[bret]

I look forward to Saturdays! Mine! Commuting 100 miles and working nine hr days. I only get one or two hr of construction time after work, so Saturday is usually a 12 hr construction day. Anyone have a schedule like mine? Coffee-check, shower-check, construction music-check, on to the canopy! Wish me luck!

 

[noelf]

Mine was somewhat similar. I would get up at 2:30 am, work for several hours in the basement on the plane, then get cleaned up and head to work to be there by about 7am. Home by 5pm, dad duties, socker, evening chores, etc. Same for the weekends, only no office/lab work, just house, yard, kids, wife, family stuff. Then there were those unexpected time critical trips out of the country to deal with company situations.

It took me 13 years and about 5,000 hours to build my slow build 6A. I'm not complaining. You just do what you need to do to get the dream to come true.

 

[Bob Axsom]

You can do it

The challenging schedule may even be a good thing - when you do get to lay hands and eyes on the project it is like being transformed into another person and stimulating environment and it recharged me. Every task was isolated in the small work opportunity window and the focus on the one at hand was total and the motivation to achieve excellence in it was very great. It took my wife Jeanine and I, 8 years to build our quick build RV-6A and there is a lot of pride every time I see our creation.

I was working in Pasadena and lived in Laguna hills before the I-5 was widened through the mid trip (Anaheim) area it was 4 hours on the road every day in the most mind numbing situation imaginable. Experience it once was bad but twice a day, every day ... After 2 years I couldn't take it any more fighting the fatigue - it wasn't just boring repetitive, it was physical and mental torture. I was pulling the hair on my arms to stimulate my nerves to keep me awake and I knew all the exits where I could get snacks and get back on the freeway. It was unbearable! I contacted people at McDonnell Aircraft in St. Louis where I had worked for more than 20 years and was coordinating getting hired back there when I had a far fetched idea. I wonder if I could work out the logistics to use our airplane to fly to work. It was an awkward situation with no runway at our home or at JPL where I worked but I loved my job and was proud to be a part of a very special organization so I had to try. I bought a light blue 1978 Ford Fairmont for ~$2000 that was fairly inconspicuous but reliable and got permission from airport management to park it in the airport lot over night and on the weekends "as long as I kept it up and it didn't look like It was abandoned." If for any reason the car was not available I could catch the RTD bus that went right to a turn around at the main gate at work (it increased the commute time somewhat and I only used it a few times but it was there). I bought all my fuel at the remote airport even though they didn't ask me to, regardless of the price. I had Jeanine follow me up to El Monte in her car, parked the Fairmont and returned home with everything in place to start the new commute procedure. The transformation was amazing! I saved no commute time whatsoever but I looked forward to it every day. It was beyond just a novel experience, it gave me a feeling of being a different person - a real pilot that had to fly twice a day every work day and special times if we were commanding a spacecraft when it was visible to our transmitter at Goldstone, Canberra or Madrid. Jeanine bought me a leather jacket from Sporty's and I loved it even though I thought I wouldn't. I wore it even on warm days for 15 or more years of that commute and now in retirement.

Then we got into cross country air racing with the few events available, one or two each year for us. We loved our Archer II (N8304L) which we flew all over the country and into Canada and Mexico. Jeanine was not a pilot but she loved to travel wished it was a little faster and I wanted to be able to fly after retirement so I started looking at home built airplanes. first with the Lancair 320 but eventually was struck by beauty of an award winning RV-4 at an EAA event at Camarillo, CA. Neither I nor Jeanine wanted a tandem seating airplane (easy, it's a personal thing) but when I saw the information on the new RV-6 and RV-6A I knew this was the airplane we should build. We got an equity line of credit on out home so there would be no financial barriers to getting what we wanted when we needed it to complete the airplane. That went very well even though the work opportunities were on the order of 2 hours a day with a big burst on weekends like you describe it all came together and there was never any doubt that it was going to happen. Great experience - you'll get it done and you will love it.

Bob Axsom

 

[Toobuilder]

Interesting and timely thread, as my one of my several Saturday "chores" this weekend was to excercise both the RV and Hiperbipe which have been sitting idle for several weeks. So first thing this morning I flew the HB for 25 minutes, landed, and jumped right in the RV for 20 minutes. Now both are woken up and well lubricated for a while. Now on to the less pleasant stuff like fixing the roof of the hangar and trimming some palm trees.

 

[rockwoodrv9]

RV commute - not likely for you

As much as you may want to Bret, I just don't see you could put your RV down in Pickle Meadows. Tough enough to get a helo in and out of there! Looks like you will be stuck with the 100 miles commute on the road. I hated the ride just from Walker when I was working at the MWTC.

Keep building - I can't wait to see yours when it is all together and the fuselage painted. Have fun!

 

[bret]

As much as you may want to Bret, I just don't see you could put your RV down in Pickle Meadows. Tough enough to get a helo in and out of there! Looks like you will be stuck with the 100 miles commute on the road. I hated the ride just from Walker when I was working at the MWTC.

Keep building - I can't wait to see yours when it is all together and the fuselage painted. Have fun!

Hey Rockwood, you worked at MWTC? Too cool, well there is a 1,000 ft runway with another 700 overrun, my plan is to fly in for my retirement in 7 years. Nine months out of the year morning temps are below freezing, so DA won't be a prob. Only ten hr build time today, I'm beat.

 

[bret]

Hey Bob, that is a nice story, I was in the LA basin for 20 years, LA traffic will make drive you insane. Were you at Greg's BBQ last year, Reno?

 

[bret]

Interesting and timely thread, as my one of my several Saturday "chores" this weekend was to excercise both the RV and Hiperbipe which have been sitting idle for several weeks. So first thing this morning I flew the HB for 25 minutes, landed, and jumped right in the RV for 20 minutes. Now both are woken up and well lubricated for a while. Now on to the less pleasant stuff like fixing the roof of the hangar and trimming some palm trees.

How do you trim a palm tree? Do you rent an man lift? Just kiddin, I wish it was warm enough around here to grow palms!

 

[Bob Axsom]

No I didn't make it

Hey Bob, that is a nice story, I was in the LA basin for 20 years, LA traffic will make drive you insane. Were you at Greg's BBQ last year, Reno?

I was on Bob Mills' pit crew and totally immersed myself in that job for the week not that I was any significant help but it was like when I was a boy and I got to play horseshoes with the men - it is something that takes you to a different place with unrealistic pride and everything else seems outside the sphere of attention. I just drove back to the Nugget each night got some good food in the deli and took it to my room.

Bob Axsom

 

[rockwoodrv9]

Bret,
Back in 1983-84, I built the commanding officers house there under a Navy contract. We stayed in a camper trailer in Walker. I used to live in Cameron Park.

It is quite an experience to see the Marines all line up in the meadow, goggles on and holding onto the rope hand rail. Then the helicopters drop in and they get on. We wondered why they were all holding the rope. One of the guys we talked to said that was so they didn't get squished by the helicopters because it was so dusty! Interesting place for sure.

 

[hydroguy2]

not quite your schedule, but worked 65 hrs last week and I've had 1 day off in the last 2 weeks. I used that day to drive 11.5hr RT for a job interview. (weather was lousy or I would have flown).

But the reason I posted is: Keep at it, the reward is worth the work.

I smelled pancakes, sausage and 100LL. This saturday was beautiful, so off to a Fly-in

 

[Jaypratt]

Building

I lived in north Dallas when I started on my RV6. Could only work on the kit on weekends, my shop was in west Fort Worth. Took a two week vacation and got the flu. Did not get to work on my kit.
Almost to the day, one year after I started on the RV6 kit I was layed off. I got 3 months severence and Texas unemployment. I was able to get it flying during the next 3 months that the unemployment checks were coming in.
Was almost a bummer to have to get a job, with a new airplane at my local airport. The 40 hour fly off still went pretty quick. I think I put almost 300 hours on it that first phisical year. October 18, 1996 to October 1997.
Some times losing a job pays off!

"Keep pounding those Rivits, because it is all worth it" Rosie quote...

 

[bret]

not quite your schedule, but worked 65 hrs last week and I've had 1 day off in the last 2 weeks. I used that day to drive 11.5hr RT for a job interview. (weather was lousy or I would have flown).

But the reason I posted is: Keep at it, the reward is worth the work.

I smelled pancakes, sausage and 100LL. This saturday was beautiful, so off to a Fly-in

That is an awesome pic! Love those colors, especially the purple!