average build time RV 14 a qb kit

[Captain Avgas]

Originally Posted by jeffw@sc47

Average? = all over the board, too many factors to consider, e.g. how obsessed and focused are you to the build, stick-to-itivness, time you can devote to the build, how far from home to build site, distance to Lowe's/HomeDepot, alterations to standard build, funding, amount of added build complexity, . . .

+1 This is the correct answer.....ie. no real answer at all.

The problem with these type of threads is that they tend to attract posters who are keen to brag about how fast they built their planes.

But in the end the equation for amateur aircraft construction is simply T=Q. That is, Time = Quality.

My advice to prospective builders is to simply enjoy the journey and build to the best of their abilities....and not worry about the hours it takes. If the end goal is to simply get a plane into the air as fast as possible then I always recommend purchasing instead of building.

It has been estimated that only about one-third of RV builders who start at the empennage kit ever finish the aircraft to flying stage. Those who can build a really well crafted aircraft are an even smaller percentage.

My best guess is that those who are not worried about the hours it is taking because they are truly enjoying those hours in the workshop are more likely to finish the project....and more likely to build a better quality aircraft.

Building an aircraft is not a game for the impatient....or those who have become accustomed in their lives to instant gratification....not at all. The number of partly completed empennage kits that come up for sale on VansAirforce alone is just staggering.

[rvbuilder2002]

The correct answer is that no one knows how long you will take. Not even you, if you were provided with a lot of statistical data. Every person comes to the project with a different level of knowledge and back ground experience, and each person will approach the project in a slightly different way.
This all has an influence on the overall time commitment required to finish.

There is an average build time, but as already mentioned, it is difficult to give a precise # because there has not been any controlled process to acquire a good cross section of data samples.
Short of that, we do make estimates based on our personal building experience, compared to the information that a lot of our customers provide us.

For a standard RV-14(A) basic build (built per plans with no builder designed modifications), our tech. support people will estimate about 1500 hrs and a build using a Quick Build kit at about 1000 hrs. It should be understood that if these are a valid average, there are builders that take much less, and others that take much more.

I disagree with the idea that it has been estimated that only 1/3rd of the people that start an emp. kit actually finish it.
I believe this could have been true 20-25 years ago, but it is not true today. If it were, the number of emp. kits for sale in the classifieds and other aviation for sale venues, truly would be staggering.

Why?
Because the shear number of emp. kits that have been sold in the past 10 years is truly staggering, and the #'s that have been advertised for sale in that time don't even approach 50% of the # sold.
Doing a search in the VAF classifieds doesn't tell much because posts are deleted after 30 days, but in the past 30 days there have been 2 kits advertised for sale. Van's ships way more than 2 emp. kits every week.

[Captain Avgas]

Originally Posted by rvbuilder2002

I disagree with the idea that it has been estimated that only 1/3rd of the people that start an emp. kit actually finish it.
week.

Scott, you're misquoting me. What I actually said was: "It has been estimated that only about one-third of RV builders who start at the empennage kit ever finish the aircraft to flying stage".

In reality 14 incomplete RV projects came up for sale on VansAirforce in the last month...and that was a very slow month. Builders continue to bail out of projects at an amazing rate. There's a lot of guys out there who are big on dreams but small on perseverance.

[rvbuilder2002]

Originally Posted by Captain Avgas

Scott, you're misquoting me. What I actually said was: "It has been estimated that only about one-third of RV builders who start at the empennage kit ever finish the aircraft to flying stage".

In reality 14 incomplete RV projects came up for sale on VansAirforce in the last month...and that was a very slow month. Builders continue to bail out of projects at an amazing rate. There's a lot of guys out there who are big on dreams but small on perseverance.

Your right, but what I actually missed was typing what I meant to say…..
By “it” I meant building the airplane, not the empennage.

[Captain Avgas]

Here's an RV14A for sale today on VansAirforce. This is the third owner of a QB kit that presumably is not even on its wheels yet ...looking to sell it to a fourth owner. In the end someone will finish this project....but it might have to pass through 4, 5 or 6 owners before it gets there.

As I said previously the turn-over of kits just on VansAirforce is staggering. It's even more amazing when you consider that people flogging off kits/projects in countries outside of the US are much less inclined to advertise them on VansAirforce.

https://vansairforce.net/community/s...d.php?t=204278