Wife gave me the green light!!!

aarvig · #1 04-03-2009, 12:28 PM

Well, if finally happened. After two years of negotiations with my wife she has given me the green light to start building an RV-7A with the following stipulations:
1.) Building will never get in the way of the family time or money
2.) She calls when I'm in the middle of riveting, I must stop and cheerfully go whereever I am bid.

3.) The project will take as long as it needs to complete. In other words, I can't rush it just to finish it. My initial estimates are 7-10 years based on time and money. If I don't start now it will just take that much longer to finish.
4.) I have to involve my kids. This was easy. They could be watching TV or playing video games but I think it is much more productive to be involved in such a wonderful project...this was an easy sell

.
5.) I have to finish half of the basement.
So, I am excited. We are going to celebrate the occasion tonight by giving my wife a ride in an RV-7A. My AOPA mentor and friend Tom Berge who is a tech counsellor and multiple offender is going to do the honors in his beautiful RV-7A.
First step will be to finish the basement. I'm going to do that over the next few months. Additionally, she is allowing me to build the empennage, wings and part of the fuselage in a downstairs bedroom so I have to convert that to a shop. So, a little work before I get started but hopefully by next winter I will be officially started.

Any advice on necessary tools, tables, compressors and building would be greatly appreciated. I am building this plane with the RV's simplicity rule. Day/night VFR with 396 GPS, GtX327 Transponder and SL 40 Com. So, to get started I would like to know what tools are REALLY needed to build this thing. I have more time than money right now, so the KISS principle is necessary. Thanks in advance for the tips.

tinman · #2 04-03-2009, 12:52 PM

Item #1...you are doomed. The plane will take an huge amount of time from your family. You will slowly become obsessed with it. You are smart to set the rules up front. I told my wife that she only had to say "uncle" and I would shut down. Every dime that you spend is taken away from your family. I will sell my plane in a couple of years and use the cash to pay off my mortgage, so in a way, the plane has been an investment...one that is doing much better than my 401K, I am sad to say...view it as investing in Aluminum Futures :-)
Item #2 Yes- if she calls, you should shut down and help out. The nice thing about aluminum aircraft is that you can stop in the middle of most tasks without messing things up. If you were building a glass plane, you can't stop in the middle of a layup.
Item #3...7 to 10 years is very realistic. Make them the best years of your life!!!
Welcome to a great passion that will open up many new areas in your life. You are getting ready to learn more than you learned in college and have a better time doing so.

N395V · #3 04-03-2009, 01:06 PM

Be careful,

My wife chains me to the shop every morning and beats me if I do not make enough daily progress. Heck I have to eat my lunch tied to the landing gear, and she only allows me 15 minutes to do that.

N941WR · #4 04-03-2009, 02:05 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by N395V

Be careful,

My wife chains me to the shop every morning and beats me if I do not make enough daily progress. Heck I have to eat my lunch tied to the landing gear, and she only allows me 15 minutes to do that.

Same here. I took two months off and it was her who suggested I get back to work on it. I love her SO much!

RV7Guy · #5 04-03-2009, 02:39 PM

Hi Dr.

Welcome to the wonderful World of RV's. Do yourself a favor and look for a project in progress. You'll save time and money.

As others have said, you're pretty much in trouble with 1-4!!!

Have fun. Welcome!!!!

jsherblon · #6 04-03-2009, 04:19 PM

Last night my wife bucked rivets in the lower fuselage skin! When I started building, she only gave me one requirement... her car stays in the garage.

Bob Axsom · #7 04-03-2009, 08:57 PM

If your wife has agreed to this then she has bought into the whole deal and I'm sure she is aware of it. You have to establish the fact that there is no option to give up. If you start saying things like "this is too hard - I'm going to let this slide for a while" think how that is going to make her feel after she has sacrificed so much to help make this airplane possible. It will break down her faith in you and she will be depressed that her sacrifices were for a whim of yours. Don't be too easy to drop everything when the little missy gets a little testy - hand her a bucking bar and tell her what needs to be done to complete the ongoing task.

Bob Axsom

Geico266 · #8 04-03-2009, 09:14 PM

Just don't put that in writing!

Avoid the rush now and get divorced now.

Once you start on your "aluminum mistress" the wife will never understand nights you spend working on 1 project for 3 days.

Just kidding, on the divorce thing only! LOL

Geico266 · #9 04-03-2009, 09:16 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by N395V

Be careful,

My wife chains me to the shop every morning and beats me if I do not make enough daily progress. Heck I have to eat my lunch tied to the landing gear, and she only allows me 15 minutes to do that.

Does she have an unmarried sister?

Calvin25 · #10 04-03-2009, 11:46 PM

1) THUD, THUD, THUD, THUD..... Whats that dear? Can't hear you over the rivet gun...

2) THUD, THUD, THUD, THUD..... Whats that dear? Can't hear you over the rivet gun...

3) THUD, THUD, THUD, THUD..... Whats that dear? Can't hear you over the rivet gun...

4) THUD, THUD, THUD, THUD..... Whats that dear? Can't hear you over the rivet gun...

5) THUD, THUD, THUD, THUD..... Whats that dear? Can't hear you over the rivet gun...