Blasphamy

Bryan Wood · #1 01-01-2006, 09:22 PM

Just wondering? Seeing the value of our RV's on the resale market sometimes makes me start to think of turning mine over and buying a Bonanza, or a Comanche. There I said it, and it felt really dirty. Anyway, I was wondering if anybody else has these terrible thoughts. Anybody willing to admit it if they do? Part of the reason that I built an RV is because of the prices of anything that I wanted to own was out of my reach at the time. Now with the high prices that RV's command a pretty nice retract isn't a stretch. The problem is...

Oh this feels so wrong even to think, but is it normal?

Bryan

cjensen · #2 01-01-2006, 09:32 PM

i sell certy'd airplanes for a living, and there's no way i'd go back to owning one. having owned a couple in the past, i just can't justify the cost of maintaining one now since starting my rv project and learning the advantages here. i think your thoughts are normal though (just don't act on 'em!). just look at what it costs to own and maintain a bonanza or commanche. prices to replace ANYTHING that breaks are an average of 5 times as much as anything we can build and fly. i would love to sell you my B36TC that i've had for sale for a year, but if you're flying an RV, stick with it man...snap out of it!

no offense to anyone owning and flying anything other than an experimental.

Captain_John · #3 01-01-2006, 09:33 PM

Blasphemy it is.

It goes against everything experimental/custom/homebuilt!

Me? I am building my plane to own forever!

CJ

1911pilot · #4 01-01-2006, 11:48 PM

Maybe if you were an A&P IA. One of the big reasons I got into building was to be able to do my own maintainence. Like CJ I'm planning on owning mine forever.

Jeff

Highflight · #5 01-02-2006, 01:31 AM

Not blasphemy really because we all should do what floats our boat, including selling your RV to buy a boat if that does it for you.

But I can't imagine why in the world you'd want to sell a flying RV to go certified because:

To get the same performance out of a GA AC, you'd almost have to go with one that has retracts and a bigger engine. Lot's more cost and complexity for the same performance doesn't make too much sense if you're already flying an RV. More seats could be nice, but with aircraft, the mission is what dictates the number of seats (and other features) so it also doesn't make much sense to fly around 2 or 4 more EMPTY seats 90%+ of the time if you have no need for them. For the money you save with your RV over time, you could get checked out in a Mirage for those few times you need the extra seats.

You lose your A&P status unless you're a "real" A&P. Nuf' said.

I've flown with a friend in his Bonanza recently (the first time I had been in one) and was surprised how small the cabin was. It turns out that the Bonanza has 1" LESS shoulder room than an RV7.

These are just things off the top of my head.

tacchi88 · #6 01-02-2006, 06:14 AM

I have all the required alphabets to service my own airplanne, I sold my Arrow, though not an RV, but one **** of a nice airplane, simply to get away from the lunacy of certified AC. I'm sure that there are those on this chat that cringe, as I do, at the idea of having been able to "improve" a certified AC, but could not justify the scrutany, the beauracracy, nor the lunacy of the governing body which rules flying.
We don't have it as badly as our friends abraod have, still, the most modest change requires an act of God.
In addition, when I began assembling my RV10, I could see how a small company can build a kit that anyone with any sort of manual skill can assemble, and I ask myself, why can't GA do this?. Answer is easy, beauracracy. This includes the dynosaurs engines we are also forced to use, but there in lies the advantage of homebuilding. we can "tweak" our dynosaurs any way we please.
Would I ever go back to a GA bird? No way, Jose.
T88
RV10
N968TP

billorv7 · #7 01-02-2006, 06:20 AM

Bryan,
I still have (almost) wet dreams about the Bonanza I sold several years ago.
It was a C model, which I lovingly and expensively resored, and I loved that airplane, BUT...
-Annuals cost me over $1500, and that was with me removing all the stuff you're allowed to, and if aboslutely nothing was wrong.
-Beechcraft learned their parts pricing from Mercedes and Porsche. Or maybe it was the other way around.
-and that's only part of it.
Cool it. The RV's are better airplanes. If you need more seats, rent or borrow or sell yours and build a 10.
I've owned 7 certificated aircraft and will never own another one.

Best of luck.
Bill O'Brien

Rick6a · #8 01-02-2006, 07:15 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bryan Wood

Just wondering? Seeing the value of our RV's on the resale market sometimes makes me start to think of turning mine over and buying a Bonanza, or a Comanche. There I said it, and it felt really dirty. Anyway, I was wondering if anybody else has these terrible thoughts. Anybody willing to admit it if they do? Part of the reason that I built an RV is because of the prices of anything that I wanted to own was out of my reach at the time. Now with the high prices that RV's command a pretty nice retract isn't a stretch. The problem is...

Oh this feels so wrong even to think, but is it normal? Bryan

You should be proud. You are willing to think out of the box. Many people are quite content to live lives within the confines of an emotional box they construct and validate with the endorsement of others who share its common walls and consider such boundaries as "comfortable". All like-minded airplane groups share a common thread. The faithful always think their airplane is the best. Life is just too short to limit ones self to tasting one (but admittedly tasty) fruit. You are bold though. Coming clean on a forum like this. My compliments.
So Bryan, you built an RV? Easily among one of life's greatest accomplishments. Not too many people can claim to have built and flown anything. Feeling dirty just because you are thinking..."What if?" Well, I guess my lot in life is to be perpetually filthy. Don't let the choir decide your music selections. What do any of us really know about you? Do what your guts tells you to do but personally, I've tasted all the annual inspections, and AD's and overpriced certified parts for this lifetime and well into the next. So I ask you...is THAT normal?

Rick Galati RV-6A "Darla"

dlloyd3 · #9 01-02-2006, 07:23 AM

My Bonanza fuel bill averaged $41.14 last year over 256 hours, 12.7 per hour. And half the fueul was bought for less than $3 per gallon. This is probably as little hourly fuel as can be spent if flying a Bo. You can fly an RV on half that burn! Don't even get me started on taxes. Or maintenance.

LettersFromFlyoverCountry · #10 01-02-2006, 08:24 AM

I occasionally think about finishing the RV, flying it and selling it, using the proceeds to build another.... and another....and another.

I've been interested in the number of people I know personally who are building or who have build RV10s, and then immediately sold it (or plan to). The comparatively low build time seems to make it ideally suited for that.

Guess we'll see when I'm done and flying.