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Longest to completion?

gvgoff99

gvgoff99

Well Known Member
My RV-6A has SN 20320 which is pretty old. The builder's log that I got from EAA Chapter 123 in Midland, TX goes back to 8/21/1988. They got it to "quick build stage" and I picked it up in Sept of 2004 and completed it in Feb of 2006. That makes it about 18 years in the making. This can't be the longest so I am starting this thread with:

What is the approximate date of purchase and SN of your kit?

When was it (will it be) completed?
 
#23550 assigned with plans in late 94' or early 95'. Majority of kit purchased in May of 96'. Completed and flown this year.

L.Adamson -- RV6A
 
Going on 20 Years

RV6 20439 originally purchased in 1989. Tail, wings and fuselage. I bought it in 1996 unstarted. I purchased the finish kit from vans in 2003. It will be going into the paint shop in February. Hopefully it will fly shortly after that. I have the original blue prints, thats right Blue prints. The build manual ends at the fuselage because Vans didn't have the finish kit available yet.
001na9.jpg

Aaron
 
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18 yrs

RV4 serial #2010. 150HP, Catto prop


Started January 1988 - first flight December 2006. Lots of life interventions, but definitely worth the wait.
 
Must have been very early 1989.

H6 RV-6A said:
20551 - Started it in 1989 and am still working on it slowly. One of these years....
Click to expand...
Red Marron & I ordered our kits in January 1989 and my plans number is 20560.
 
RV-4 customer #3001

I am qualified to post on this thread. Empennage receipt says 11/26/91. My project has been a trail of progress bursts, interrupted by long periods of "other interests." Many other life goals have been accomplished along the way so I never loose sleep over airplane construction. December 08' finds me fitting the engine cowls. Painting soon!!!
 
28 years?

Rocket Bob writes...I have a friend that took 28 years to complete his first RV-3

I love these stories, because I've been over 2 yrs on my emp. I'm getting more efficient as time progresses, but I tend to be a bit tentative.

(Ken Scott from Vans wrote in response to one of my questions that I worry waaayyy too much. I replied that I worry about worrying too much.)

I seem to spend a lot of time just looking at the drawings and trying to figure out what they really mean.


(Luckily, I love every minute of it.)
 
I just received the paperwork for the plane I purchased. The empennage order date was 4/12/89, serial 20603. It is coming with the empennage and wing kit and I pick it right after Xmas. I hope to be the final link in the chain.
 
I feel better now.

I completed and flew my RV-6A in March of this year. The kit number is 22602. I started construction in January 1993. I was always kind of embarrassed when people asked how long I was building and I would answer 15 years. However, I am flying now and it was definately worth the wait. This plane is fun!!!
 
22636

I thouhg mine took a long time. I guess it was not that bad. Started in spring of 1993, flew May 2008. Almost like a quickbuild at only 15 years.
 
RV-6A SN23234

Purchased in 2003 from original kit owner. Still at it hope to complete all but the paint by spring 09. Many updates and changes during the process.
IO-320 Hartzell CS- Tru-Trak....
 
RV-6A SN 21777

I bought the tail kit from a lady whose husband bought it and then lost the battle with cancer. I get to work on it on Sundays only but I just finished the electrical, am working on the interior and hope to have it ready to go next year!

Paul
N694BP reserved
 
Couldn't pass this one up. Roger Bentlage, a good friend now living in Marquette, Michigan recently completed an RV7 "full quickbuild" and in the process, logged over 4000 hours of build time. Roger is a retired Navy Captain, engineer/machinetool builder, and comes from a long line of German descent. I believe this background and heritage had something to do with his obsessive attention to detail. Roger's panel can be seen on the AFS web site and is actually the second full panel he installed before his first flight (he made a changeover from Blue Mountain). The engine is an IO360 (also the second new engine before launch) with full electronic ignition. System is dual buss and backed up by dual alternators and dual batteries. He also designed and built his own ram air intake. If this plane ever shows up at Oshkosh, it's really worth looking at - I think he even has a tolerance specification on the spacing of wire ties. Lots of interesting mods and goodies. Unbelieveable attention to detail. Roger has also generated CAD files for all wiring and plumbing. Oh yeah, forgot to mention that the 4000+ hours build time does not include painting. Roger is still searching for a painter that will work to his standards.
Terry
 
Back in about 1994, I lived in the Chicago area and shared my T-hangar with a guy who had just finished his RV-4 after 18 yrs of construction. I had a Citabria at the time. I asked him one day why it took so long to build his plane, and he simply smiled and casually said something about raising a family and several moves. He seemed quite content with that answer as well. Now he was approaching 60 (airline retirement age at that time) and now had a fun airplane to fly!

I started my RV-8 tailkit back in early 2000, and almost 9 yrs later, I'm still only on my wings....still... I didn't really understand his answer then, but I certainly do now...and for all the same reasons. ..and I'm also content with that answer.:D

Based on others here on this thread, I feel like a newbee though and probably not really "qualified" to a part of this thread. Couldn't resist being a part of this though.
 
I was wondering....

rvmike said:
az gila should be part of this.
Click to expand...

...when someone would bug me...:D Thanks Mike!

Mine RV-6A is kit # 20701.

As other have said, things slow you down...
Work.
Flying sailplanes - all weekends taken care of in the summers.
Getting an Airframe mechanics license
Moving - CA to AZ - and lengthening your commute by 1/2 hour each way.
Buidling a hangar...
...then spouse says you need a plane to fly now... so I bought the Tiger
Having a plane to fly takes a lot of urgency to complete away...:)
Helping others - a trip to RV Mikes place was 45 minutes or so one way on LA freeways.
George (RV Mike knows who...) was the funniest... he would tell me to get "focused", and then call me twice a week at work and ask me to stop by on the way home to help him do something... and now he's even flying out to AZ in Jan for more help....:)
House remodelling and repairs... what happens when you move into a 1978 house on 7 acres.
HOA work - been fighting the developer N of the airpark... looks like we won this week, he removed his zoning change application - but sitting through 5 1/2 hour council meetings to do a 5 minute presentation...:(

Anyway... the last round of remodelling and house flood control is nearing an end, the weather is cool, so after our Tiger trip to Houston next week, it's time for interior paint...:)

I started the project, and I will finish it....:D

PS - I do like helping folks - in return for all of the help I got when I built a 42 ft span wooden sailplane 35 years ago - the EAA chapters in Ann Arbor, MI and Oceanside, CA were great. I could not have done it without them.

PPS - I am lucky to have a spouse that like travelling in small planes - I feel sorry for those owners that have spouses that don't like to fly...

PPPS - off to climb on the roof to find that elusive leak before the winter rains - don't buy a house with a flat roof...
 
You are welcome...

rvmike said:
Even though you are now more than 45 min. away, Alice still wants to come out and see your place. Maybe we can come out with George and I will bring Lee's -10.

Mike
Click to expand...

....to come visit as soon as the CFO declares the remodelling over...:)

However, George said he was coming with Bill K. and attached females, and we only have beds for 4 visitors at a time...:)

Call and come on over some time in Jan....
 
Computer use

If some people would stay off the computer they could get their planes done.
 
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