RV9 advice

Hi i am interested in building an Rv9 taildragger from a quick build kit using a used motor , thinking i can spend at least 20 hours a week on the project and am a first time builder.

what extras like exhaust ? do i need to budget for ?

in reality how long should it take to complete ? i am pretty handy mechanicly wise .

Do Rv9 tailwheel QB kits come up for sale much as i havent seen any

thanks
jim

Welcome Jim and good choice on a first build.
I averaged 20-30 hours a week and finished a slow build in 2.5 years.
I figured about 1500 hours with paint.
Some take as long as 2500 hrs.
You will find the fuse kit is the same on a RV-7 as a RV-9.
so yes they do come up for sale on occasion.
The quick build kits come non-gender specific as to tail wheel or nose wheel.
That is decided later by the builder.
The things that are different between a 7 and 9 are wing, empennage, and landing gear.
So finish kits and firewall forward kits are different.
Good luck.

I took a little over four years to complete my slow build -9, working around 20 hours a week, when I was in n town.

One correction to Mark's post, above. The -7 and -9 fuselages are very similar but not identical. Thus they are not interchangeable.

Not a big deal putting a used engine up front, many builders do that.

Good luck and welcome.

The list of extras can be long.

Paint
Tools
Avionics
Instrumentation
Upholstery
Prop
Muffler
Electrical parts
Replacement parts when you make a mistake (most of us do)

These are just for a start.

Dave

Kits

David Paule said:

The list of extras can be long.

Paint
Tools
Avionics
Instrumentation
Upholstery
Prop
Muffler
Electrical parts
Replacement parts when you make a mistake (most of us do)

These are just for a start.

Dave

Click to expand...

Yes. Add to that the Finishing Kit and Firewall Forward kit.
I actually keep a finishing spreadsheet to track stuff needed to complete. Amazing how much. Shoot me an e-mail if you want it.

Hey Bill. Sorry we missed TT this year and the ability to hang out.
I know we are both speaking in general terms but I thought a quick build 7 and 9 while still in the quick build stage were identical.
Where are they different?

Take that list above and double it. But yes a RV9 is a great choice and can be built fairly easily from a quick built project either tailwheel or nose gear (A). Thats what I did. vans has a tailwheel conv kit for just that. Having build a LongEz before ,the 9 kit went together in about a year. And had a 160 SMOH engine 0320 160HP installed. Now has 725 hrs more on the 9 airframe and never looked back. Avionics is wher your $ will be after the airframe kit and engine finishes. Be sure you decide 7 or 9 before you buy the QB project in that they are very different airframes with a different mission although look very much alike.

Good choice for a first build, except you're putting the little wheel in the wrong place.

Figure on 1500-1600 hours if you stick to the plans - if you start making modifications to those plans you will rapidly balloon out from there.

MarkW said:

I know we are both speaking in general terms but I thought a quick build 7 and 9 while still in the quick build stage were identical.
Where are they different?

Click to expand...

Spar and carry-through are not identical.

In general the airframe is 1/3 of the cost, fire wall forward is 1/3 and everything else is 1/3 of the cost. You can build a plane for under $70k if you are careful. You can do it for under 45k if you get a good deal on a used kit, used engine and watch the Van's classifieds closely for good deals and arent picky on what instruments you have.

Robin8er said:

In general the airframe is 1/3 of the cost, fire wall forward is 1/3 and everything else is 1/3 of the cost. You can build a plane for under $70k if you are careful. You can do it for under 45k if you get a good deal on a used kit, used engine and watch the Van's classifieds closely for good deals and arent picky on what instruments you have.

Click to expand...

Hey, don't horn in on me, lol.
I'm watching the classified EVERY DAY, watching for good deals.
AND, I've found some..........I think.

warning

I am the 3rd owner of my kit. It seemed to be a good deal at 15K, quick build including the finish kit. I have about 4 years 2000 hours into kit just myself(it is tricked out however). I knew it had issues when I bought it, canopy was a complete redo, including plex. Rear fuse skin had to be replaced, oilcanning on the lower wing skins....

However the pain was all the things I did know know when I bought the kit. An example was the gear weldments had been installed without checking if the wing temp bolts would go through them(common issue). I had remove the gear and the weldments to open them up after the plane was plumbed and wire, there goes a week.

I can be really hard to recover from some errors the might not be obvious at the time.

I pretty much had to rebuild everything the second builder did. Good thing I live close to Vans, I am a favorite will call customer. If it had not been a quickbuild and the 1st builder having done a fair job on the empennage it would have been hopeless. Strongly recommend you have an expert look at any 2nd or 3rd hand kit. In the end I think it would have been cheaper to start with a new quick build. By this time I also realize that really should have built a 10. Well I should really should have just bought a plane and waited until retirement to build one. I have a lot of respect for anyone that builds one of these to completion with a job and a family.