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05-18-2011, 12:43 AM
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Join Date: Apr 2011
Location: SF East Bay
Posts: 852
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Research and head scratching continues.
1. How do people deal with obtaining hangar space at impacted airports? I have a shop at the house I can begin construction but at some point I am going to need to move it to the local airport. The only trouble is that people literally die on the hangar waiting list at my local airport. The last time I looked, the person who was on the top of the list had put his name in over 15 years ago. Subleasing is very much frowned upon.
2. Browsing around the forums I see lots of "after market" components available (cowlings, canopies, gear legs, exhaust etc etc) and wondered if there was a prevailing logic. Are certain components just better than stock or is it a matter of the after market part having some specific trait the specific builder is looking for?
As always, thanks for your input.
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05-28-2011, 10:17 PM
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Join Date: Apr 2011
Location: SF East Bay
Posts: 852
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I have ordered a preview plans set and spent the last couple evenings paging through them and I have a question for those who looked at the preview plans and then went on to build. When you are standing there with the parts in your hand and the full size set of drawings available do the directions make more sense? Most are very straight forward while others I have stared at the plans and directions for ten minutes trying to figure out what in the world they are talking about.
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05-29-2011, 09:33 AM
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Join Date: Sep 2009
Location: Wichita, KS
Posts: 557
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Quote:
Originally Posted by xblueh2o
2. Browsing around the forums I see lots of "after market" components available (cowlings, canopies, gear legs, exhaust etc etc) and wondered if there was a prevailing logic. Are certain components just better than stock or is it a matter of the after market part having some specific trait the specific builder is looking for?
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There is a ton of info on the forums, but what most helped me decide on aftermarket components (that I haven't even really started buying yet) is perusing build sites out there on the interweb. Instead of someone just saying "be sure to do this" on the forums (which is valuable!), you can actually see that component being installed on the airplane, and usually the person with the build site goes into a little bit of info on why they made that decision. Most of the sites I read through are for the -7, so I won't list them here, but I know there are some good sites out there for the -8.
Quote:
Originally Posted by xblueh2o
I have ordered a preview plans set and spent the last couple evenings paging through them and I have a question for those who looked at the preview plans and then went on to build. When you are standing there with the parts in your hand and the full size set of drawings available do the directions make more sense? Most are very straight forward while others I have stared at the plans and directions for ten minutes trying to figure out what in the world they are talking about.
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Absolutely. Like you, I read through the preview plans a few times and was thoroughly confused. I tried to follow along with the plans, but some of the stuff didn't make sense.
Once I got my hands on real parts, it all became clear...well...clearer. I'm still confused about a lot while building, and I still spend a good amount of each work session staring at the plans. (Oh, and one of the things that surprised me the most was how much smaller everything was once I saw them. I had never actually seen an AN426AD3- rivet before my practice kit...it was tiny. I don't know why I thought everything would be bigger.)
__________________
Andrew Z.
Engineering Flight Test Pilot/Engineer, CFI-A, CFII, ATP
RV-7 in work (See my build log.)
Empennage...Done (except rebuilding the rudder.)
Wings...Halfway complete.
2018 Dues Paid
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05-29-2011, 10:30 AM
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Join Date: Dec 2006
Location: Paso Robles, CA
Posts: 1,177
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Quote:
Originally Posted by xblueh2o
Ok,
First post here and I have many many questions but I will try and keep it short and on target. I searched the general forums for a while but didn't find any good solid answers. I have also looked at Vans site and found nothing explicit. I figured I would ask here in the 8 forum since everyone here would know the answers and more importantly that is the model I am considering.
1. When purchasing a kit (QB or not, doesn't matter. Or does it?) Do you purchase the entire kit at once or do people get the empennage, finish it then order the wings etc etc on down the line?
2. How do people manage the expensive bits (engine, avionics) and still manage to not get divorced, put kids through college, not end up living in a van down by the river?
Did you just throw a few large chunks of money at your project or is it more like a slow steady drain? I am not worried about time or ability. I have built cars and planes before (for other people) but my fiscally conservative side is rearing it's ugly head when I start thinking about this project. Just wondering how the average person does it.
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I will address what I have experience with.
I bought my tail kit 14 years ago, it was all I could afford. That was ok because I had 3 kids in the home and very little funds.
I bought the wings a few years later, inventoried the box, awhile later and I built my wings.
All along my wife was ok, as long as the family did not suffer because of my managed airplane building addiction.
Some times I did not work on it for long periods of time. This was due to lack of funds, family matters, or other somewhat necessary projects.
My wife praised me for how good it was all coming along whenever she would recognize a milestone in her estimation.
Now the good part.... When I rolled the Fuselage (Canoe) over and set it on the stand I made, she said "Wow this is exciting it is starting to look like a real airplane, so we will be able to fly it someday!"
Sometimes its a matter of how long for them to accept it, more for them to appreciate it, more for them to like it, more for them the get excited, and the final stage is full acceptance of your partner IN THE SKY ! 
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05-29-2011, 12:52 PM
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Join Date: Nov 2006
Location: Albuquerque
Posts: 297
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figuring it out along the way...
When I first jumped into this 4.5 years ago, I had no idea about any of the "stuff" it was going to take to get the thing in the air.
Heck, I wasn't even a pilot!
Avionics, engine, prop, hangar, flight school - oh my!
I figured it all out along the way somehow and all the pieces, given enough time and consistent effort, fell into place.
If I had waited until all the problems had a solution, I would still be waiting.
Living in a van by the river has its advantages. Think of the building room you will have
Dave
-9A flying
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06-09-2011, 01:09 AM
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Join Date: Apr 2011
Location: SF East Bay
Posts: 852
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Looking for somebody in the greater SF Bay Area who has a finished, or nearly finished, 8 that would be kind enough to let me come over and sit in it. At 6'5" with long legs I want to make sure I fit comfortably. A local builder let me sit in his briefly a while back and I felt kind of cramped. Looking back I wonder if the rudder pedals were adjusted back. The seats were very well custom padded so when the canopy was closed I felt like I had to scrunch down a little. I would like to take the time to really get a feel for the airframe and ask some questions.
Thanks in advance.
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06-13-2011, 11:05 AM
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Join Date: Jun 2011
Location: Nephi, UT
Posts: 79
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Quote:
Originally Posted by DaAV8R
Insurance - I hear alot about folks buying not in motion insurance for their build. Some of the figures I've heard seem high to me. For not much more that the premiums which have been mentioned to me you can insure a flying plane with a greater hull value. At least for a while, you might protect your investment by spreading out the parts as you finish them. Some at home, some at your buddies hanger, etc.. They won't all burn down. It they do, take it as a sign that you were not destined to fly the thing  . I wonder if we couldn't just add it to the homeowners policy.
Weight - I'm nowhere near flying but a couple of planes I've asked about had empties from 1050 with a fixed pitch to 1200 with all the goodies and a constant speed. It seems like if you get carried away buying stuff and spending money, you run the risk of ending up heavy.
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As far as adding it yo your homeowners policy - the insurance company would look at it as the same situation of your vehicle parked in the garage and the house and vehicle burn down. The vehicle is required to have its own insurance policy to be covered and will be covered to the extent of its policy limits. For an aircraft - to be covered as an aircraft (even in parts form) it woul need to be covered as its own policy.
Also - for those of us that have expensive tools - often there is a limit on what your insurance company will pay out for a loss. Sometimes as little as $2500 (minus deductible) unless you have declared a higher value for these tools (and paid a slightly higher premium). Overall a $100 more a year for homeowners insurance to cover thousands of dollars in tools would likely be a good decision at least for a portion of the build.
Just my 2 cents as an insurance agent in Utah.
__________________
Mike Price
CFII/Multi Commercial
I'm gonna build me an RV one day soon
"The older I get -- the more I realize that sense is not common."
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06-17-2011, 11:31 PM
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Join Date: Apr 2011
Location: SF East Bay
Posts: 852
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Nobody in the greater bay area with an 8?
Still in the research stage.
Question. Has anybody grafted an F1 fastback and sliding canopy to an 8?
I like the look of the fastback but I am not a real fan of the tip over canopy.
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06-18-2011, 08:40 AM
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Senior Curmudgeon
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Join Date: Sep 2005
Location: Dayton Airpark, NV A34
Posts: 15,420
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Quote:
Originally Posted by xblueh2o
Question. Has anybody grafted an F1 fastback and sliding canopy to an 8?
I like the look of the fastback but I am not a real fan of the tip over canopy.
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Something for you to consider is this. The slider canopy runs on rails that must be parallel or they will not operate. The distance between the rails is set by the narrowest part of the cockpit, which is at the back.
The ShopPlanes canopy setup replaces the fuse longereon caps with a narrower piece----and that gives more width to the front cockpit.
I notice you have asked in prior posts about how you would fit in an 8, if you have wide shoulders, this could be a factor in the decision.
I have "tried on" both a stock 8, and one with the ShowPlanes mod, and there is no way I could fly a stock 8-----my shoulders are just too wide. The ShowPlanes fits well.
__________________
Mike Starkey
VAF 909
Rv-10, N210LM.
Flying as of 12/4/2010
Phase 1 done, 2/4/2011 
Sold after 240+ wonderful hours of flight.
"Flying the airplane is more important than radioing your plight to a person on the ground incapable of understanding or doing anything about it."
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06-18-2011, 10:20 AM
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Join Date: Apr 2011
Location: SF East Bay
Posts: 852
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Good to know, thanks for the info.
If I can find a local 8 to sit in I will make sure to note the shoulder room.
Any idea how much wider the Showplane's tip over is?
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