Alright, lots of good replies and food-for-thought.
My wife is
very enthusiastic about the whole idea of building our own airplane and flying all over the place. She's "into" airplanes (moreso than most other women I know); she even enjoys going to airshows with me! We've just begun discussing the logistics of traveling once we have a kid, so that's what prompted the "-9A vs. -10" thoughts.
I hear all about the "support equipment" for kids from my wife - she's a nurse in a big pediatrics practice, and a lot of the parents have half the inventory of a Babies-R-Us store in their SUV's... and she doesn't want to be that way. [cue the singing angels here...]
PJSeipel said:
Just remember that the baggage area wasn't designed to seat a kid, carseat or not. I'd think long and hard about how protected your child would be in the event of a forced landing. Maybe the RV-10 doesn't cost as much after all.
Believe me, if I go with a -9A, there will be structure built-in to the baggage area to support & protect the carseat in a forced landing.
Highflight said:
...so bite the bullet and get the '10 tail kit. There is no penalty for buying each part of the kit as you go and even though it may take a bit longer for you to gradually be able to afford to build the '10, it can be fun just the same. Besides, when you become an A&P mechanic, you'll be earning the big bucks anyway.
I really wish that were true in my case... Van's website has the total cost of a -9A slo-build kit at $18,715, and a -10 slo-build kit at $36,180 total. A Mattituck TMX IO-320 with a couple goodies is around $22-23k; a TMX IO-540 with a couple goodies is around $34-35k. These are '05 or '06 dollars; realistically I won't be ready to start until '07 at the earliest. Those numbers will only go up by the time I'm able to get started, especially the engine. There's nearly $30k difference right there, without even touching on the prop, the avionics, or any of the oh-by-the-way stuff.
And as far as A&P's making "the big bucks"... I WISH! I've got over 12 years of aviation maintenance and production experience, mostly military but some civilian time too. But an auto mechanic (oops, sorry,
automotive service technician ) at a dealer still makes more than I will in my area, and has nothing like the lifelong responsibility and accountability of an A&P. Maybe I just need to relocate...