2-seat RV owners with kid(s)...

jarhead · #1 01-26-2006, 11:38 PM

Do you leave the kid(s) at home when you go X/C, or what?

We don't have kids yet, but we do want one. From the looks of pics I've seen online (I haven't dug into the preview plans enough yet to get measurements), a carseat can be finagled into the baggage area of a -9A; of course when the kid out-grows the carseat, things get complicated.

If the -10 kit wasn't twice the cost of a -9A kit, the decision would be a no-brainer... D**mit, I need somebody rich to adopt me!

Highflight · #2 01-27-2006, 04:58 AM

Sorry, but airplanes are best fit to a "mission" in your basic choice of airframe, power, and avionics.
Since your mission is to add to your family, you really should consider building a '10.
My wife and I never had kids (and if we did, they'd be gone by now anyway) so the '7 is perfect for what just the two of us want to do therefore my mission is matched to the airframe.

The good news is that since you're planning on a child, you must be younger than most of us builders so bite the bullet and get the '10 tail kit. There is no penalty for buying each part of the kit as you go and even though it may take a bit longer for you to gradually be able to afford to build the '10, it can be fun just the same. Besides, when you become an A&P mechanic, you'll be earning the big bucks anyway.

Be aware that I've heard that builders who take a few years to finish their RVs suffer an "empty nest" syndrome when it's finally flying. That'll give you practice for how to handle it when your kid moves out and you can mark the occasion the same way you should mark the eventual occasion of finishing your RV... throw a PARTY! like any good parent would do.

rv8ch · #3 01-27-2006, 05:06 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Highflight

... airplanes are best fit to a "mission" in your basic choice of airframe, power, and avionics. ...

Very true. Most people I know who thought they would be doing lots of cross country with the family actually end up spending 99% of their time doing $100 hamburger runs on the weekend with their buddies. I find that travelling with my small kids (3 and 5) is best done in either a car, or a scheduled airline. Perhaps when they get a bit older, and my wife doesn't require about 7 suitcases per child, using a small aircraft to travel with the whole family will make more sense.

You could always build the 9, and rent when you want to go on a cross country with the whole family.

PJSeipel · #4 01-27-2006, 05:13 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jarhead

We don't have kids yet, but we do want one. From the looks of pics I've seen online (I haven't dug into the preview plans enough yet to get measurements), a carseat can be finagled into the baggage area of a -9A; of course when the kid out-grows the carseat, things get complicated.

Just remember that the baggage area wasn't designed to seat a kid, carseat or not. I'd think long and hard about how protected your child would be in the event of a forced landing. Maybe the RV-10 doesn't cost as much after all.

PJ
RV-10 #40032

akarmy · #5 01-27-2006, 07:22 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jarhead

Do you leave the kid(s) at home when you go X/C, or what?

For me it's 2 kids and a wife, and a 3 way lottery every time I press the Start button! I almost never get to fly alone.

As for XC, most of my long XC has been my 13yr old son and I. (Oshkosh, Virginia, etc).

The hope is that someday the kids will be grown and gone (before you know it) and the wife and I will have our plane back to ourselves.

flyeyes · #6 01-27-2006, 08:28 AM

Mickey wrote:

Quote:

Most people I know who thought they would be doing lots of cross country with the family actually end up spending 99% of their time doing $100 hamburger runs on the weekend with their buddies

I have found this to be true. We (in the extended family) owned a six-place twin for 5 years, and although I put over 400 hours of business flying on it, we never put the entire family (3 kids) in it for a trip. Not even once. More than 90% of those hours were with one or two people aboard.

Years ago, when we had only one kid and lived about 300 miles from our closest family, we made a few weekend trips in the Navion we had at the time.

Currently, I sometimes have trouble getting everything my wife and kids want to take in our van when we go to the beach. Although it's a two hour flight vice a 9 hour drive, we always drive (at least until we buy a Cessna Caravan or maybe a B200 Kingair).

I have made four or five trips in the last year with just my wife in the plane, and many more solo for business or to airshows, etc, but Mickey is exactly right about the logistics of moving the entire family around.

James Freeman

jcoloccia · #7 01-27-2006, 08:46 AM

Build the -9. Have a couple of kids. When they're old enough to start whining that they want to fly with you guys, sell the -9, drag'em into the workshop and start building the -10

I will say that I know of at least one person that put a jump seat in the back for a small child.

-John

ClayR_9A · #8 01-27-2006, 08:53 AM

Have you ever wondered why people with kids drive around in monster SUVs? Just drive by an elementary school and looks at the cars in the pickup/dropoff line.

Have a kid, and you'll find out.

It is amazing how an infant in a carseat requires 200lbs of extra supplies to travel with when you make a 3-day visit out of town to see the family.

I'm sure there are those that can travel light with their kids, but not my wife!

Build the 9, and rent something larger when you plan to take everyone along. (which won't be often) The only exception to this is if your wife LOVES to fly and would always rather fly than drive. In this case, think about a 10.

-Clay

Brad Gould · #9 01-27-2006, 09:40 AM

We own a nice twin. Around 80% of my flying is with my wife and daughter on trips of just under 300 nm. Some trips are longer, and they both almost always prefer to fly than to sit in traffic or take the airlines. My daughter's been flying since she was a few months old, and it's much easier to deal with crying, feeding, etc. in your own plane than when crowded in the airline sardine cans. Now that she's a few years old, it's great that she has access to her books and toys for which there would be no room on the airliner.

Especially if you have family that lives within a 2 hour flight, if you will have kids and a wife who at least doesn't mind flying, and you know how not to pack everything you own for the kids, you'll probably wish you had enough seats to travel with everyone.

The twin is for sale, so I can live my dream and build a plane, but we'll still own or have access to a plane with enough seats for regular family trips.

[quote=flyeyes]Mickey wrote:

I have found this to be true. We (in the extended family) owned a six-place twin for 5 years, and although I put over 400 hours of business flying on it, we never put the entire family (3 kids) in it for a trip. Not even once. More than 90% of those hours were with one or two people aboard.

mgomez · #10 01-27-2006, 10:12 AM

It's not just the kid, it's his or her support equipment. Kids travel with a lot of ****.

I know an RV-6A builder who installed a child seat in the baggage compartment. He also had to build extra baggage space into his wingtips to put in all the stuff that won't fit in the baggage compartment.

The RV-6, 7, and 9 are two-place airplanes with nice baggage compartments. You can be clever about how you use the space, but the CG envelope will be the ultimate limit.

However, I'll tell you how I decided...I am building an RV-7 and I have a wife and two kids. On the few occasions in which I need to take more than one pax, which looking through my logbook is a few times per year, I'll rent a four-seater.

It's a lot easier to find a C172 or a Warrior to rent than to find an aerobatic two-seat taildragger to rent.