CuriousGeorge
Active Member
Well, after countless hours of research I finally found a gem of a 3 to call my very own. It's time to go public, especially after King Doug posted a bunch of pics a few days ago. (Nice shots!) Naturally, I'm thrilled to finally be an owner instead of a voyeur reading about building issues and flying stories. I wish I could claim doing more than just writing a check, and it feels like I'm stealing the plane, as the builder Tom McIntyre, a frequent contributer on here, did all the work to construct and perfect a very speedy RV-3.
Big thanks to Doug for this site and the huge participation of many folks on here who take their time to offer opinions, experience, and suggestions. Doug will get another donation to record as soon as I finish this post, and should have had one from me already. The value of this site is huge, and it probably translates into value in our machines as well.
My first RV grin came after a factory demo ride in a 7 at Sun 'n Fun 3 years ago. With a military background plus civilian, these planes are winners for providing as close to a military flying feel while being very affordable, by comparison. I started out wanting a 7A immediately after that demo ride, thinking nose dragging would be more practical, but then being comfortable with my Citabria figured the 7 would be good, but that gave way to the centerline seating of an 8, but a 4 is almost half the price. Then I looked at this 3 and for a comparable quality 4 I'd have to come up with a bunch more bucks. If I could get a back seat for the same money, I would, but I'd have to wait for the right time to buy a 4 while this 3 was reachable (more or less) now. Chances are that "right time" would never come, and now I'm scratching out something big on my bucket list.
So enough blathering, thanks again to everyone who helped me along the way, and you probably don't even know you did, which is the best indicator of good character. I look forward to getting comfortable in the plane and patrolling the skies over FL in the winter and Maine in the summer and meeting in fly-ins here and there.
It's good to be an owner. Better to be a builder too, but I'll settle for owner.
Signature change to follow!
Big thanks to Doug for this site and the huge participation of many folks on here who take their time to offer opinions, experience, and suggestions. Doug will get another donation to record as soon as I finish this post, and should have had one from me already. The value of this site is huge, and it probably translates into value in our machines as well.
My first RV grin came after a factory demo ride in a 7 at Sun 'n Fun 3 years ago. With a military background plus civilian, these planes are winners for providing as close to a military flying feel while being very affordable, by comparison. I started out wanting a 7A immediately after that demo ride, thinking nose dragging would be more practical, but then being comfortable with my Citabria figured the 7 would be good, but that gave way to the centerline seating of an 8, but a 4 is almost half the price. Then I looked at this 3 and for a comparable quality 4 I'd have to come up with a bunch more bucks. If I could get a back seat for the same money, I would, but I'd have to wait for the right time to buy a 4 while this 3 was reachable (more or less) now. Chances are that "right time" would never come, and now I'm scratching out something big on my bucket list.
So enough blathering, thanks again to everyone who helped me along the way, and you probably don't even know you did, which is the best indicator of good character. I look forward to getting comfortable in the plane and patrolling the skies over FL in the winter and Maine in the summer and meeting in fly-ins here and there.
It's good to be an owner. Better to be a builder too, but I'll settle for owner.
Signature change to follow!