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Michael's RV-10 Build Log
Welcome to my RV-10 construction log website. You may be wondering why I am building my own airplane. Couple of reasons. First it is much less expensive to build than to purchase an aircraft of equal specifications. The Van's line of kit aircraft have a long line of performance and safety records that make this much more attractive than purchasing. Over 10,000 of the Van's Aircraft RV line have been COMPLETED and FLOWN, with several thousand more currently under construction by people like me. Van's quotes that 1.5 RV series aircraft are completed every day. You may be surprised how many aircraft out there are amateur built. You can also figure building will be about 1/3rd the hard cash cost of buying. Of course that doesn't count any sweat equity which averages around 1500-2000 hours for this aircraft. As the builder I can perform all maintenance on this aircraft and use anything I see fit in the construction. This doesn't mean that I would use any inferior equipment but it does mean not every part has to be "certified" for aircraft use. And yes, everything in a production aircraft has to be certified which can add 500% to the cost. A good example is the many aircraft engine parts that roll off the exact same production lines as their automotive twins but cost 4 times as much because of the paperwork and cost to have it certified. Or the paperwork and hundreds of dollars required to change from an old incandescent landing light in a Cessna to a much more reliable halogen equivalent. Gotta love regulations. And in case you were wondering, yes it will have to go through a very detailed inspection by an FAA representative before it will be deemed airworthy and can take to the air. In addition I am participating in the EAA sponsored Tech Counselor program which pairs me with a experienced builder (in my case a person who has built 6 of these) to visit me during the construction process and point out any areas of improvement or give suggestions. So far so good. Most importantly I enjoy building things and I love aviation so this seemed to be a perfect fit. Since starting this project my family and I have moved cross country 3 times, had another child, and seen much travel due to my career. Needless to say I wasn't expecting this to be a 15+ year project but here I am. I am currently in what is commonly known as the "90% done with 90% to go" phase. Which simply means almost all of the major work is done and now it's all about the little things.
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