[jarhead]

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]

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]

Mission

... 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]

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]

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]

Mickey wrote:

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]

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]

kids = mountains of baggage

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]

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.

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]

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

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.

 

[jarhead]

Alright, lots of good replies and food-for-thought.
My wife is very enthusiastic about the whole idea of building our own airplane and flying all over the place. She's "into" airplanes (moreso than most other women I know); she even enjoys going to airshows with me! We've just begun discussing the logistics of traveling once we have a kid, so that's what prompted the "-9A vs. -10" thoughts.
I hear all about the "support equipment" for kids from my wife - she's a nurse in a big pediatrics practice, and a lot of the parents have half the inventory of a Babies-R-Us store in their SUV's... and she doesn't want to be that way. [cue the singing angels here...]

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.

Believe me, if I go with a -9A, there will be structure built-in to the baggage area to support & protect the carseat in a forced landing.

...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.

I really wish that were true in my case... Van's website has the total cost of a -9A slo-build kit at $18,715, and a -10 slo-build kit at $36,180 total. A Mattituck TMX IO-320 with a couple goodies is around $22-23k; a TMX IO-540 with a couple goodies is around $34-35k. These are '05 or '06 dollars; realistically I won't be ready to start until '07 at the earliest. Those numbers will only go up by the time I'm able to get started, especially the engine. There's nearly $30k difference right there, without even touching on the prop, the avionics, or any of the oh-by-the-way stuff.

And as far as A&P's making "the big bucks"... I WISH! I've got over 12 years of aviation maintenance and production experience, mostly military but some civilian time too. But an auto mechanic (oops, sorry, automotive service technician ) at a dealer still makes more than I will in my area, and has nothing like the lifelong responsibility and accountability of an A&P. Maybe I just need to relocate...

 

[jarhead]

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
...

-John

HA! Just told my wife this; she loves it!

 

[Bill Dicus]

Femily flying

Our experience has been different. We've used our Lance (1/2 share, 1976) for extensive family travel and loved (almost) every minute. We had 3 children and flew often to bahamas, Florida, Colorado, Canada, Oregon and North Carolina as well as New Mexico. Occ trips to California, Mexico and east coast all added to the family joy. Not only our kids but cousins and other relatives were frequent pax. Now that the kids are gone my wife and I hope to enjoy traveling in our 8 (sort of on finishing kit) but she still loves the Lance. Sounds to me that the -10 would be a good build for you! Whatever you decide, best of luck and good building to you. Bill