This is my first (or nearly so) post of what I imagine to be many. Here's a list of the progress made so far on my project:
1. Mission decision: I wanted airplane that's reasonably fast cruise for "short" hops, 2 place, room for at least an overnight bag. Also important...I want to go upside down again. Something in which I'd be comfortable doing proficient gentlemanly aerobatics, but has a bit of a safety margin for "marginally" proficient gentlemanly aerobatics. After narrowing it down between the -8 and the -14, and after some hands on and discussion, the wife OK'd either. After specifically ensuring that the "tandem" design didn't bother her in the least, I chose the -8...simply because I was more excited about the -8.
2. I filled out a form, spoke with Barb at Van's, wrote a check, was found worthy (my check cleared) and placed on the waitlist for a QB kit.
3. I'm building the empennage this February at Synergy South. I'm unsure to what extent I'll build the rest at Synergy, but I'm confident I'll get a good feel for much of the tooling, pace, process, technique, etc that will be required...less initial head scratching and more initial doing.
That's it to date.
First question: I assume that taking delivery of a new kit or finding a barely second-hand RV-8 QB kit more quickly than the current 8 month lead is unlikely...? Life-wise and job-wise, I could put in A LOT of building over the next 12 months...if I had the kit.
Next Step: Finish researching and make the decisions/orders that will cause any significant delay once my wing/fuse kits are delivered.
Thanks to VAF for the site and community. I've learned a lot just lurking!
1. Mission decision: I wanted airplane that's reasonably fast cruise for "short" hops, 2 place, room for at least an overnight bag. Also important...I want to go upside down again. Something in which I'd be comfortable doing proficient gentlemanly aerobatics, but has a bit of a safety margin for "marginally" proficient gentlemanly aerobatics. After narrowing it down between the -8 and the -14, and after some hands on and discussion, the wife OK'd either. After specifically ensuring that the "tandem" design didn't bother her in the least, I chose the -8...simply because I was more excited about the -8.
2. I filled out a form, spoke with Barb at Van's, wrote a check, was found worthy (my check cleared) and placed on the waitlist for a QB kit.
3. I'm building the empennage this February at Synergy South. I'm unsure to what extent I'll build the rest at Synergy, but I'm confident I'll get a good feel for much of the tooling, pace, process, technique, etc that will be required...less initial head scratching and more initial doing.
That's it to date.
First question: I assume that taking delivery of a new kit or finding a barely second-hand RV-8 QB kit more quickly than the current 8 month lead is unlikely...? Life-wise and job-wise, I could put in A LOT of building over the next 12 months...if I had the kit.
Next Step: Finish researching and make the decisions/orders that will cause any significant delay once my wing/fuse kits are delivered.
Thanks to VAF for the site and community. I've learned a lot just lurking!