this builder trip to Oshkosh is inspiring
Just came upon this thread by chance. I arrived at Oshkosh a few minutes after these guys, parked next to them, and we befriended pretty quick. Time really flies as this was last year… 🙈
There is What are you building?
@Graham I don’t think has a build thread for his RV-7, but I think this builder trip to Oshkosh is inspiring.
Graham wrote:
I have recently ordered the first (empennage) kit for an RV-7.
Congrats Graham. If your RV ever flies, you will never regret your decision 
I have recently ordered the first (empennage) kit for an RV-7
Brilliant, you may want to fit a piece of the PA17 deep inside and call it an upgrade of the vagabond
@Graham brilliant decision and I believe the RV-7 occasionally triumphs in the Sports category, you might add an inverted system and proceed to Intermediate:)
Fair points, I will consider it.
yep, I can support what LeSving states about keeping a log during a build, all valid points.
Whilst building my RV-4 I took pictures, and since it was > 30 years ago (that many 😳?) those were printed on paper. I scanned them afterwards and they now are on a “well know brand name” drive, accessible on the internet as well as on my hard disk.
As for the rest I logged the type of works and hours doing it using a database program, but it could really be done using any spreadsheet program.
I will create a thread when the empennage kit arrives. It won’t be a full build log – I want to build rather than photograph and type – but it will note the major milestones.
You should definitely log everything you do with pictures and a sentence of text. There are “log software” available, but Google blogger works just fine, and it’s super simple and super fast. At the end of each session, take a few pictures, and blog them
The reasons are:
I have to add. Google blogger is “yours”. It’s free. FB and similar is not a good choice because you don’t know what will eventually happen to it.
IO390 wrote:
what made you choose the RV-7 specifically? Are you going for quick build or the full kit?
I chose the RV-7 specifically because my girlfriend expressed a preference for side-by-side, and I can see why she did. If you’re not a pilot, being stuck in the back probably isn’t much fun. She likes to be able to see the instruments, GPS, etc.
Had it not been for that, I might have chosen an RV-8. I rejected the RV-9 because I wanted at least the option of being upside down occasionally, the RV-10 because I didn’t really need four seats, and the RV-14 because I don’t really need the extra cabin space. If I’m totally honest, the latter two were also partially rejected to keep costs down.
RV-7 rather than RV-7A because tailwheel is faster, cooler (much) and more practical. The RV nosewheels don’t have a great reputation for robustness and I operate from grass a fair bit.
Initially I’d planned a quick-build. However, the lead times for quick-build wing kits (12+ months, which when you talk to the sales folks on the phone means at least 18 months) plus the cost factor (again) has pushed me towards a standard build. A standard wing kit lead time is 8 months.
My empennage kit will arrive around the end of the year. In the meantime I am acquiring tools and building the practice projects that Vans produce. I plan to order the wing kit fairly soon so that it arrives after I’ve had a few months making inroads into the empennage. I’ve no particular agenda, but I do want to build it as fast as is reasonably practical – I certainly intend to work on it almost every day.
@Jujupilote I will create a thread when the empennage kit arrives. It won’t be a full build log – I want to build rather than photograph and type – but it will note the major milestones.
