[aarvig]

I just started a 9A project and am flying through a club about 3-4 hours per month. Last night we did a cross country about 80 miles west of the twin cities. It was beautiful. Crystal clear skies, full moon, CAVU. We could see Minneapolis from 70 miles away at 5500msl. As much as I love flying and as wonderful as my club is I am starting to wonder about the financial feasibility of building and flying at the same time. I am wondering how many of you gave up flying to build, or if you didn't give up flying how did you manage the costs? I can't imagine not flying, I love it to much BUT in the same breath, I do want to finish this 9A sometime in this century.

 

[eatenbyagrue]

doing the same thing

We're doing pretty much the same thing - flying a few hours a month while working on the RV7 in the garage. I'm well aware the every hour in the air costs me airplane parts, but it doesn't matter to me. Gotta keep flying... the RV is a high performance plane, so I want to be current when it comes time for that first flight.

 

[jsharkey]

Flew and Built as Time and Money Allowed

I tried to do both - but it was a 9 year build

I found that time was as much a factor as finance.

Jim Sharkey
RV-6 Phase 1

 

[videobobk]

I cut back to the cheapest thing I could rent, a Tomahawk ($55/hr three years ago, $65 now) and down to about one to two hours per month. All flying was dedicated to staying current, not just boring holes in the sky. One cross country per year. When I got close to finishing, I quit for about six months, then flew quite a bit, plus transition training right before the first flight. It helped as I was in the same situation.

Bob Kelly

 

[rodrv6]

I reached a point where I decided I could either afford to rent and fly or build. I decided to concentrate on the building. My decision was helped by the company I was renting from going out of business. Now, I have a plane nearly ready to fly, but I haven't flown in six years! So, now it's a matter of getting myself ready while the plane sits around. If I had it to do over again, I'd probably try to at least get a few hours a month of flying during the build. It would help keep the rustiness to a minimum!

 

[flion]

One option that I wish I had realized is that you can hook up with groups of people who fly. I have no idea what was at Ann Arbor or Chicago when I was there, just like I had no clue about Flagstaff until I moved the project out to the airport. Suddenly I had a crowd of new friends, most of whom were willing to take me flying. There's a group, of which I'm now a part, that tries to go somewhere each Sunday for breakfast and meets each Friday for lunch in town. Many of them go on long trips together and there's always a seat available for the cost of a meal or gas. One of them gave me my BFR on the way to breakfast one day before I had my RV airborne. Even now, sometimes I take a passenger and sometimes, when the RV is not flyable, I am the passenger. I only wish I'd known how to hook into this community long ago.

So, try to find out where the local pilots hang out and see what develops. I'm betting mutual interest in flying will get you airborne as well as getting you extra hands in the shop when you need it.

 

[Rick6a]

.......how did you manage the costs? I can't imagine not flying, I love it to much....

On weekends, I would drive out to the tiny municipal airport. From its fence I would stand and watch all those lucky people moving about with purpose. Included might be a student methodically preflighting an airplane against handheld checklist, others were line boys kept busy refueling and towing airplanes one after another. Mostly, I came out to witness the never ending aerial dance of sound and flight that was Cessnas and Pipers completely filling up the traffic pattern. Sometimes you could even see the broad smile of a pilot on short final or an instructor speaking to the student as their airplane met the pavement once again. I was totally fascinated.

At the same time, being broke was a way of life for me. Being young and dumb, I allowed easy credit to shackle my life to a dreary cycle of monthly minimum payments.

For me, that airport fence might as well have been the Berlin Wall. Being on the OTHER side seemed so remote that I instinctively knew if I was ever going to breach that self imposed fence, I had to change ways forever. Fundamental change is never easy, but if you truly want something a combination of things starts taking place that eventually leads down a path so desperately desired. For most people, the hardest obstacle to overcome is not succumbing to the signpost that seductively reads "Instant Gratification Ahead" a message prominently displayed everywhere in our culture. I wish I could offer you an easy answer but I know of none to exist. It all comes down to the choices we make. Struggle is part of the human condition and those relative few who successfully navigate a difficult path recognize the common sound of excuse and failure when they hear it.

 

[Phil]

Flying has slowed way down for me and I miss flying as much as I used to.

It's pretty frustrating, but I view it as an investment in finishing the -10 sooner.

Phil

 

[hydroguy2]

I stayed in the club for almost 3 yrs while building. I wanted to get 50hrs TW in the Citabria. Last year I found I was going less and less, only short flights for proficiency and or an occasional zoom up the Flathead to our airpark lot. I found my skills were deteriorating, more time and money was being spent on the build. I decided in September, Drop the club and get done with the build.

Now it's the big push to finish up. I can fly with friends just to scratch the itch. I still drop by the FBO to shoot the breeze once in a while.

I will get a BFR and some stick time in early May, then the wife and I are going to Oregon Coast for 3 days of RV training w/Mike Seager.

It is working for me and I'm more motivated to get the build completed.

 

[8CW]

I sold my previous ride to finance the -8 kit, and since it's a pay as I go build, I figured I'd feel guilty spending money on renting while building. So until it's done, I'm not flying.

 

[terrykohler]

Many of Your Flying Skills are Perishable

From an earlier post:
When I started building my RV, the first thing I did was join a local EAA chapter (#13). One of the things that surprised me at the time was the high percentage of builders (over 60 airplanes under construction in the chapter at that time) who had little or no flying experience. While the FAA may not consider many of the RVs and other experimentals to be "High Performance", I'd argue that speed and control response put them squarely in that category - even the RV9. Back in the good old days, it took a fair amount of money and flight time to move up to something that would cruise over 150kts. Most singles, unless they had near 300HP, weren't capable. Even light twins barely made those speeds. I remember getting one of my co-workers checked out in my CT210. Ex-military with high time in turbine copters and about 300 hours in fixed wing resulted in insurance requiring 25 hours. Same insurance carrier required my brother (ATP, 5000+ hrs) to log 20 hours.
My point is that most of us build, suspend our flying during the build, get a BFR and a few hour checkout, and then launch off in an airplane that flies over 3 miles per minute. Oh yeah, and the next training we'll get is more likely to come from a formation clinic than an instructor. In fact, unless we're pursuing a more advanced rating, any "practice" we do is just as likely to consist of repeating bad habits as reinforcing proper procedures. Is this dangerous? Perhaps that's what the stats are telling us. And we haven't even added aerobatics to the mix.
How do you keep yourself from becoming a statistic? My suggestion would be that after your transition training and within the first six months, get at least 2 or 3 more hours of training. Tell your instructor where you think you're weak, and focus on making that the strongest part of your flying. In another 6 months, do it again. And then again. Same thing with instruments. Flying with a safety pilot on a nice day is better than nothing. Better yet, find a good instrument instructor, pick a crappy day, and go flying. If it's mostly nice weather where you live, find a good simulator to train in. Fly safe.
Terry, CFI
RV-9A N323TP

 

[Steve]

In order to focus on the slo-build 9A, I sold my TriPacer. It freed up space in the hangar and added cash to the ol' airplane building fund.
I was a long time CAP member so that's how I scratched the flying itch for the last 3 (of 4) years of the RV project.

 

[William Slaughter]

I've stopped and attempted to re-start flying a couple of times, but have just never been able to sustain building and flying simultaneously. Available time and money conspire against it. Building now, hoping to fly later.

 

[L.Adamson]

I've stopped and attempted to re-start flying a couple of times, but have just never been able to sustain building and flying simultaneously. Available time and money conspire against it. Building now, hoping to fly later.

During the course of my 12 year project, I slacked off for nine years with just occasional BFR flights in aircraft such as the Diamond DA40. At that point, I flew close to 40 hrs of cross country in a 9A...........alternating with the owner/builder. Then I slacked off for three more years, until the 9A pilot and now builder of a second 9A began pushing me to get the 6A completed. It had been nearly finished for those three years. We again went up in the new 9A for hour after hour, week after week, to brush up on items that had gained some slack. And there were some! It's often good to have someone else "push you" into getting it done! I also picked up some additional 6A time with a pilot who's hangar is next door. I had flown several other 6A's in the past, as well as Pitt's S2B time, so over control wouldn't be a problem.

When the day of the test flight came, I flew the flight. A bit of anxiety, you bet!........but it was pretty much a non event in the way of problems. I flew the 6A for an additional 110 hrs that first year.

L.Adamson --- RV6A

 

[glidermikeg]

If you are doing the quick build kit, drop back to the regular build, and you might be able to save enough to be able to continue flying. I haven't flown anything with an airworthiness certificate or power of any kind in nearly 20 years (to speak of), and have forgotten a tremendous amount of stuff. A lot of terminology has changed, and I'm wishing I wouldn't have let myself get this rusty. Like one of the guys said, rent the cheapest thing you can, and don't burn holes in the sky. Do a lot of bounce and go's, so your landing skills stay current.
Smooth air, long flights, and soft landings,
Mike Glasgow

 

[Rupester]

Still trying to do both ....

..and it's tough, both from a money and a time standpoint. To make matters worse, I'm paying tuition for my daughter in a private college. I'm flying less (in club 172s) and find that I use weather more and more as a flimsy excuse to stay home and build and not fly. I'm determined to get some flying in and not accumulate "pilot rust" like so many guys I've seen. Like others said, the time issue is as big as the "finances thing" for those of us that are still working stiffs.

 

[flybill7]

I was flying a Citabria during the first 3 1/2 years of building my 7. Sold the Citabria to focus on building. My productivity without flying picked up from roughly 500 hrs/yr to 800 and I was able to finish the 7 in another 1 1/2 year. I missed flying during that year and a half but it was worth it to get the RV done. Now I'm having a ball flying it.

 

[aparchment]

Commonality

Interesting thread. We all seem to want to chase the dream of completing our projects, but it can be tough to realize when life gets in the way.

I sorely miss flying as much as I used to, and in fact I am at a crossroads on whether or not to finish this project because I know I could repurchase a plane if I got rid of the RV. I rent now, but it's barely enough to make me proficient or to satisfy my desire to fly.

I am going to try to stick the 7A project out, but if my time demands keep going the way they are, I will reluctantly opt to go back to the world of certified aircraft so that I can get back to my passion -- flying. Building is fun and the sense of accomplishment is tremendous, but the time commitment these days is tough.