Well, perhaps I'll be the lone dissenting voice here, but I'm building my RV first, before getting my PPL. I think some of us have different situations. You have to figure out what works for you in your particular situation, financial status, etc.
I seriously considered whether to get my pilots license first, or wait, or do it along with building at the same time. The same questions you're considering right now. One thing I noticed was that some builders find that their flying skills go stale while building. Either that or the project languishes in the shop while you go flying. I know myself well enough to know that I can only do so many things at once. There's only so much time. And only so much money. And the concentration and mental effort involved in building (or in flying!) isn't a small matter either. How much can I take on at one time? Whatever you decide to do, that's a question that I think needs to be pondered. You may come up with a different answer than I did, and that's fine, just consider these things first. That's all I'm suggesting.
Those of us who are married are familiar with the delicate balance between taking on a project like this, and tending to responsibilities we all have, taking care of a marriage relationship, kids, and everything else in life. My wife and I have had our share of "airplane discussions". If I'm not careful, I'll be hearing from her again that I'm not spending enough time with her. And I'm going to add flying lessons to this mix? For ME, it just won't work.
So I considered that if I got my PPL first, my skills would probably go stale while I spend a couple thousand hours building this thing. If I tried to fly and build at the same time, I would be spread too thin and probably not do either very well. I know several guys who are doing just that and I'm not sure when they'll ever get their projects finished. Not to mention that I don't have money for both. So that's how I came to the decision to build my airplane first, then get the license to fly it. That's just ME, and your situation may be entirely different. But for me, it was delayed gratification now for the bigger reward later on.
I believe that if I was flying all the time now, yes it would be fun. It would be great. I might not feel like I was missing out and I could go with my friends and take my wife and so on. But I also know that I would have this nagging feeling that I could be doing all of this in my own RV if I could just get it finished! I've seen the longing looks on the faces of friends who fly all the time who want an RV but they can't put everything in their life together enough to build one. Or worse, they've started one and have stalled or lost motivation along the way and maybe they'll never get it finished.
I'm honest enough to admit that if I had other means available to me to go flying, I might not be as motivated to get out into the shop all the time. I've spent many a nice day, after all, and I mean perfect warm sunny days that would be perfect for flying, working in my shop on the project. I've had friends take off for the fly-in breakfasts, the cross-country trips, Oshkosh, the wilderness adventures, and all the stuff I dream about while I toil away on my project here in my shop. It's been kind of hard at times, but on the other hand it's very motivating to get finished. Because when I'm done, I'll have a custom-made personal airplane, brand new, that I own and built with my own two hands, with performance that will rock my socks off.
Meanwhile, I'm having the time of my life building this airplane. It is by far the most rewarding thing I have ever done. It started out as a means to an end, then I found out that it's really all about the journey and I'm enjoying it all along the way much more than I ever thought I would. At the same time, the incentive to get it done so I can go fly is HUGE and it keeps me motivated.
