Sunday, October 9, 2011

The Process

Ok, for those who don't know the process of building a kit plane, I'll explain. In the case of Van's aircraft, there are 4 kits to purchase. The 4 kits are the empannage ("tail feathers": rudder and the vertical stabilizer), wings, fuselage and finishing kit (canopy and it's frame, landing gear, cowling, engine mount, brake lines and hoses). The builder needs to supply avionics, instruments, interior, engine and propeller.

The cool thing is you don't have to purchase them altogether. One drawback is that kit prices go up every year, this is typical. Of course there are pros and cons to everything. When you purchase a kit, upon arrival, you have a limited amount of time to check the inventory for correctness. If you were to purchase all kits at the same time, you'd have a bazillion parts to comb through in a short amount of time which can be a pretty daunting task.  By ordering the kits separately, you won't have space/storage problems, and you don't have to lay a wad of cash out all at once. Pricing typically goes up on kits the beginning of the year. I hope to purchase my empennage before the end of December. I can wait on the tool kit needed for assembly of my airplane as the prices are usually pretty consistent. I've got a VW Bug I'm planning to sell soon and apply the proceeds to my first purchase. We'll see how that goes.

There are two types of kits available: quick build and standard build. The quick build has parts pre-assembled and cost  a ibt more. The standard build kit allows the builder to assemble from the ground up, or top of the rudder down, however you want to look at it and they can save you a few bucks. I plan to build the standard kit. An advantage to building a quick build kit, one can get in the air sooner. I'm not in that big a rush. The exciting part of building the standard kit is that you'll know every square inch of your plane, in and out!

Van's also supplies Lycoming engines to the builders at a discounted rate, so long as they've ordered a kit from them. They supply propellers as well and do carry an assortment of instuments and avionics.

What makes an RV plane, as well as other kit planes, fall into the Experimental category is that less than 50% is fabricated by the kit manufacturer and 51% or greater is built/fabricated by the builder. Van's kits come from Aurora, Oregon. Some folks who live closer to the mfr., choose to pick up their kits personally. I did the math and I would end up spending more in fuel than it would cost to ship so I'll go that route. I'm just a little too far away. I hear a factory tour is is a must. I plan on taking the tour and taking a ride in one of their demonstrators.

There is your crash course in the initial ordering of a Van's RV. There are a lot more elements to ordering parts and accessories for your Van's RV than what I've covered here. All can be found at the Van's website.

Catch ya later and Thanks for Reading!

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