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Time for other hobbies during build?

W

wickedsprint

Well Known Member
So while building, do you guys find your other hobbies a pleasant distraction to avoid burn-out..or do you put all other hobbies on the back burner once work on the plane starts?
 
Yes!

Scooters, soccer, guitars, hand launch r/c gliders, working on an old motorcycle and more....
 
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wickedsprint said:
So while building, do you guys find your other hobbies a pleasant distraction to avoid burn-out..or do you put all other hobbies on the back burner once work on the plane starts?
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Tony,

You are funny...

Other hobbies... hahahahahaha

Oh, I still did some auto racing but my tire budget turned into radios and other things. I still taught at our driving school each spring but the car didn't get out much. In fact, I sold it this past December. :(

I did make some good backpacking trips during the build but even those were limited.

Other than meeting, dating, and marring my wife during my build, I didn't have much time for anything else.

Of course you could always lengthen the build time and take in those other hobbies. Other than meeting, dating, and marrying MY wife, that is.
 
It's easier in the winter

but Saturday I was working on the -8 and the sun was shining and the air was warm and the Harley was calling loudly!! So off I went.

Sunday afternoon was filled with a group ride with the motorcycle ministry with all my friends from church.

Clear conflict of interests! :D:D:D

Just consider it a blessing to have such problems to deal with!

The plane will be done when it's done.
 
I went climbing 3 evenings a week, nearly every weekend, and took at least one 2-10 week climbing trip / year before I started my project. I haven't been climbing in over 2 years, but am planning on lacing up the shoes again soon now that the plane is flying.

I think you are wise to consider all of the things taking on a project of this magnitude will cost you. It ain't cheep in any of several different ways.

That said, it's been worth it for me.

Guy
 
Non-buidling time is for Flying, of course!! (It helps to have a flying airplane while you are building...;)
 
Prior to starting my RV I was (still am?) into motorcycles... started with a '90 Yamaha FZR 600 as a trainer bike, then bought a new '00 Honda CBR 600F4. For the first 4 years I rode the snot outta that thing and put some 45,000 miles on it; then the RV QB kit showed up in the garage and the CBR started collecting dust.

There were times I'd reach a burnout point while working on the RV, so I'd take the bike out for a ride. Funny thing though, while out on the bike I'd be thinking about the project and then start feeling kinda guilty about being out riding and not in the garage getting things done. Weird. Now that the RV is up and running I fly the snot out of it instead and the scooter is still collecting dust; when the choice is CBR or RV, the RV always wins. I've even thought about selling the bike, but just can't do that either. I'm gonna get back on it one of these days... plus, it's a whole lot cheaper to run than the RV!
 
I, too, have taken up RC's during the build...tho not helicopters...those things scare me. I have several kits to build, and I'm just about done with a 48" Cessna 195 (with a "polished" finish!). It's a great way to do something different but also to keep the mind in aviation...just on a smaller scale. I try to work out several times a week too...
 
I used to play golf to about a 6 handicap...have not swung a club in 3 years. Swapped greens fees for parts and can't give up 4+ hours of building time when I'm home!

A little is the RV and a little is my back. Of course, bending over the fuselage rail isn't helping the latter;)


Joe
 
I'm trying to sell my RC stuff to help fund my "new" full scale obsession. Anybody interested in a Wild Hare Edge 540? The little stuff just won't cut it since I got my PPL.

ff
 
Balance

It's hard to find balance in life when there are shiny airplane parts in your garage or basement. I have a number of other hobbies. I try to take my Ducati out of the garage every once in a while. Other than the motorcycle, all of my hobbies seem to involve RVs in some way. I'm working on a new business which will hopefully fund my RV addiction. I'm writing a cool little APRS client application that integrates with MS Virtual Earth (not yet sure where it's going, but it's really cool to see real-time position information on an animated map). And finally, I consider keeping up with the VAF forum a time consuming hobby that will make me a more educated builder. It helps to have a job where I can catch up on VAF during periodic down time.

The trickiest thing for me has been to balance all of my hobbies with family life. Our son is turning one next month and we have another due in November. It's a wonder I can ever sneak down to the basement to get work done. I try to be as available as can to my wife and son during the day and get all my RV work done at night. Some folks challenge themselves with getting their bird flying in the shortest time possible. That's fine for some people, but I don't mind taking the long, slow path to keep everything balanced.
 
I agree with the balanced approach. On the other side, browsing this forum, reading and answering completely non-technical questions, sometimes take way too much time that would be better spended on building :)
 
SvingenB said:
browsing this forum, reading and answering completely non-technical questions, sometimes take way too much time that would be better spended on building :)
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I couldn't agree more. I try to leave my VAF addition at work (if my boss is reading this, I only browse VAF during down time when I would otherwise be staring blankly at build messages ;)).
 
Funny this should come up now. I've been building on a tear for about 2 yrs till this spring. All metal construction was done some time ago, and a good part of the last year was spent on the canopy and the wiring. Both are done, the last thing I did was mount the cowl. I've been picking at the fwf stuff but have been getting a case of burn out.

So my step-son got a Honda CRF 150 over the winter. ( I'm a dirt bike guy from back when I was a kid. ) I put off the inevitable for months, but with the combo of burn out, watching him ride, not to mention there's just a few years left that he'll be here wanting to do stuff together..........I'm now the proud owner of a 2000 KTM 300 EXC !!! Didn't cost too much to get into that game. So I was a one trick pony, but it's time to slack off for a bit.

Just a bit :D
 
While I built my 7A, I bass fished, remote A/C, along with an electric helicopter, and finally, you guys ain't gonna like this one, I flew my kitfox. :D
 
Lets see

RC models of all sizes, wrote the Soaring column in Model aviation for a few years, umpire Little League, High School and Junior College baseball. (Go ASU in the CWS), hiking, fishing.

Yeah you need a break if you want to complete the project, just watch how much money is getting diverted:eek:
 
Rivethead said:
I've taken up trying to teach myself to fly RC helicopters.
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Yeah, that's the ticket, buy more RC Heli's, preferably from "Larry's Hobbies" in Houston. Maybe I can afford a little more fuel for my RV. Flying RC choppers is perhaps the hardest thing I have ever learned to do, one brain glitch and your done. (At least on the 60/90 size.) Simulator's really help.
 
Yep

CNEJR said:
Flying RC choppers is perhaps the hardest thing I have ever learned to do, one brain glitch and your done. (At least on the 60/90 size.) Simulator's really help.
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He's on the Forums but, Jason Krause is now an RVer. He is the designer of the TRex line from Align. If you really want to see some action, watch him fly RC helicopters. Disgusting!!!!! He will be performing at LOE.
 
From a guy who took 14 years to finish

Take a look at the homebuilder videos on the EAA website. There is one on how to finish your plane by working in it a little, without fail, every day. You have to keep the rest of your life in balance.

I took 14 years because I didn't follow his advice, and I missed out on a lot of flying. Something will have to give. You can't put in 1000 - 2000 build hours without something being different. But, I found the building time very fulfilling, and I miss it now...
 
I did not have another hobby...

...during the build process. The RV IS the hobby. My goal from the start was to get 8 hours a week for build time. So, for 14 years, 5,000 hours in the build log, 2 sons with "other" interest, a wife with no real interest, daddy responsibilities, house chores, a day job with many last minute flights to other parts of the world... and I am just about done. All of my paperwork went in to the FAA FSDO last week.

In the end, it is your time to spend as you choose. The more you (can) devote to the RV construction, the sooner you will finish.
 
While I was building I stopped almost all other hobbies. We even turned off TV. It worked good - we finished quick and my wife loved riveting.
 
Our deal was airplane building/money couldn't take away from family time . So when the grandkids came to spend this past weekend, we spent one day at the lake paddling the kayaks.

kidskayakin.jpg


of course we needed to help a friend do a little work at the airport.
austinS19.jpg
 
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I also have Grandkids here. So far, gold-panning, ghost-towning, fishing, and campfire/dutch oven cooking. If it ever stops raining we'll do a pack trip & some canoeing, some shooting too. Don't know when I'll get to MY hobbies.:D
 
Well, every-other-weekend trips for boating at my lake house in Arkansas does seen to get in the way some, and my guitar skills are waning. I found out today that I'm going to have to spend some time with my little wooden friend (Martin HD-28) so I can accompany my six year old Granddaughter at a fiddle competition in July. Oh the sacrifices Granddads make! ;):)
It's a good thing I retire in 18 months and can start a full-time job as an airplane builder:cool:
 
There's a Buell X1 motorcycle, the DJ turntables, and the electronic music. Oh, and a social life, but just barely. The rest is family, chores, and work.
 
Chappyd said:
Funny this should come up now. I've been building on a tear for about 2 yrs till this spring. All metal construction was done some time ago, and a good part of the last year was spent on the canopy and the wiring. Both are done, the last thing I did was mount the cowl. I've been picking at the fwf stuff but have been getting a case of burn out.

So my step-son got a Honda CRF 150 over the winter. ( I'm a dirt bike guy from back when I was a kid. ) I put off the inevitable for months, but with the combo of burn out, watching him ride, not to mention there's just a few years left that he'll be here wanting to do stuff together..........I'm now the proud owner of a 2000 KTM 300 EXC !!! Didn't cost too much to get into that game. So I was a one trick pony, but it's time to slack off for a bit.

Just a bit :D
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Don't get to crazy on that orange scooter, before you know it you'll be spending more time on ktmtalk.com than VAF. My situation is similiar, started a RV8 project which took pretty much all of my spare time. Felt the urge to get back on a dirt bike and bought an 07' KTM 250sx.For a variety of reasons I put the 8 project on the backburner and spent my spare time at the motocross track. Was having fun with it until I took a good spill and broke my leg tib/fib and a couple fingers. Two months on crutches gives you time to think about what you want to do when you're all healed up. The first weekend after the cast came off I was in the garage working on the wings. I now have a two year old son and a six month old daughter, so now I have to try to balance building time and family.
 
Homebrewing beer. Oh , and drinking it :D. But only after all the building is done for the day. Also motorcycles , bicycles and surfing VAF forums.
 
Building is a handicap killer for sure !

My golf handicap was getting to be a solid 11 when I started and now I struggle to hold an 18. When you go from hitting balls to driving rivets,... well,... somethings gotta give :- (

I would strongly suggest that you don't give up the occasional Saturday afternoon movie or activity with your spouse or SO. The plane will take a little longer to build but you'll still own it at the end of the day :)

Bill S
7a finishing finishing ,......
 
Building an RV or two takes a good chunk of your life (no regrets though). There are other fun things to do besides building and flying believe it or not...

While waiting for new space to assemble the -10 I've been catching up on missed activities- mountain biking, hiking, scrambling, climbing, blading, skiing, dating pretty girls and got myself a new GSX-R600 (16,000 rpm redline!!) recently. Gotta stay young as long as possible. I have been getting itchy to start back on the -10 again though- it's in your blood.
 
How about a nice model rocket? This is a model of the Nike Smoke sounding rocket.
Performance of this model on a J420 motor (way less than max for this size rocket, but 40 times as powerful as the largest Hobby Lobby Estes motors):

Initial rate of climb - 20,000 fpm
Zero to 325 mph in 1.75 seconds - straight up.
Yes, it is loud, and has a very cool looking flame.


DSC_0051-Copy.jpg
 
Beautiful rocket Bill....but ahhh....with the investigation going on to the northeast of KIAH right now, do you really want that picture on the web?! ;)

Paul
 
I thought of that, but what the heck. :p The kind of performance needed for the alleged flight profile up there is certainly available, but it would be a seriously expensive rocket - not one that you'd want to fly in such a "single use" mode. If it was in fact a rogue model rocket guy, he'd better hope that the authorities find him before the rest of the model rocket community does! Imagine how we'd feel if an RV-8 buzzed an airliner. Several of our local NAR officers have had a meeting with the FAA, and it was a pretty cordial meeting, apparently. One of our club officers also happens to be a very experienced airline captain, so that certainly was a good thing. Anytime you see us out there behind building 14, come out and say hi.
Just so everyone knows, high power model rocketry works closely with the FAA. We file waivers for high altitude flights, and NOTAMS are issued. We want to be good airspace neighbors, just like the RV community does.
 
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Too little time Too much fun.

Motorcycles I've been riding since the ripe old age of 6, raced back in the 90's a bit, good but not good enough to win mostly a mid pack runner. My current rides, a Ducati S2R 1000 and a Kawa ZX-6.

Mountain Biking Raced for a few years and a couple of Championships later I ride only for fun now. Specialized FSR S-Works and a Old school Gary Fischer Sugar 1x9.

Snowboarding and Cross Country Skiing in the winter time (Oregon is a great place for this one)

Play in a band. Breedlove Custom, Fender Stratocaster and a Wasburn beater. Four of my mountain bike buddies take up the slack. They are very good and I aspire to be as good as them. For my 50th birthday I had a new Breedlove custom guitar made. The factory is about 4 blocks from my office. What a wonderful experince to go there and hand pick every peice of wood the went into the work of art called a guitar.
 
500 hours a year, average....

I have heard, and I believe, that the average person, family, job, etc... has 500 hours per year left over for their hobbies. Avg. build time of 2000 hours, that's four years with no other hobbies. Makes sense to me....
more hobbies, longer build....
I am expecting my 3 to take me 8 years to build. I fly 100-150 hours per year, golf, travel, motorbike, fish,....well....maybe it will take 10-12 years!
 
Tony Partain said:
Motorcycles I've been riding since the ripe old age of 6, raced back in the 90's a bit, good but not good enough to win mostly a mid pack runner. My current rides, a Ducati S2R 1000 and a Kawa ZX-6.

Mountain Biking Raced for a few years and a couple of Championships later I ride only for fun now. Specialized FSR S-Works and a Old school Gary Fischer Sugar 1x9.

Snowboarding and Cross Country Skiing in the winter time (Oregon is a great place for this one)

Play in a band. Breedlove Custom, Fender Stratocaster and a Wasburn beater. Four of my mountain bike buddies take up the slack. They are very good and I aspire to be as good as them. For my 50th birthday I had a new Breedlove custom guitar made. The factory is about 4 blocks from my office. What a wonderful experince to go there and hand pick every peice of wood the went into the work of art called a guitar.
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Wow Tony, with a couple of small exceptions this was like reading my own Bio.

A) I've been riding since age 5, or coming up on 41 years. I'm on my 8th motorcycle since being married which kind of shows that Sher understands that boys need to be boys. I quit riding in the dirt about two years ago but loved every minute of it while it lasted.

B) BMX was my bicycle racing venue. As a kid we were really into this. None of our group became champions at BMX, but I was whipped by a few.:D

C) Skateboarding was more the So. Cal thing, but I remember when the surf shop got the first snow boards in. Sometimes I miss empty swimming pools and a mindset of "No fear." Those were great times.

D) I have a beautiful Martin Custom 15 which was built to emulate the great pre-war HD-28's. It is a great guitar! I also play my Fender Telecaster and an acoustic that is a wonder to behold built by the master Dana Bourgouis.


Recently I've started to pick the guitars up again. To answer the original poster all hobbies were shelved at my house when the plane project started. That seemed like the only way it would ever get finished.
 
Chris C. said:
Don't get to crazy on that orange scooter, before you know it you'll be spending more time on ktmtalk.com than VAF. My situation is similiar, started a RV8 project which took pretty much all of my spare time. Felt the urge to get back on a dirt bike and bought an 07' KTM 250sx.For a variety of reasons I put the 8 project on the backburner and spent my spare time at the motocross track. Was having fun with it until I took a good spill and broke my leg tib/fib and a couple fingers. Two months on crutches gives you time to think about what you want to do when you're all healed up. The first weekend after the cast came off I was in the garage working on the wings. I now have a two year old son and a six month old daughter, so now I have to try to balance building time and family.
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Well, I guess you did warn me, lol. I spent a lot of the last year limping. In the spring, I had a workbench fall on my toe. Turned into a case of gout and man was that painful. Then I got the bike....Then in July I fell while climbing a hill, and the bike came down square on my knee. Torn cartilage, fractured bones. Still, I am a hard learner (idiot) so in October I was feeling better and decided I would participate in a Turkey Run. At about mile 50 I fell in a rock garden, and caught my ankle between 2 rocks and the bike. More limping, and after 2 months of limping, got gout in the ankle!!. I've had enough. I love the bike, but I'm simply too old for that kind of activity anymore (51). Bike is for sale in the spring, lol.

So I'm back on the RV-7 full time, hoping to get my 1st flight and the RV grin sometime this summer!!
 
Nope, hobbies on hold.

I like to fish, and build & fly RC, but I put all the hobbies on hold to build my RV-9A. Trying to get it done in 18 months so I don't have to rent anymore.
 
Yep, learning how to fly was not enough stress.......

Rivethead said:
I've taken up trying to teach myself to fly RC helicopters.
Click to expand...

I just bought a new "Blade 400 3D" to freshen up my RC Helicopter Skills.

Now my life is Nothing but Stress.
 
Not much play when you have a day job...

I was a single digit handicap golfer before I started on my 10, but those days are long gone. I'm finding more interesting things to learn related to aviating.
 
Ahh--mmmm : retired---have breakfast, to the computer (Vans,of course), to the shop to build some, back to computer(either ACS or Steins :rolleyes:), back to shop, lunch, back to the shop, mi-afternoon snack, build some more and research, supper, back to the computer (Van's), and then relax for an hour and to bed. Next day repeat. Ah, What was the question ?:confused:
 
Rivethead said:
I've taken up trying to teach myself to fly RC helicopters.
Click to expand...

I have a Raptor 30 that I got a few years ago...learned some of the basics, but haven't flown it in a couple of years. Challenging hobby. Use the simulator to learn! :) And yes, they can be scary machines.

Other hobbies...golf with the guys from the office once a month or so, wildlife photography (trips to Yellowstone, etc.) once or twice a year.

ETA: Homebrewing occasionally...have a batch of West Coast IPA in the secondary right now...

But the damned plane can become an obsession... LOL!
 
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William Slaughter said:
How about a nice model rocket? This is a model of the Nike Smoke sounding rocket.
Performance of this model on a J420 motor (way less than max for this size rocket, but 40 times as powerful as the largest Hobby Lobby Estes motors):

Initial rate of climb - 20,000 fpm
Zero to 325 mph in 1.75 seconds - straight up.
Yes, it is loud, and has a very cool looking flame.


DSC_0051-Copy.jpg
Click to expand...

I did that for a while. Was certified to Level 2, biggest I ever flew was an L, I think. BUT...too expensive now (the plane eats all of my spare cash nowadays LOL!)
 
I have symbiotic hobbies.

When not building the -12, I write about building the -12. I even manage to squeeze in some photography.

The -12 is a different animal, I suspect. So far there has been very little frustration. Everything just fits together, the plans are wonderfully detailed, and I never have to hunt down a riveting partner. I jokingly refer to it as RV Building for Dummies.
 
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