Why am I building an airplane?

Why am I building an airplane? I'll try and put some of my thoughts here but it's one of those complicated questions, like "why are you climbing Everest?".

I've always loved flying. One of my early memories as a kid was making cardboard wings with rope handles and jumping off my swing set trying to fly. I flew fighters for a living with the Marine Corps plus Boeing 727's with several airlines. I hated leaving the flying but family came first after all the airline bankruptcies. Flying is one of those activities that I almost hear music while I'm doing it. Of course, I don't actually hear music but it feels like the feeling that I think an artist gets when they're totally absorbed in what they're creating. I found that after getting used to a new airplane (usually after about 500 of hours flight time), when you want to take the airplane somewhere, you don't think about rudders and ailerons and elevators and throttles, you just go there without having to think about the how part. It sounds corny, but you become "one" with your airplane.

I love building things. I always have. I like the mechanical, 3 dimensional challenges, the physical part of working with your hands and the creative outlet of turning bits and pieces into something beautiful (in my mind, at least). I've talked to Paula about it and it almost feels primal, like something that's programed in my DNA. I also like a challenge when I'm creating something. Not many things more challenging than building an airplane in your garage and then flying it 200 miles per hour upside down several miles from terra firma.

I like saving money. Let's face it, flying can be expensive. Building your own airplane can cost less than a new car. A big part of the expense of owning an airplane is the maintenance. Only certified mechanics are allowed to work on certified aircraft. If you build your own, the FAA gives you permission to do all your own repairs. Another reason certified aircraft are so expensive is the liability of the manufacturer. Some folks estimate that the liability triples or more the cost of an aircraft. No liability to build into the cost if you're the manufacturer.

Building helps my memory. That sounds odd but I think it's the result of keeping my mind busy with challenging tasks. I don't have a way of measuring my memory improvements but I know it's happening. And it's improvements to my memory that I'm noticing, not just that things aren't getting worse as I get older. Names and lists and the location of my keys and glasses are all easier. Reading and interpreting blueprints are like crossword puzzles on steroids!

What's an RV-7A?

An "RV-7A" is an experimental aircraft sold in a kit by Van's Aircraft of Aurora, Oregon. Follow this link to go to Wikipedia's page on the RV-7.

This is what the kit looks like before and after assembly. Pictured below is a "slow build" kit and a real, full-size aircraft (it just looks like a model in the picture but it is a real aircraft). You can opt for the "fast build" kit where the wings and fuselage are 95% complete but...it will cost you! I've chosen to order individual sub-kits and complete them before ordering the next sub-kit. The empennage or tail section is the first kit. Wings are second and fuselage is third. Several people have asked, "Is the metal blue?". No, it's just a protective plastic that gets removed before assembly. I better learn to like riveting because it reportedly takes 14,000 rivets to turn that pile of aluminum into a flying machine (as posted on vansairforce.com, a builder in Normal, IL just finished his RV-7 and he counted EVERY RIVET! He said it took 16,225).



Below is one of the factory demonstrators. Van's Aircraft is the most prolific experimental airplane kit seller in the world. There are over 7000 COMPLETED AND FLYING Van's RV's. Of course, most of those are flying in the U.S. but people from all around the world are building them. Here's a link to a Russian RV builder's workshop. Scroll down and you'll see the picture with an RV-10 in the brackground. Brrr...looks cold!

Van's has several models from single seat to 4 seat. This is the RV-7A. It's has two seats side-by-side. It comes in either tricycle configuration (RV-7A) or tail dragger (RV-7). It flys over 200 mph, has a range of about 900 miles, gets over 25mpg, is fully aerobatic (+6/-3G), and can takeoff and land on very short runways.



An interesting little fact about Van's Aircraft is that they are being used as the Nigerian Air Forces' primary trainer. Nigeria ordered and built 60 of the RV-6A's and named them the "Air Beetle". Scroll down about 2 pages after clicking on the Wikipedia page link above and you'll see "Aircraft Inventory: Trainers".

Below is a cutaway drawing of an RV-7A.

Is an Experimental Aircraft Safe?

In a word, yes. Experimental aircraft are inspected and certified by the FAA just like factory aircraft before they're allowed to fly. Even after they're certified by the FAA, they still have to undergo a very restrictive flight test period before being allowed to carry passengers or leave the local area. In fact, some people build their own aircraft because they want theirs to be BETTER than a factory aircraft. Experimental is the category the FAA puts aircraft into that aren't built on an assembly line in a factory.

Below is a quote from Bob Nuckolls' book, The Aeroelectric Connection:
"I often tell my readers they’re building the best airplanes to have ever flown. I explain by noting that people who work on assembly lines simply work a job. They may have special training for the task but by-in-large, if something doesn’t fit exactly right, they’re strongly motivated to “bend it a little” until it does. If something breaks, it’s not uncommon for a group of his supervisors to conference to see how to minimize the time and costs of pushing the airplane on down the assembly line.

You folks WORRY a lot about everything. You generally don’t act until you’ve got the necessary advice and knowledge to do it right. If you mess it up, the parts come out and you do it over. By-in-large, amateur built planes have the benefits of care and consideration for doing a good job that factory built ships will never enjoy."