Where do I begin? Okay, I know it's been awhile since my last post. Shame on me. I dislike watching someone's post religiously and all of a sudden, they stop or something happens where there are no more posts, like SELLING THEIR PROJECT MID-BUILD!!! It's irritating. My apologies. I like to try to keep the posts regular and fresh.
Nothing has been happening lately with the empennage procurement process. I've been feeling a financial pinch for a while and had considered planning to get the empennage before the kit price goes up February 1st, "High Noon". That said, I have plans to use tax money for the emp kit as well as an RV tool kit from Isham. I've done a little searching and see by the comments that the pricing goes up about 3% each year and Van's has been consistent in the past few years. However, the economy being what it is may have an affect on that. We'll see. My math tells me to expect a $50 increase or so. I can handle that. This is all the tenacity part.
Now, determination. I talk to my friends and family now and then about the endeavor. I get a lot of questions like "Why don't you just put your money towards something already built?" or "Why don't you do a partnership or co-ownership or co-op?". Any builder will maybe tell you that it's the endeavor itself. The building of your own aircraft that you can say you built all by yourself. Well, with a little help from your friends, right? On top of that, for the price you put into an RV and what you get out of it compared to a manufactured, light plane are light years apart. Not to mention the speed and performance differences. Some like to fly low and slow and others like to get there yesterday. An RV is somewhere in between. And, in some cases, you can do both! There are a lot of other issues to consider as well, like the maintenance aspects and what you have to put in cost-wise to a manufactured plane and if you don't have an A&P, how much of that work you have to have someone else perform? Now, don't get me wrong, I firmly believe that, in the major cases, work performed by you then go flying is like proofreading your own work. There may be a mistake or two. I plan to have others either check my work or in the case of engine maintenance, have a reputable person or business do the work. You can't just park at a "sky-curb" to check out what that funny sound is under the hood or call AAA for a tow. I value my life as well as the lives of anyone flying with me. *Stepping off of soapbox*
So, it is with some of those questions that I start vacillating and wondering if I should continue forth and build my own and fly when I can while building or focus in a different direction and consider buying into a partnership or get an old-as-dirt, economical bird. I still have a little time to weigh my options and give it more thought. I recently painted my living room and a very long hallway and put up rain gutters on my house in addition to a few other things done during my holiday vacation (partly why I'm a tardy poster). I'm a pretty mechanically minded, hands-on guy and I believe that is a driving factor as to why I want to build. It's something I can really call my own and be very proud of and enjoy the process of learning new things, things I can add to my bag of tricks, continue to evolve as a Jack-of-all-trades. I'm kind of like that. If I want to work on something I've never done before, I'll research and get all the information I can on the subject and attack it. Piano tuning, rain gutter installation, pool equipment repair, vehicle maintenance & repair, major window shutter installation in addition to home maintenance and repair, just to name a few. My wife will tell you all about it. I think she gets a kick out of it. It's not that I'm cheap and want to save a buck. No, I just like to take care of things myself if I'm able. Why not!?
I'll let you know soon how things are going. As always, I appreciate all commentary and words of support and encouragement. Take care and Thanks For Reading and I'll try to be more frequent with posting. ;o)
