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Van's Air Force

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Hello All!

I've been around these forums for the better part of a year, and I was absolutely sold on Van's Aircraft from day 1. After scouring the classifieds for that time, I found a deal that I just couldn't pass up and now I am in possession of an RV-7 Empennage Kit and 90-95% of the tools I will need to complete one of these beautiful airplanes.

A little background on me: I've always wanted to build an airplane since I was a little kid. I drew up plans of all sorts of craft, from PVC pipe hang gliders to fighter jets and biplanes. The aviation bug stuck with me, and I went to college and got my A&P and Commercial Pilot Certificate. During that time, I had the privilege of captaining a Red Bull Flugtag team. For those of you who don't know what that is, Flugtag is a crazy competition in which full-sized home made gliders are launched off a 22' platform with their pilot to see how far they will go. Myself and a brilliant team of my peers engineered an F-14 looking glider and were able to win the Dallas/Fort Worth competition in 2013, with the help of our 100 lb pilot:
showcase.jpg


That was quite a blast, and ever since that time I've been searching for another project. I remembered a small, red plane that I serviced as a line technician called an RV-6. The pilot and his wife had stopped at KGGG and I was amazed at the takeoff performance of the plane. With this in mind, I looked up Van's Aircraft, discovered this forum, and the rest is history.

Although I am not quite ready to start the build process, I frequent the forum very often to check out deals and learn more about the RVs. Even though I have the RV-7 empennage, I'm still not completely convinced I shouldn't build an 8, so I hope to complete one of these some day:




I fly a King Air as my day job and travel a lot, so I don't quite have a home base nailed down. But I generally visit KSHD, KMSL, and KGGG on a regular basis. I'd love to connect with the RV community anywhere near those locations if I get the chance.

In any case, I just wanted to introduce myself on the forums, and say thanks for all the help that I've gotten so far!
 
Welcome!

Nate Welcome!
My -8 EMP kit is two days away after 5+ yrs of dreaming. I too, lurked around here off and on for a long while and just recently joined and paid my dues. I have talked to some good people here.
Blessings,
Scott
 
Nate, I would rather have a pretty girl like that next to me rather than behind me where I cannot see her.
 
Yep

Nate, I would rather have a pretty girl like that next to me rather than behind me where I cannot see her.

....but coming home from Osh a coupla years ago, Jenny wanted to sit in the back so she has even more room, leaving me alone up front!:mad:

Sheesh,
 
Although I am not quite ready to start the build process, I frequent the forum very often to check out deals and learn more about the RVs. Even though I have the RV-7 empennage, I'm still not completely convinced I shouldn't build an 8, so

Welcome aboard Nate.

I found that my co-pilot/wife had A LOT OF INPUT on what species of RV I decided to build. Some spouses don't mind sitting in the back but those that do will fly with you a lot less frequently.... Depends on your personal goal :D:D

Thus, I built an RV-6 and she still flies a lot with me.
 
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HOW DARE YOU!!! I can't believe you exposed the new top secret RV-17!!!!! It was painted by Van himself up to look like a F-14 to keep it a secret!!!! Seriously... Welcome to the good ship VAF!!! and AWESOME job on the F-14!!!!!!!
 
That 100 pound pilot sitting where he (she?)was in the F-14 took some kind of nerve. Sure glad it worked out OK :)

She did have some serious nerve. And the whole thing went into water, so it wasn't too bad for her. There were plenty of far less appealing contraptions at the competition that would've taken more nerve to ride over the edge, for instance, the Port-a-Potty with no wings...

HOW DARE YOU!!! I can't believe you exposed the new top secret RV-17!!!!! It was painted by Van himself up to look like a F-14 to keep it a secret!!!! Seriously... Welcome to the good ship VAF!!! and AWESOME job on the F-14!!!!!!!

Thanks! It was a blast to work on and really made me want to build more.
 
Talking about the 7 vs 8... we've spent a lot of hours riding around the country on the Harley. She swears she doesn't mind being in the back with a panoramic view of the back of my helmet. Says she wouldn't mind tandem seating in a plane, and centerline seating would be kind of cool.

But as much as I enjoy riding/flying with her, it's irritating as all heck when several times a day she tells me about something (deer, traffic, restaurant, whatever) "there" or "over there"... and I have NO idea where she's looking or pointing. Efforts to get her to call it out specifically or get her pointing finger into my field of view have proved fruitless.

Side by side it is. :)
 
I chose the 8

My wife would have preferred the side by side, but she isn't one to go up just for fun around the patch as often as I do. (first flight was 9/2014, now have 64hrs.) As before the build, most of my flights are local and for the pure enjoyment of flying. I always wanted the centerline flying and decided that if I was going to build a plane, it would be THE ONE I wanted. If she had a desire to pilot and fly more often, I probably would have done the -7. She is still plenty happy to sit in the back for traveling.
 
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