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Vintage Mooney Owner now also RV-14A Builder

RV-Ogler

Active Member
As if I didn’t have enough work to do caring for a vintage Mooney. I was presented with an opportunity/bargain to good to pass up on an essentially untouched RV-14A tail kit plus what seems like almost all the tools in Cleaveland’s catalog and a couple months prepaid for the hangar/workshop it’s in. A guy at my field decided building was not for him and would rather spend his resources flying. Wife said go for it.


I hope to fly the Mooney while I spend the next several years (5 to 10 I think) building the RV. Feels like I may have jumped in the ocean with no swimming lessons.

I have 2 questions. This tail kit is still at a very early stage. So what would it take to convert it to a 14 instead of a 14A?

Also what info does Vans need from me as far as taking over someone else’s project?

Thx,
Seth
 
Welcome to VAF

Seth, welcome to VAF:D

The tail kit most likely will work with either the straight 14, or the a.

Best is to contact the factory.

As far as the transfer, you just need to let them know you have the plans number and they will take care of it. I took on a partial built RV 10, and there was no issue with the transfer.
 
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So what would it take to convert it to a 14 instead of a 14A?

The main difference is, well, in the tail. :D

There are some different parts supplied in the kit for the tail dragger. The tail wheel spring mount (P/N U-00018) is the most obvious one. Also, on the F-01479 aft bottom skin you'll need to remove a decent sized chunk of the skin to make room for the tail wheel.

Some of the operations are slightly different for nose and tail wheel models. They're grouped together and clearly spelled out in the plans.

I think from a parts standpoint the tail wheel spring mount is one you'll have to order. I know it didn't come in my kit. There may be more, so I recommend a through reading of the plans to identify them.
 
The tail kit is basically the same for both planes. If you haven't yet, it's worth buying the digital plans. They sell them on USB for $10. I took Adobe acrobat and combined all the sections into one PDF that I carry with me on my phone. (I don't know why Vans doesn't just distribute this as one PDF)

The 14 and 14A are the exact same set of plans. The page you are looking for is 10-16 which explains how you will modify the empennage for the tail gear.

You will realize this as you start building, but unless you live in your hangar, you will want to move the build closer to home so when you have a free 2 hours you can knock out some rivets. If you only build in the hangar you will add so much time to the build with just travel to the hangar.

Also if you are on Facebook there's a RV-14 group on there as well, although this forum is usually the best place to find RV information.
 
14A to 14 conversion

Seth:

I intended to do the same thing, and bought the initial "extra" parts needed to change the tailkit.
Since I didn't install them, I'd be happy to see them put to use.
Send a PM and we can chat offline.
 
Congrats Seth. It's a really fun trip.

My only advice is practice riveting. I wish I could go back and start over with the tail again (because I was horrible then and the amount of bondo I'm going to need to use to cover up the smilies is embarrassing).
 
Welcome!

As if I didn’t have enough work to do caring for a vintage Mooney. I was presented with an opportunity/bargain to good to pass up on an essentially untouched RV-14A tail kit plus what seems like almost all the tools in Cleaveland’s catalog and a couple months prepaid for the hangar/workshop it’s in. A guy at my field decided building was not for him and would rather spend his resources flying. Wife said go for it.


I hope to fly the Mooney while I spend the next several years (5 to 10 I think) building the RV. Feels like I may have jumped in the ocean with no swimming lessons.

I have 2 questions. This tail kit is still at a very early stage. So what would it take to convert it to a 14 instead of a 14A?

Also what info does Vans need from me as far as taking over someone else’s project?

Thx,
Seth

Seth,

You are not alone. I currently own a 1980 M20J and I am building a "slow build" RV-10 to replace it at sometime in the future. The 14 is a great airplane and I watched one at Synergy Air South in construction when I was there a few months ago building my empennage. Good luck with you build and welcome aboard. If you made it to AirVenture this year FlightChops had their RV-14 on display behind the Garmin tent. It was a very nice plane.

Todd
 
Congrats Seth. It's a really fun trip.

My only advice is practice riveting. I wish I could go back and start over with the tail again (because I was horrible then and the amount of bondo I'm going to need to use to cover up the smilies is embarrassing).

Andrew,
Same here, although I think we are in the majority of first time builders. I joked that I was going to put the titleist logo on the vertical stab. Of course any mistakes seems 10x worse at the time. How many people think that they are now qualified to build an airplane after they build an airplane? :)

Jeff
 
Congrats Seth. It's a really fun trip.

My only advice is practice riveting. I wish I could go back and start over with the tail again (because I was horrible then and the amount of bondo I'm going to need to use to cover up the smilies is embarrassing).

Thanks I’ve put together 3 practice control surface kits now. I’m tempted to drill them apart and put them back together.
 
How "vintage" is your Mooney? (Former 1958 M-20A woodwing owner)

1966 M20C. Temporary grounded waiting for a carb air box rebuild kit from Mooney. They told me 4 week lead time and that was 5 weeks ago Grrrrrrr, The price for that kit is also absolutely hateful.
 
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