to complete it. Part of the education from the 51% is the character building quality of perseverance.

My youngest children basically don?t remember a time without an aeroplane in the garage and the cars parked outside. I almost can?t remember a time without a plane in the garage. And I think they need to see it completed.
My mind knows that when this aeroplane flys it will be the aircraft of my dreams. But my heart is almost crushed by the enormity of what remains to be done. Still there is a little ember of the fire that was once there. I hope, but not without significant doubt, that it can be fanned into a decent little campfire of progress even if the fuel for the initial conflagration of enthusiasm has been consumed.

Recently I?ve been making a little more time, doing little things...installing the static ports, and some bigger things...tidying up the wiring behind the instrument panel. Who knows, maybe one day...the prize will be obtained. In the meantime, it?s a great place for a pink balloon with a clue in the annual Easter egg treasure hunt.

[islandmonkey]

Think of the time when you can take all your family one by one in the back seat of that 8 when it is finished.

Think of the time when you can throw the keys of the plane at your son and say "Take it out for a flight son".

Think of the kudos, pride and the respect that the family will have when Dad finally completes the "The Plane".

Think of how nice it will be to put a car away out of the sun.

Make the time available and give youself small goals in the construction. Get the family to help if possible.

Good Luck. You can do it.

[rv8ch]

Ken,

I know how you feel - I've got two little ones about the same ages as yours, and they want a lot of my time. I could go build, but the way I look at it the project may still be there in 8 years, but the girls won't. I only build when they are out of the house at an event like a friend's birthday party or sleeping. Doesn't give me much time, but little by little it will get done.

Hang in there!

[Ironflight]

Very nicely written Ken - you have now learned many of the truths behind homebuilding, none of which have to do with how to set a good rivet or make a nice splice. The lessons that we learn about ourselves through the focus of an airplane project are the ones that will reflect from us upon others forever - long after we no longer have the ability to physically take wing.

Wonderful piece!

Paul

[fatherson]

Ken, your beautifully written thoughts inspire me, and I hope they inspire you too. Even with your message's few notes of melancholy, the song I hear most loudly in what you wrote is balance, determination, and courage. After I've learned so much about building on this site, I most enjoy what I've learned about living. You've just added yourself to my long list of teachers. Thank you.

--Stephen

[Jon Clements]

Hi Ken

I haven't come across you on VAF before but your words certainly hit a soft spot for me. I guess more than anything you made me realise how lucky I was to have a supportive wife who allowed me to raise two young kids, run a demanding business and build an RV in a little over 3 years.

We all have different levels of motivation, desire and drive in relation to pursuing this extraordinary hobby but it is the underlying obsession that is both selfish and yet fundamentally important to reaching completion. We all need to achieve on a personal level to succeed in life and more often than not it is outside our business interests where genuine personal achievement is found.

It is often said on these forums that some people are builders and some are flyers but the common link is that everyone who completes an aircraft achieves something extraordinary irrespective of wether or not it is the completion or the flying that provides them with the joy.

Fortunately I get a reward on both levels.....and taking my family flying in my aircraft is a massive fringe benefit. It is a selfish pursuit on many levels ( don't deny it) so don't let it dominate your family life however reading between the lines it is obvious your wife appreciates the underlying importance of the project on a personal level.

Paul Austin is about to fly his RV-7 for the first time (I assume you know him because Tassie/Launceston ain't big) so make the effort to be there for his first flight if you can....?

I am planning to fly my 7 to Tasmania in the coming months (probably spring) so keep in touch and I will visit and take you/your family up for a fly if your are keen which should help you focus on the light at the end of the tunnel.

Cheers, Jon.

[Richard Connell]

Hi Ken

You have done well to verbalise the feelings most of us go through in the last stages of the project. Its a shame when the fun has left and youre left with completion as a financial necessity rather than the original motivation. We in Australia are at somewhat of a disadvantage compared to our US cousins as well - as there generally arent a lot of likeminded individuals in close proximity to help out.

That said.... youre almost there, and you will forget all about this once its flying. Im in Sydney. I too plan on flying down to Tassie eventually and will come and say hi. In the meantime, if you need any help with paperwork, CofA inspection preparation, or anything else, please let me know.

Cheers

[trib]

There are a bunch of people who can relate on this site. I spent 13 years building my 6A while raising two daughters, and yes they had no memory of a garage without an airplane in it (we referred to it as a hanger)! The RV was actually my second project after I changed horses midstream from a Dragonfly. My wife went 20 years without parking in the garage . I tried to consistently spend some time each week, maybe 5-10 hrs, but there were long periods where it went idle due to work or family demands. That ember you mentioned was always there. Just take pride in the fact that you're that crazy guy on the block that's building an airplane in his garage. Don't fret over a date, it'll be finished when it's finished. Enjoy the time that you get to spend building and understand that it is its own reward. And then one day the fun will begin in a different direction (flying instead of building).

[N8RV]

A lot of us have been there, Ken. As a fellow very-slow-builder (13+ years), Smokey would still be about where yours is were it not for the gracious sacrifices and knowledge of a dear friend and fellow RV-8 builder, Danny King. Although he had to fly 4-5 hours each way, he visited several times and spent long days each visit to get me going again and back in the saddle. Even though he claims that his total help added up to less than a month of work out of the 13 years of the project, it was a very crucial month of work days, doing the stuff that held me hostage -- hanging the engine, fitting the baffling and cowling, fitting the canopy and glassing in fairings.

Sounds to me like you need a "Wizard of Oz" -- a Down-under version of Danny. Someone with the knowledge and enthusiasm that you currently lack to get you over the hump and back on track.

Oh, and the best thing about having your own personal Danny is that you only have to keep him supplied with coffee and occasional meals.

Good luck finishing your dream. As nearly everyone says looking back, "It's worth it!"

[scsmith]

My RV-8 completed quickly in part because of the great help from a fellow builder (although he mostly builds plastic gliders). Not only does the helper keep you motivated (you have to cook up things for him to do!) but the shared experience is more satisfying, sometimes more efficient for problem-solving, and just adds an additional sense of committment to the project.

If you can find someone to work with you on a schedule, say, set aside 4 hrs every weekend and maybe 2 hrs one evening a week, you will start to feel more progress. Then, the feeling of progress gets you thinking about it more, and maybe you can make more time for it. Of course there are trade-offs for the time ( my cycling mileage dropped from 6000+ miles per year to about 2500)

We've all been through what you feel. See if you can recruit someone to help you build. Hope this helps.