WHY THE RV-10?
The question that I think most builders get asked is, “Why did you choose that particular plane?” Looking back I can remember the feeling that there were so many choices that I would never get started. The RV-10 might as well have been a Saturn V. Choosing to build at all was a daunting decision much less selecting which airplane I would end up building. I do not want to ramble through this whole discussion, so I will jump straight to my process.
CHOOSING TO FLY
This is a simple enough concept at face value, but it took me a long time to learn. I first began flying in 2000. Like most pilots in GA who do not end up making it a profession, I had a period of time where “life got in the way.” Make no mistake – this was not a lack of support from my wife and family, but rather an excuse I told myself to stay away from the airport for over a decade. When I decided that I could not possibly stay away any longer, I started hanging out at my local FBO and meeting plenty of local pilots. A common theme quickly bubbled to the surface. If you are serious about making aviation a part of your life, then ownership (fractional or otherwise) is one of the only real choices you have. Sure, plenty of people rack up over 1,000 hours on rental units. For those of us without the foresight to book our trips for our entire family months in advance, the practicality of it plummets to near zero.
At this point, the discussion shifted from “SHOULD we own?” to “WHAT should we own?”
RESEARCH
Performing research is just in my nature. My wife likes to joke that I could spend 4 hours at Home Depot debating internally with myself between two different ladders identical in price. Honestly, I would have a hard time arguing with her about that one. I began my search in the most intelligent way I could imagine. I Googled “What plane should I buy?” Seriously. It really is not more difficult than that. Please do not purchase the first thing that comes up in the search box (unless of course it is the RV-10!). The reality is that the research is not the hard part, it is having the discipline to not stop. I had so many questions and the deeper I dug, the more questions I came up with.
Another important resource was printed materials. I would look at features in AOPA and EAA’s monthly magazines. There would always be some neat articles on a restoration or a family plane or a unique twist on a “boring” Cessna. I would start evaluating prices and getting a strong sense of what a good price for an aircraft was. You begin to learn what a good discount looks like for a nearly timed out engine or what the additional price is for someone who has fully upgraded the avionics. I spent more than my fair share of time on Trade-A-Plane and various other services just looking at planes for sale.
HOMEBUILT
During my research, I first stumbled upon Van’s Aircraft back in 2007. I am honestly not completely sure how I found the page, but I stumbled upon a guy named Dan Checkoway who was building an RV in his garage in California. Dan has long since taken his builder page down and moved away from California, but many truly exciting builds have emerged in the years since. I found myself consuming builder pages, RV-10 and others, and realizing that this was indeed a tremendous possibility. There are a bunch of pages that I could link to, but will create a links page instead. Read about other builders and what they did to customize their planes. It will truly give you a sense that building a plane is a profoundly unique process and there really aren’t two identical homebuilts out there.
MISSION
This has been said so much that it borders on cliche. But that does not make it any less accurate. My wife and I had an honest conversation about what we truly wanted out of a plane. For us, it had to take our entire family. Four seats: check. It had to be able to cover some serious ground at a pretty good clip. Speed and endurance: check and check. We have two younger children that we want to grow up with a passion for flight as well. The ride had better be pretty comfortable. No late 1960s interiors: check. Not a complete deal breaker, but I wanted updated avionics. If this is something I will be flying for a long time, then I don’t want to be on the trailing edge (love airplane puns – sorry) of avionics technology constantly. The reality is, we could get all of this, but not without sacrificing significantly on the next section.
COST
It would be nice if I didn’t have to worry about this section, but then again, not too many GA pilots I know can avoid having this conversation. The reality is that you can have a brand new aircraft with a full glass cockpit, brand new interior and zero time engine for about 25 – 30% the cost of a brand new factory built aircraft. For the exact same amount of money you could get a Cirrus or Cessna with a nearly timed out engine and a semi-updated cockpit, but that holds plenty of its own problems. Additionally, I was drawn to the repairmen certificate you can get by building your own aircraft and being able to sign your own annual inspections. To be perfectly clear, this is NOT an A&P. But it is a great way to keep your long term costs on maintenance under control.
THE RV-10
I was ultimately drawn to the RV-10 for many more reasons that those listed above. It met my mission requirements, was more cost-conscious than other options, and would be an excellent family aircraft for a generation. Additionally, the RV-10 community is spectacular. When looking at almost any other homebuilt aircraft, there are spectacular people building nearly everything, but the sheer volume of people building RV-10s is amazing. There are many communities of builders out there from Van’s Airforce, to builder pages, and even Van’s themselves. There is no shortage of great people wanting to be a part of your build.
FINALLY, THE BUILD
I almost forgot to mention this, but you have to want to build an airplane. Seems like common sense right? Not exactly. I think a lot of people get taken in by so many of the potential benefits of homebuilt aircraft but neglect to take some items into consideration. For example, it is not just the years you will spend in construction, but the actual act of construction that you may not wish to undertake. I have come to love the process like so many builders before me. While I am not yet done, I do fear that I will have the same problem as those before me and that is missing the process. There are plenty of people you will meet who have built 2, 3, or even more airplanes in their lives.
Don’t take yourself too seriously either. It’s way more fun that way. Clear skies and tail winds!