R

RonH

Active Member
Well, I do believe I've gone over the edge...:D:D:D I have been racking my brain trying to figure out how to afford an RV project. We almost never go out to eat...only have one car...shop sales...haven't had a "getaway" vacation in a couple of years. Just never could figure it all out. Then, I'm sitting here at work last night and a thought came to me..."Ron"...I said..."What about crowdfunding? Really crappy projects have been crowdfunded, why not an RV-14?"...ok, it was late, and I was tired...seemed like a SUPERB idea at the time. So, guess what? I set myself up on gofundme...even put up an awesome pic of my son in the cockpit of an LSA. I'll keep you guys all up to date on it. So far, have had 10 whole views...no donations so far, but hope springs eternal!...:D:D:D I told my wife I felt like I was standing on a digital street corner with a tin cup!

P.S. Not putting the link here on purpose...this is NOT, REPEAT NOT, to ask for donations...just a fun little story!
 
Last edited:
Ron, to that end, we grill at home and seldom do restaurants because quite honestly, the food can't compare to my Primo ceramic grill.

We drive used cars and buy goodwill clothes for a buck a shirt and so on. The only thing new we buy is food and toilet paper.:)

I built a Cassutt F-1 many years ago, on a very strict budget, in my living room.

The beauty of Van's airplanes are the sub kits...ones you buy as the budget permits and it simply takes longer.

A second job can help satisfy cash demands too...a little more "out-of-the-box" thinking may help there as well.

You can find a way,
 
Occasionally I see salvage deals come across that would allow someone to collect parts to build an RV at very minimum cost Keep your eyes open, build a network (here and at your airport). I got a smoking deal on an engine for my plane from my old airport A&P buddy. If you look at something other than an RV (hard to contemplate, I know), but you can save a lot of money. Mustang IIs and Midget Mustangs are a great value! Good luck!!
 
Shoot, it would be easier to find you a rich woman who has a fetish for a guy that ignores her most of the time in favor of drilling holes, setting rivets, and practicing profanity laced tirades at inanimate objects. :D:D:D
 
Auburntsts said:
Shoot, it would be easier to find you a rich woman who has a fetish for a guy that ignores her most of the time in favor of drilling holes, setting rivets, and practicing profanity laced tirades at inanimate objects. :D:D:D
Click to expand...

Hey...that minus the "rich" that kind of describes my wife...:D:D

ccsmith51 said:
Can't you sell some advertising space on that aero-balloon-thing you fly down there? :D
Click to expand...

Now there's an idea!
 
pierre smith said:
Ron, to that end, we grill at home and seldom do restaurants because quite honestly, the food can't compare to my Primo ceramic grill.

We drive used cars and buy goodwill clothes for a buck a shirt and so on. The only thing new we buy is food and toilet paper.:)

I built a Cassutt F-1 many years ago, on a very strict budget, in my living room.

The beauty of Van's airplanes are the sub kits...ones you buy as the budget permits and it simply takes longer.

A second job can help satisfy cash demands too...a little more "out-of-the-box" thinking may help there as well.

You can find a way,
Click to expand...

It'll happen Pierre. What I really need to do to get the money is 1) Get out of the Keys and save 50% on housing/living expenses and 2) Get off of these wacky schedules so that I can go get a second job. Patience is a virtue, or so I'm told...:D
 
partners of the OTHER kind...

yes, a great wife is a must.....how about 7 other guys that also want a -14???

sure, I'm a hypocrite for not having one, but if it's geographically possible, why not?

our club aircraft ( C172) now has about 8 guys in it, for $5000 each, the thing flys every weekend and then some, and rarely is someone left on the ground that wants to go to a fly-in, or just a burger run!
 
This could be a good thread on ideas for saving money/making money to pay for something like an RV project. Here's some random ideas:

  • Bring your lunch to work. My good wife has made my lunch for 28 years, we've saved tens of thousands of dollars just with that.
  • Likewise, we rarely go out to dinner. Home-cooked food from fresh is way healthier and cheaper.
  • Drive your car until it quits. My cars have had 200K+ miles, and 15-20 years old, before they're done.
  • Bob "Flyover Country" Collins said he took on a newspaper route for years to earn his RV project money.
  • Keep track of every dime spent for at least a few months. Then go over the expenses carefully. Surprising what we spend on.
  • Find another partner or two in the RV project.
  • Build a cheaper kitplane than an RV (sorry!).
 
Ron, my wife at the time was waiting on tables and I was flight instructing. We moved the living room furniture to a bedroom and welded up the fuse in a dirt-floor garage:

BuildingCassutt.jpg


I was 29 at the time and on a strict budget but we worked it out...check the '70's sideburns....Elvis was alive and well:)

Best,
 
Pants

Actually Pierre it was the striped bell bottom pants that caught my attention.... not that I ever owned anything like that... LOL
 
Look for kits that have been bought and never touched. When I started looking a couple EAA tech advisors knew of an empennage kit that a fellow bought a couple of years earlier and we bought it for several hundred dollars less than what Van charges.
Parts were scattered in his garage but we did an inventory and only had to order a couple of parts.

Where we had been taking vacations that money was saved and used to help buy kits. Instead of eating out a expensive places we have dined at the famous Ray's Steak house, the one with the Golden Arches :) with senior discounts at other places.

By 2 1/2 years later were getting close. Every available period of time we work on the plane. Working on the engine with hopes by fall we'll be flying

A lot of folks have sacrificed a lot to build their dream. I too have had this dream for years to own my own plane and were getting close.


Smilin' Jack
 
Last edited:
Av8torTom said:
Actually Pierre it was the striped bell bottom pants that caught my attention.... not that I ever owned anything like that... LOL
Click to expand...

Hey, they were the latest thing in the early 70's - red, white and blue stripes...:)

Me on the right, 1971 in Toronto with the trusty club Cherokee 180 -

brian-cherokee.jpg
 
You must log in or register to reply here.