M

mcsteatlh

Active Member
Hello everybody. David here and I'm in Houston, Tx. Kingwood actually. First time poster. What I want to do is purchase an existing project (RV-8), with two or three others. The project is for sale for $35,000. The inventory includes:

Quick build wings, QB fuselage, 10 panel toggle, two landing lights, Nav and strobe, flap positioning switch, upgraded seat belts, adjustable rudder pedals, two voice intercom and an Odessy battery.

The seller has the Emp but does not want to sell it.?? I would have to get a new one.

There is minimal work completed on the wings and some (4 hours) on the Fuselage. Is this a fair or good price? I have myself and one other committed and need one or two others to be safe money wise.

Who would get the Builders cert if there were four in this group?

Part two tommorrow.
 
No

A QB RV-8 is about $26,000 plus shipping.

Since the $1425 tail kit is not included, that is $24,575 worth of kit. So he wants $35,000 or $10,425 more than the price of the kit (plus his hours of labor, which is not a factor).

Do you think a battery, couple of toggle, a few switches, intercom, landing lights and strobes is worth $10,425?

The answer is NO. The parts are worth about $1,000. So he wants $35,000 for $25,500 worth of parts. Me too.

I would offer him $24,000 firm.


The empennage is $1425, you would take a month of weekends to finish, especially with two or three people. This guy sounds very unrealistic. His labor is not a factor.


People see completed RV's going for crazy prices, $80K, $90K, $120K plus, and get crazy ideas of what there projects are worth. I would politely pass and buy a new QB kit. You don't know what he might have messed up. Start from scratch, buy your own lights and toggle switches; you will be better off unless he cuts about 11 grand off the price.


"Who would get the Builders cert if there were four in this group?"

I don't mean to put you off but part of building is learning. You need to research the regulations, contact your local FAA FSDO and get with the local EAA chapter and join the EAA if not already. The answer is you and your partners have to figure it out. The FAA does not regulate aircraft partnerships. However in the end, assuming your group buys and builds a RV, you will have one home built experimental aircraft and one person (or no person) in your group can apply for and receive the repairman's certificate. Who will that be? You need to figure that out.

George
 
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If the empennage is not included........how well (or bad) was it put together? You probably wouldn't want it anyway. Did any work get started on the quickbuild parts? Good work? Or not? Check Van's webstore, along with other websites, for current prices. A complete and new strobe package costs 700-800 bucks for a full system. An intercom could be 200 bucks and up, depending on what it is. But go into it educated about what, exactly what, you would be buying.
 
What is this project worth?

Since we're talking about the value of partially completed projects, what would you guys guess a slow-build kit is worth that has virtually everything completed that comes from Van's in the four basic kits. The empennage and wings are totally finished, the fuselage is complete from the firewall back, the canopy and windshield are installed, the wheel and gear fairings are installed, the plumbing and basic wiring is finished, etc., etc.

The only things the new owner has to do is put the desired instruments and avionics in the panel, install the engine, propeller and other firewall forward items, fit the cowling and spinner, install the interior and paint the airframe.

If the workmanship is good, how much would something like this be worth beyond the price of the materials? Anyone care to guess?

Mark
 
What is this project worth?

I'd guess that a completed slow build airframe would be worth more than a slow build kit (probably not much), but less than a QB. I wouldn't want to pay a premium for someone else's wiring as its probably not the configuration I'd want.

Dave
 
rv9builder said:
Since we're talking about the value of partially completed projects, what would you guys guess a slow-build kit is worth that has virtually everything completed that comes from Van's in the four basic kits. The empennage and wings are totally finished, the fuselage is complete from the firewall back, the canopy and windshield are installed, the wheel and gear fairings are installed, the plumbing and basic wiring is finished, etc., etc.

The only things the new owner has to do is put the desired instruments and avionics in the panel, install the engine, propeller and other firewall forward items, fit the cowling and spinner, install the interior and paint the airframe.

If the workmanship is good, how much would something like this be worth beyond the price of the materials? Anyone care to guess?

Mark
Click to expand...

It's like an XBox 360. To me, it's not worth that much...I'll just wait until the price drops to $200 and I don't have to wait in line for it :) To others, it's worth $1000+.

To me, a kit in any stage that hasn't been flown is worth the price of materials the builder has put into it, assuming workmanship better than what I could do myself. As far as I'm concerned, your time (and my time, for that matter) is absolutely not worth paying for since once I take over the kit, I assume full responsibility and liability for the aircraft. Now, if someone would like to warrant their work and fix things as they break over it's first 100 hours in flight, then maybe I'd consider paying a LITTLE....that'll never happen, though :)

If it's just so-so workmanship, I probably wouldn't even consider the thing, rendering it worthless.

In contrast, others want to get in the air quickly and are willing to pay outrageous sums of money for partialy completed kits, or test flown aircraft from the "factory-in-a-garage" semi pros.

I know it's not much of an answer, but it's worth what you can convince someone to pay for it.
 
mcsteatlh said:
Hello everybody. David here and I'm in Houston, Tx. Kingwood actually. First time poster. What I want to do is purchase an existing project (RV-8), with two or three others. The project is for sale for $35,000. The inventory includes:

Quick build wings, QB fuselage, 10 panel toggle, two landing lights, Nav and strobe, flap positioning switch, upgraded seat belts, adjustable rudder pedals, two voice intercom and an Odessy battery.

The seller has the Emp but does not want to sell it.?? I would have to get a new one.

There is minimal work completed on the wings and some (4 hours) on the Fuselage. Is this a fair or good price? I have myself and one other committed and need one or two others to be safe money wise.

Who would get the Builders cert if there were four in this group?

Part two tommorrow.
Click to expand...

George is right on with this one. Unless you are wanting a project right now and are willing to pay a premium for not waiting, you would be much better off ordering from Vans. Yea, 24 grand for the QB and the parts you might not even want would be a good price.

Don't know where he is getting the price from but $35,000.00?!?!? You say you're committed, if you pay that kind of money you'll need to be committed :rolleyes:

Hopefully in "part two" you'll tell us you came to your senses.

rv9builder said:
The only things the new owner has to do is put the desired instruments and avionics in the panel, install the engine, propeller and other firewall forward items, fit the cowling and spinner, install the interior and paint the airframe.

If the workmanship is good, how much would something like this be worth beyond the price of the materials? Anyone care to guess?

Mark
Click to expand...

It's worth finishing the job and selling it as an airplane. Even if you add the most basic panel and higher time engine, it's worth more in the air than on the ground.

Otherwise, it's a pile of parts. Grab your Vans catalog and add them up. Wait till after Jan 1st though, the pile will be worth more then ;)

Rat
 
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inventory doesn't indicate finishing kit

In your post you don't indicate that the finishing kit is included. That would be another 4 or 5 grand! Not a good deal at all.

Jim
 
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