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What is your goal?

What was your goal when you started your project?

  • I intended to finish the project by a certain date

    Votes: 16 11.5%
  • I hoped to finish by a certain date but was sure it would be delayed

    Votes: 41 29.5%
  • I wasn't really thinking about when it would be done

    Votes: 68 48.9%
  • I enjoy the project so much that it doesn't matter when it gets done

    Votes: 14 10.1%

  • Total voters
    139
  • Poll closed .

wcalvert

Well Known Member
There are a lot of different builds going on out there and many reasons for the timeline they live on. Some seem to march on quickly with a completion date in mind, while others at the other end of the spectrum seem to be setting new records for time to build.

The question: When you started your build, what was your mindset?
 
If I wanted a plane now I would just go and buy one. It’s not about having an airplane funnily enough. It’s my coping mechanism to get me through my 50s.
 
What was your goal when you started your project?

It's a complex question for me. I started here:

I intended to finish the project by a certain date

And then after a while, I was here:

I hoped to finish by a certain date but was sure it would be delayed

I pretended this was true for a while, but it probably wasn't:

I wasn't really thinking about when it would be done

Eventually I got here:

I enjoy the project so much that it doesn't matter when it gets done

And finally, I got to the point that I just wanted to get flying, the so-called "get'er done" mode. That's when I started just doing it exactly as the plans called for, with no mods that would add time to the build. It was just what I needed to do, and while I do miss building, I'm happy to be flying.
 
I started the project when my spouse left home for military flight school as a way to occupy my time. We're both pilots and I enjoy craftmanship so it seemed like a fitting activity. I figured it would take 3-5 years but never put a date on the calendar. I'm 3 1/2 years in with probably another 3-4 to go but I'm not stressed about the completion date. My only goal is to have it complete before we consider moving from the area in about 6 years. In the meantime, we putt around in the Cherokee I share with some other pilots.
 
I did a slow build 9A. I never set a firm completion date because that would be too much like a day job with status reports and all that BS. This is supposed to be fun. However, after a while it became apparent that I would fly the airplane after building for 4 years. I was working full time and had a family to raise.
 
Mindset was to enjoy building now and enjoy traveling in it with friends and family in early retirement. I'm focused on making steady progress and not necessarily an end date. Trying to get 14-20 hands-on shop hours logged per week. 700-1000 hours per year. That will hopefully deliver steady progress and a reasonable finish date that aligns with leaving work life.
 
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Man hours

I managed a staff during my career. I foolishly planned the build using the same PM mindset. I figured, based on VAF research, the job could be done in approx 2500 man hours and I could comfortably work on it 6 hours a day. I planned for a couple years. Silly me.
I didn't take into account my work habits. I'm slow, OCD and there's lots of other stuff to deal with in life. I'm in year 9 and past 3500 man hours but there's a light at the end of the tunnel. Finishing the cowl. Electronics and seats ordered. Getting there.
 
Stages

This is not really a poll as much as the four stages of a build.
First Stage:
- I can do this. I am the greatest. I can do it in two years.
Second Stage:
-Wow, this can go on forever. I am getting older and no closure to being done. I am going to take a few months off to play with my family/wife/girlfriend..
Third Stage:
- I have too much time and dollars invested, i cant give it up, so i will keep going.
Fourth Stage:
- Wow, i can see the end is near. I really enjoyed it. I can't believe i almost quit. I am not sure when it will be done. But i know it will be done eventually. Look how far i have come already. Look at all those stories in VAF. Wow wouldn't it be something to fly this to....
Last Stage
- First flight!!
 
Oh, those timelines???

Let's see I ordered the RV-6 complete kit in August 1990 and didn't get it till May of 1991. Didn't get to work on them till 2001 and 2002. Put in 1021 hours total by then..
Looks like an airplane with engine mounted and wings in a cradle.
Made a few million dollars along the way staying busy building houses.
Oh wait it is now 2022 and I have that bird in my now owned hangar and my purchased flying RV-6A next to it.
I had a Cessna 206 during the earlier time.
So timelines are relevant to life.
I actually am in the position to get back to work on it next week. Maybe
Gotta laugh at my schedule, But, I'm retired now so I have a lot of time, RIGHT????
My three cent story. Art
 
The question: When you started your build, what was your mindset?

My goal is to have an airplane that I know down to the last rivet and some lasting memories of this build with my father, who will be helping. I am hoping it is done in three years, but who knows.
 
Man plans, God laughs.

I started on my -9 thinking that one year was attainable. Eleven months later I estimate I'm only 18-24 months from first flight!

My actual goal in building, aside from the big ego one of "look what I made!", was a practical traveling airplane that I could customize to work better with a physical disability. Traditional foot controls are a sore point for me, and changing anything on a certified airplane is virtually a non-starter. Building gives me a blank slate to explore any solution I can think of.
 
Timelines

It'll be done Thursday was my standard answer. Which Thursday was never considered.
I finished Miss Sandy in approx. 4 1/2 years and took around 2100 hours and roughly $47K for the slow build RV-7.
I enjoy working with my hands and just the process...weird huh?

Keep bucking, you'll get there...:D
 
What was your goal when you started your project?

It's a complex question for me. I started here:

I intended to finish the project by a certain date

And then after a while, I was here:

I hoped to finish by a certain date but was sure it would be delayed

I pretended this was true for a while, but it probably wasn't:

I wasn't really thinking about when it would be done

Eventually I got here:

I enjoy the project so much that it doesn't matter when it gets done

And finally, I got to the point that I just wanted to get flying, the so-called "get'er done" mode. That's when I started just doing it exactly as the plans called for, with no mods that would add time to the build. It was just what I needed to do, and while I do miss building, I'm happy to be flying.

I think I went through exactly the same steps. I started with a solid 5-year building plan and it only took 8.
 
I am closing in 4 years of building. I am the stage that I just want to finish it and fly. All of my earlier scheduling got thrown out a long time ago. I had to think about it when people asked me how long I have been building.
 
Mindset

I started in 1992 when I was in my early thirties and things like working career, owning a home, planning a family etc were higher priority than hobby plane building. So my mindset was that the RV project shouldn't be to the detriment of these things. And that is partly why it has taken so long!

The Vans brochures said 2000 hours using basic hand tools and a relatively comprehensive kit, however I had absolutely no realistic understanding of how big a project this would be and just how challenging are some parts of it.

My current mindset is to just get it done (properly), within 2 years, which is feasible since I am now retired. Otherwise, it will be too late and everything will have been in vain.
 
id like to do it in three years....how likely is that...think we all know the answer.
still have to fly for a living...still have to do stuff around home. luckily my wife has her archery and im keeping us broke so travel is not happening.

Im not logging hours ....that will just be depressing as it will show how slow i am:D
 
2 years was the Plan

The project started as a means to get a modern, brand new, competent traveling machine that I knew every piece of. I came to the project as a decent backyard auto/motorcycle wrench with, what I thought, was adequate tooling including a heated shop and two post lift. The literature indicated 1000-1500 hours to complete. I doubled that and figured 2 to 2-1/2 man-years would be doable if I worked 40 hours/week. Since I need a project/job/career/woman to keep me occupied, and I had just retired, I figured this 'erector set' would be just the ticket.

That was the Plan.

19 months in at 2080 hours (that's one man-year at 40 hours/wk to manager types) and I figure another 1000 to go, at least, and the mission has changed a bit.

Now, the goal is not just a modern, brand new, competent traveling machine that I know from stem to stern. It is that and more. It's my version of a custom one-off hot rod. No end date in mind. It will probably be another 1000 hours, but that doesn't matter any more. Turns out, I'm kind of an artsy guy. I found out that fit and finish are really important to me. Extended the build a bit. But, I don't care. Now, if I had at least a clue about how to do the wiring.....
 
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