Just catching up...
Regarding Scott's cowl mod inquiry.... I agree it's too early to worry much about it, but I do have a good general feel for how this airplane is working out and I do think if the oil cooler could more easily evacuate to the outside airstream it would be an improvement that will likely be needed by some people later. Yes, my temps will come down with time, but I also don't live in the hottest region of the country. I probably will actually need to install a throttle valve in front of my oil cooler, like I did in my -10, just to maintain enough oil temperature in the winter. But what really annoys me is when I have to step climb to keep temps down. On my return trip from the cayman islands a couple months ago, with 1180 hours on the RV-10, flying in turbulent clouds talking to foreign controllers who aren't easy to talk to, I found myself asking to stop my IFR climb to 10,000' to let my oil temps relax a bit. I don't want to deal with that in this plane too, and I'm still open to chopping the cowl a little in the -10 to fix it there as well. I just want to know the quickest, easiest, guaranteed way to get the job done without any more modification than necessary. A week or two ago I saw a mod that an aussie flyer says is common there. You slit the cowl in a square pattern on 3 sides, with the aft side not being slit. Then pull the cowl flap created upwards into the cowl about an inch or so. Then glass in the sides between the cowl and the flap. This creates a little slot..they called it a mailbox slot, that although facing forward, apparently exhausts really well. It doesn't disturb the paint too much, and is easy to do. If I can find a dozen people who say that mod works well, I'll probably dig in and do it on both planes. At this point it's a gut feeling that even after break-in the oil temp is still going to be an issue on hot days or extended climbs. It's not urgent, and I don't plan to even spend the time on it until I get the hours flown off...certainly not before OSH. But if I find that by August it's still acting the same, I'm going to figure something out. The cowl cooling is definitely much better than expected...I've very very happy with my CHT's.
Regarding the other comments, thanks all, it is definitely a nice little airplane. You will love it when done. I do and will always think the RV-10 is the best and most comfortable plane Van's sells as a kit. That's the one I wouldn't part with. Truly if you have a family, you probably should be looking at the RV-10 and not the RV-14...it will give your family as a whole a lot of great experience. But the sad fact is, if you want a plane for every mission, you're going to need more than one plane, and the RV-14 perfectly fits the mission I built it for. It will make a good little plane for light aerobatics, it will do X/C fairly well (Although I was thinking the other day that if I started one again I'd consider using RV-10 60 gallon tanks), and is much more comfortable than the 6/7/9 planes to sit in. We took our RV-10 to 49 of the 50 states, and 5 countries so far. The RV-14 looks like it'll be great for doing the same sorts of trips, if you only need 2 seats. The bonus is when you arrive home from each destination you can celebrate with a celebratory roll.
For weight, my plane will never be the lightest. I have a significant aux battery system in it as I plan to use it for IFR flight. I weighed out with all the interior parts and everything including wheel fairings laid in place, at 1309lbs. That's more than the factory planes, but I fully expected that. I wouldn't personally be happy in a stripped down plane with a less loaded panel, as my primary goal is IFR x/c, not acro. My CG I believe ended up about 1" forward of the operational limit, which is also I think pretty good. Nearly anything you add for pilots and baggage is going to end up moving that CG aft, so it's nice to start off forward. On that note, many RV-10 builders call the RV-10 "nose heavy". Then they go on to describe how they want to "fix" that by lighter props and such. This is going in the wrong direction. If you can get a good flare, at empty loading weights, and not run out of nose-up trim too badly, that's all you need. That CG being forward will give you a better deal for acro, and for loading for x/c. I haven't had a landing yet that was bad in the -14...the wheels just kiss the ground. It flares nicely, and lands like a -10. The 10&14 are MUCH easier than ANY of the other planes I've flown in the past.....nearly all of the single engine Cessnas, pipers, and a couple of beeches, and better than the twin I flew.
I hope that gives you some encouragement for what you'll expect when you're done. I doubt there will be many people who fly the -14 and go away disappointed. If they do they are looking for something very different in a plane, and shouldn't be looking at the -14 anyway. My first flight in a 6A left me disappointed. I was planning to have kids, and was a tall guy. Once I got in and realized my headset hit the canopy, and I was never going to fit a car seat in it...let alone two, I resigned myself to never being able to build an RV. Van's came thru when they designed the -10. That is the ultimate plane for me. But like a married middle-aged dude with the 7 year itch, I started having some additional longings, and the -14 will be great at taking care of those.