C

charles

I'm New Here
Feedback needed, please. I'm thinking of building an RV-7 as a hobby/family project with my wife and kids(20,17,15) chipping in. Would like to build and fly for awhile and put up for sale to help pay for kid's college. And maybe build another one IF I can make any money on project? I would enjoy building as a hobby(nearing retirement) more than flying. I know it's not the best investment in the world; but, it would keep me off the streets and looks a lot more fun to build than a Vari-Eze(nicknamed Vari-Tedious by builders that I knew) which I worked on about 30 years ago. Or should I just put the money in my 401K?

Thanks, Charles
 
Great Idea

I think it is a super idea. Great savings account (parts) and about a 20K labor margin if you watch your expenses. A 7A would probably be your best re-sale possibility, maybe a 9A.

Much more fun than a 401K!

John
 
charles said:
Feedback needed, please. I'm thinking of building an RV-7 as a hobby/family project with my wife and kids(20,17,15) chipping in. Would like to build and fly for awhile and put up for sale to help pay for kid's college. And maybe build another one IF I can make any money on project? I would enjoy building as a hobby(nearing retirement) more than flying. I know it's not the best investment in the world; but, it would keep me off the streets and looks a lot more fun to build than a Vari-Eze(nicknamed Vari-Tedious by builders that I knew) which I worked on about 30 years ago. Or should I just put the money in my 401K?

Thanks, Charles
Click to expand...

This is very high risk, IMHO. Aside from things like: you may not make money on it when you eventually sell it (will heavely depend on current market conditions), it may be involved in a wreck, it could be vandalized/stolen, also you need to consider that you may not ever finish it. In that case, you'd have done better by putting the money in the bank because you'd probably LOOSE money on it.

It's a wonderful idea as a family project but not such a good idea as an investment for college. Just my opinion, of course.
 
For love or money?

Be clear with yourself... do you want to build it for the enjoyment of building, or as an investment? If you NEED a return on your money, then like John said, I would look elsewhere. JMHO.
 
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Seems like a bad idea to me for a few reasons so I'd put the money into a 401k.
-You may never finish it.
-By the time you finish it, your first kid is most likely to be out of college and the second midway through.
-While you can make some money on an airplane, I don't think the return for most is what is could have been if wisely invested.
-If you do finish it in time, who say's you're going to be willing to sell it or that you'd get a real return (remember you could have been working overtime to pay for the kids college during the time you're building, even at $10/hr that $15,000, and I believe that it take more than 1500 hrs to build the airplane)

On the other hand it's bound to be a lot of fun and a great bonding experience if you kids are interested.
 
Look else where ... for the most part any homebuilt is only worth the sum of her parts. It's rare to get any thing for labor.
 
Being close to retirement myself, I also factored in the possibility ("hopefullbility") that my RV-7A could be sold at a modest profit over cost when it's time for me to put my pilot's license in a frame and hang it on a wall.

However, I accept some risk in that because we all know that there are lot's of reasons why some of these never get finished by the original builder, from health problems to family problems to work problems to just loosing interest in a sometimes very long term project.
An RV that is built reasonably well and after it arrives at it's 41rst hour of flight, and then is put up for sale will "probably" bring back some pocket change more than you put into it. But here's the big "if", if you sell out of the project before it flies, you will absolutely take a financial hit on it. That's the risk I decided to accept before starting mine.

So do it to spend quality time with the kids, or because flying is a personal passion, or even because the wife wants you out of the house because you keep getting in her way :) , but reconsider if your primary reason for building is profit.
If I hadn't pulled the trigger on mine, I would probably have been able to retire sooner. :eek:
 
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