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Piloto.Mendes

Active Member
Sorry, guys. I know there are some threads about this subject, but I would like some advice from you for specific situation.

GOAL: flying cross-country with friends and family, some acro would be nice, but not essential.

PERSONAL LIFE: I am 26 years old, single, no child, living with parents.

FINANCIAL: I don't have any savings for the project right know, but I can save 35-40K a year for the project.

THOUGHTS: Flying a 7 would be so fun, it's sporty, acro capable, and would take 3 years to save the money. Flying a 10, I can't do acro, but I can travel with friends and family (5-10 year ahead I may have a wife and child), would take 5 years to save the money.

COSTS: Flynig a 7 or a 10 with 2 people is almost the same total price. A 10 is supposed to be 10% higher. But flying a 10 splitted by 4 people is quite cheaper than flying a 7 splitted by 2.

WORK/SALE PRICE: 10 won't require much more work. The only difference is for the airframe and interior, engine and avionics instalation require both the same building time. If I really need to sell the plane in the future, my profit would be relatively bigger with 10.

So, if you were at my place, what would you do?

A) Control anxiety and wait to fly with my beloved ones in a 10.
B) Go flying faster, cheaper, doing acros with just one fellow aside in a 7A.

Thanks for all advices.

Rafael Mendes.
 
The -7 will certainly cost far less to build and a bit less to operate. Check engine prices on 360s vs. 540s too. The -10 will take many more hours to build than a -7.

If you need to travel with more than one person frequently, the -10 is the choice. If one passenger is the norm or acro is important, the -7 would be better.
 
FWIW, given your situation I would build a 7A and get my jollies out with acro while you're young and single. If you run across a time when you really NEED to fly 3 passengers, you can still rent a 210 (if you can find one convenient to you in Brazil). Fly the 7 for a few years and then look at a 10. 7A's are easy to sell, especially if you go with a standard Lyclone engine.
 
airguy said:
FWIW, given your situation I would build a 7A and get my jollies out with acro while you're young and single. If you run across a time when you really NEED to fly 3 passengers, you can still rent a 210 (if you can find one convenient to you in Brazil). Fly the 7 for a few years and then look at a 10. 7A's are easy to sell, especially if you go with a standard Lyclone engine.
Click to expand...

Now that is a good idea and good advice.
 
Also, use the financing most of us use. Save for the empennage, buy the empennage, build the empennage while saving for the wing kit, then repeat the process until all kits are done. Otherwise you'll add years to your project.
 
Comparing...

The RV10 won't take any longer to build. Almost the same number of pieces, they are just bigger.

The RV10 will cost you at least about 25% more to build (engine, etc).

The RV10 will cost you about 25% more to fly (insurance, gas, etc).

If you can find someone willing to split the cost of the trip, good for you. I don't think that I have ever had anyone contribute to cost of operation when we go somewhere. Usually I am asking people to come with me for the fun of it.

Go with the RV7 for now and upgrade to the RV10 later, unless you know that most of your flying will have more then one passenger.

Kent
 
Go for # 7

Limited Acro is fun. Flying is fun.

The 10 is nice, but it isn't a reality for you yet. (No Family) Build a 7 and 10 years down the road, when things change, you'll be ready to upgrade.
 
Agreed

If you can, build the 7a first - you'll learn a lot, both skill-wise, and what you are looking for in your ride. Then fly the butt out of the 7a while slow building the 10. I built my 7a in a short period of time and have been flying it now for over 3 yrs. It only took me 1 yr of flying to realize that I wanted the building part again, so I began my slooooow build 10 project. I figure that the 7a will have to go on the auction block before I can finish my 10, at which time I am counting on recouping enough to cover my costs on the 10 project (one can hope).
 
kentb said:
The RV10 won't take any longer to build. Almost the same number of pieces, they are just bigger.

The RV10 will cost you at least about 25% more to build (engine, etc).

The RV10 will cost you about 25% more to fly (insurance, gas, etc).

If you can find someone willing to split the cost of the trip, good for you. I don't think that I have ever had anyone contribute to cost of operation when we go somewhere. Usually I am asking people to come with me for the fun of it.

Go with the RV7 for now and upgrade to the RV10 later, unless you know that most of your flying will have more then one passenger.

Kent
Click to expand...

Having built a 6A, observed a couple of 7As under construction and almost done a -10 I'd have to disagree. The -10 has way more parts, way more rivets/ drilling and deburring and the cabin area and doors is way more time consuming to complete than the other RV canopies. Couple this with an engine that is around $40K and I stand by my statement that a -10 will cost a lot more and take a lot longer to build.
 
Save your money and buy a house. You cant live in an airplane, and unless you have a very special relationship with your parents, my first priority would be to get out of thier house!
( the 7 is your only choice )
 
-7(A)

I owned 3 different 4 place production planes before building my -7A. I figured I would just rent a 4 place if I needed it to take more than 1 passenger. Fast forward - after 2 years of flying and 420+ hrs in the RV, I have rented a 4 place exactly 0 times!
 
Thanks guys for all wise advices.

I'm now convinced that the 7 is the way to go.

If I need to carry more, rent one.

That's right to say that I probably won't be able to split costs to others passengers. At the begining, some people would like to take a ride and help me so. But, as time goes by, people won't be interested anymore.

I was thinking about building a house first, but it won't be so good for me for some reasons. I don't have any problem with my mom and two brothers. Besides, our house has a really big yard where I'll build a simple workshop. And I also has an employee who is in charge to take care of the house that is going to help me with the plane (he is willing to start it). When it gets finished, I plan to move to an airpark. There I can buy and build a hangar and a small house (room, bathroom, living room w/ kitchen) for 50 K. After, I can build a beautiful hose, as the size is 2.000 square meters. If I move first, I will be on my own and I'll take more time to finish it, because I'll have to build hangar/house first and I won't be able to save as much for the project.

Thanks again.

At the beginning of next year, I will be building workshop. At the end, I expect to place a complete order for a slow build empenage, wing, fuselage, finish and firewall foward.

If somebody comes to Brazil, let me know. I'll make you have a VERY good time.

Rafael Mendes
 
how about finding some friends and buy a 4,6 or 6a? lots of planes on the market now or buy a partially built kit from someone.
 
Build time

I just thought I would add a few commnets here, in case others are wondering about the build times on the various airplanes. I respectfully disagree that the 10 and 7 could be built in approximately the same amount of time. I've built a 4, a 6 (not a prepunched 6), a 10, and I am working on a 7. The 10 is bigger in all areas. Lots more holes to be drilled, beburred, dimpled, etc. Way bigger pieces to manage. The interior is much bigger, so lots more nut plates. And of course, the biggest area is all of the fiberglass---doors, canopy, windows, etc. WAY more fiberglass work than all of the other RV's. For comparison, I spent 1700 hours on my RV-4 (back when Van shipped us Bauxite :)), 1200 hours on the RV-6, and almost 2400 hours on the RV-10.
In the end you get a much bigger airplane that is a real hoot to fly, has no adverse characteristics that I've discovered.
Neat that Van's give us so many choices! There are NO bad choices when it comes to Van's airplanes, Just too many sometimes.

Best of Luck.
 
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