I recently wrestled with the idea that I should sell my RV-8. I now have a 3 person family. I was unsure that I would fly the RV8 enough to justify keeping it. You see, I am lucky enough to have one of those wives (and now child) that does not want to be left behind and is always ready to jump in the plane for a cross-country private plane vacation or a short hamburger run. I even went as far as to list the plane on Trade a Plane, only to chicken out. I had people ready wanting to come do pre-buys and buy it. After realizing I was about to lose my 8 to a moment of insanity, I had to tell them not to waste their money because I could not yet part with my beautiful bird. There was a big smile on my face when they called to renew my ad and I said "sorry no longer for sale".
I did learn some things during my momentary psychotic episode that I'll share.
1. The majority of people that call want something for nothing.
They all want your nice IFR 430wass EFIS glass paneled airplane for the price of a daytime VFR with only stem gauge price.
They want that 430 hour since brand new engine for the price of a 2000 hour engine that has been rebuilt multiple times.
2. Most (not all) of the people that call know absolutely nothing about RVs. This surprised me at first then Duh! I realized if they were builders they would be flying their own RV-8.
Slow down, educate and don't assume they know what you?re talking about.
3. There are lots and lots of tire kickers that just like to look. That?s ok with me. It gives an opportunity to educate and talk about what we love.
4. At some point people have been wrongly told that there is a magical island called the Philippians. On this enchanted island they bred master aircraft assemblers that can assemble wing kits and fuselage kits with the skill and finesse unmatched by any other builder on the planet.
Sorry for the sarcasm but it really irritated me being told over and over that quick builds were better than standard builds. If you are a builder and you believe this then you should stop building and sell your project.
Quick builds are great if you have plenty of money and you just do not want to build it all yourself, but they are no better. There are no studies to support it. Who keeps telling people this bull crap?
IF you think about selling your 8 you should go for a flight. Take off climb out at 2000ft/min, cruise at 200mph on <10gph, do a loop, a roll, or whatever floats your boat, land, get out and look it over from rooter to tooter. If you still want to sell it then list it.
Will I ever sell the greatest plane I have ever flown, my RV-8? I don't know. I can tell you I won't be selling it today.
I did learn some things during my momentary psychotic episode that I'll share.
1. The majority of people that call want something for nothing.
They all want your nice IFR 430wass EFIS glass paneled airplane for the price of a daytime VFR with only stem gauge price.
They want that 430 hour since brand new engine for the price of a 2000 hour engine that has been rebuilt multiple times.
2. Most (not all) of the people that call know absolutely nothing about RVs. This surprised me at first then Duh! I realized if they were builders they would be flying their own RV-8.
Slow down, educate and don't assume they know what you?re talking about.
3. There are lots and lots of tire kickers that just like to look. That?s ok with me. It gives an opportunity to educate and talk about what we love.
4. At some point people have been wrongly told that there is a magical island called the Philippians. On this enchanted island they bred master aircraft assemblers that can assemble wing kits and fuselage kits with the skill and finesse unmatched by any other builder on the planet.
Sorry for the sarcasm but it really irritated me being told over and over that quick builds were better than standard builds. If you are a builder and you believe this then you should stop building and sell your project.
Quick builds are great if you have plenty of money and you just do not want to build it all yourself, but they are no better. There are no studies to support it. Who keeps telling people this bull crap?
IF you think about selling your 8 you should go for a flight. Take off climb out at 2000ft/min, cruise at 200mph on <10gph, do a loop, a roll, or whatever floats your boat, land, get out and look it over from rooter to tooter. If you still want to sell it then list it.
Will I ever sell the greatest plane I have ever flown, my RV-8? I don't know. I can tell you I won't be selling it today.
