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Do you remember when...

I remember. It was November 30, 2009 at 2:08 PM (EST).

I've put 99 hours on the project so far in 4 months and am having the time of my life building the tail.

Best. Hobby. Ever.

Welcome to the fun.
 
I remember

The most exciting kit - the empennage. You may forget larger kits - fuse, finishing, even the new engine and avionics, they are too many to remember. But Empennage is unforgettable as time and place where you rivet it...

Enjoy!
 
Better order your wing kit now. It only took me 2 months to complete the tail kit.
 
2 ea. RV-6 tail kits.

January 10, 1989

The morning after Ann's and Red Marron's birthday. We made the decision at their birthday dinner.
 
2 days after sitting in Lance's tall optioned RV-8 (that just maidened saturday). Tail kit ordered March 1st, 2010.
 
I don't remember the EXACT date I ordered it, but I distinctly remember I gave Van's what I thought was plenty of time to receive my order and ship it to me. Since it was the autumn of 2003 and there was much excitement about the Centennial of the Wright Bros. first flight, I requested a shipping date of December 17.

It arrived one month early on November 17.

Wow, that was just over 6 years ago and a lot has happened since. I'm just glad I'm still here and am able to work on the wing kit. :eek:
 
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I bought mine in April 1998, right after Sun-N-Fun. Wow, a long time ago, and it has been flying now for four plus years.

What a trip, but the excitement of getting the emp kit is still a big deal in my life.

Carry 0n, and have a blast
 
Sending my order today

also.. finally! everytime I put the money together, it went to something else! Not this time!:D
 
When the -8 made its debut at Oshkosh, I waited my turn to try it on for size. When my turn came, the Van's employee (who shall remain nameless) looked at me and said matter-of-factly, "You're not big enough for an -8 ... you should get a -4."

Harrumph. What he didn't know was that in my 13-year build I would pack on some weight. I fooled him.

By the time Oshkosh was nearing the next year, I announced to my wife, "I want to go to Oshkosh as a BUILDER this year, not a tire-kicker." She just said, "Do it."

So, in '96 -- I did.

Good woman. :D
 
so if they say kit is in stock, how long before they ship it out? been waiting a long time to start this adventure.
 
Ordered mine on a Monday, they had it crated and shipped FedEx express arriving Thursday and Friday of the same week. Both boxes were shipped the same time, but the larger box arrived a day earlier.
 
Sept 23 1996, and the boxes arrived before I even had a chance to mail in the check. First flight April 29, 2007.

I still get excited to see a box from Van's on the doorstep because as it turns out, these things are never really done.

Paul Danclovic
Jamestown NC
RV-8A N181SB
 
My empennage kit was delivered on 9/11/2001. Makes it easy to remember.

Good Luck!
Tom RV-7A N175TJ Flying
 
First drilled hole

I started the RV journey by sizing the first of many pre-punched holes in the Horizontal Stabilizer with a 3/32 drill bit. That was September 22, 1997.

I had a goal of flying my RV-8 to Oshkosh 2000. First flight was July 12, 2000, so I was a very busy pilot for the next two weeks flying off the 25 hour test time. The first flight out of the test area was on the way to Oshkosh. What fun it has been.

Now the tenth anniversary of that first flight is approaching. I'm still wearing the RV grin every time I fly the Doll.
 
Sun-n-Fun 2007

and recieved May. Tried to work on it and it seamed to keep get put back, always something more important. But yesterday I finished the VS and starting on the HS. I sure wish I would have started it a long time ago. what a great feeling to have a piece of it finished.....and a great motivator.

Regards
Rich Denton
 
N999ZA said:
I remember. It was November 30, 2009 at 2:08 PM (EST).

I've put 99 hours on the project so far in 4 months and am having the time of my life building the tail.

Best. Hobby. Ever.

Welcome to the fun.
Click to expand...

I was following your blogs intently when planning for my Emp kit, now I'm sad that I'm on elevators and you only have one post on it

lol, go faster than me so I can learn through you!
 
I would love to speed up, but I have to spread it out so I don't get to the wings before I have the money to buy them...

Now I get to follow you!
 
Yes, it was 3 seconds after I got the OK from my accountant (my wife), it was Jan 3rd 2008. I already got 190+ hours on it and have enjoyed every second of those 190 hours to the fullest.
Thank you LOVE (my wife) for going along to build.
 
Right after graduating from A&P school...

in September 2001. I got a job as a C-5 mechanic at Robins AFB and the tail kit arrived in October '01. Now I have over 470 hrs on N659DB "Catalina".

It never gets old and just keeps getting better. :)
 
First Solo comparison to Tail Kit

Someone once compared building the tail kit to the feeling you got after your first solo. It is the first time you feel like "Hey, I can really do this!"

Congrats. I am hoping to be a few short months behind you!
 
End of May or June....

Hopefully I am not far behind you guys.....I have several people that have RV's around me and I am so looking forward to starting mine..... I look forward to the day that my two boxes arrive from Vans......
 
I would love to speed up, but I have to spread it out so I don't get to the wings before I have the money to buy them...
Click to expand...

Glad I'm not the only one!

Back to remembering "when I ordered my tail kit" - I didn't. Got it for my birthday. ...right about a year ago. Soooo... maybe next week... Wing kit? Please? Counting down... (And pretty sure I won't be that lucky twice!)
 
I actually have a picture

I actually have a picture with me pushing the "Send" button on my fax machine posted on the website. The RV grin started right then for me :)

IMG_0072.JPG
 
I remember

July 1995, the stars and moon allined and I was ready to start my RV build.

I had followed Vans and home building since 1980, first Oshkosh, and my first flight in my Weedhopper.

I called Vans Aircraft and they said " we can get you a tail kit in a couple of weeks" but the wings will take 3 or 4 months.???!!! I said NO!!!,,, I will have the wings built in three months, I am not waiting, no way.......

EAA Chapter 163, Dallas Chapter, has a sell, or want to by time in the monthly meetings. I stood up and ask for a RV6 kit??

2 men had kits stalled out and offered their kits up for sale.
I bought one tail and wing kit. 1995 July 15th. The wings were finished three months later. I ordered the fuselage the same time I bought the wings and tail. The fuselage arrived in 3 months.

I can build a Vans tail kit in 6 to 12 days. Please finish yours and get it done or bring it here, I can help!

I flew that first RV6 in 18 months from starting the slow build, no QB avialiable then.

This has been a fun trip. 4 RVs and my North Star, SuperCub alike, 5 home builts and a bunch of other builds later. 2230 RV hours, lots of fun trips, but most of all, the people I have met along the way. WoW!! what a ride!!!
 
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February 4th 2004 at 1500..er....3 PM...and I didn't even blink writing out the check for $185 to FedEx.
 
N999ZA said:
I would love to speed up, but I have to spread it out so I don't get to the wings before I have the money to buy them...

Now I get to follow you!
Click to expand...

maybe I should adopt your plan, I'm factoring in the 3 months lead time and i've decided when I finish the right elevator, and all I have left to do is tackle the trim tab and finishing up the left elevator, i'll place my wing deposit

I should be able to knock out the trim tab in 3 months
 
Well, I may be one of the few who has never experienced the boxes arriving on my doorstep, since I live just 22 miles from Vans. But I'm not complaining!

I placed the order for my empennage kit on the last business day of 2006 just in time to beat the price increase, and drove over there to pick it up a few days later on Jan. 4th, 2007. It's a day I'll never forget.

They wheeled it out to me at Will-Call. I had opted out of the crating charge as well as the shipping, so it was all sitting loosely on this cart. My first thought was "is that all there is?". But there's a lot of stuff on that cart, under those skins and in lots of little bags.

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Then I loaded it all in my SUV and drove home. It all fit very easily, as you can see.

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This scenario was repeated a few months later with the wing kit, and roughly a year after that with the fuselage kit. In case anyone was wondering, YES, you can fit an entire wing kit or fuselage kit in the back of a Ford Expedition.
 
3 years, 10 months, 9 days later...

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I live about four hours north of Van's, and I opted to pick up each of my kits from the factory. Here's a picture of my son checking out the merchandise in the front reception area at Van's. I didn't even give them any notice when I purchased my empennage kit. I just showed up, told them that I wanted to purchase the first kit for an RV-7, and plopped the credit card on the counter. Took Van's about a hour to put a kit together for me. This all happened on Christmas eve!

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I wasn't able to start work on my new empennage kit until a couple of months later. I was building a new shop out back just so I would have someplace local to work. When I finished the shop, I built a couple of EAA1000 work tables, and my son wrote the date that we finished the shop and began building the -7.

dsc1904g.jpg


It took three years, 10 months, 9 days from the signature on the bottom of the workbench to first flight.:D
 
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