I’m a new -14A builder. I ordered both the empennage and wing kits a couple weeks ago. The wing kit is supposed to arrive this summer and the empennage kit this fall.
I’m retired and have a LOT of free time to dedicate to this build. I’m moving to a house next month that has a hangar. Because of the amount of time I can commit to this project and easy access to a hangar, I suspect my build time will be faster than average even though I’ve never built an airplane.
I’m guessing it will take three years to build the airplane but when I crunch the numbers, it seems the timeline could be much shorter. For example, if I use a 2,000 hour build (Vans says 1,200) - working only 5 hours per day and 25 days per month, it would only take 16 months to complete.
Vans has my Thunderbolt engine on sale right now for $3,500 off the regular price but the lead time is 12-18 months.
I’d like to take advantage of this engine sale but I would need to order the fuselage and finishing kits before I could order the engine. This means I would be ordering the entire airplane before I even have the workbenches built. Plus, if it does take 3 years to build the airplane and I order the engine now, it could be sitting for 18 months before being flown and Lycoming says the engine is only preserved for 6 months.
If you were in my shoes, would you order the engine now?
I’m retired and have a LOT of free time to dedicate to this build. I’m moving to a house next month that has a hangar. Because of the amount of time I can commit to this project and easy access to a hangar, I suspect my build time will be faster than average even though I’ve never built an airplane.
I’m guessing it will take three years to build the airplane but when I crunch the numbers, it seems the timeline could be much shorter. For example, if I use a 2,000 hour build (Vans says 1,200) - working only 5 hours per day and 25 days per month, it would only take 16 months to complete.
Vans has my Thunderbolt engine on sale right now for $3,500 off the regular price but the lead time is 12-18 months.
I’d like to take advantage of this engine sale but I would need to order the fuselage and finishing kits before I could order the engine. This means I would be ordering the entire airplane before I even have the workbenches built. Plus, if it does take 3 years to build the airplane and I order the engine now, it could be sitting for 18 months before being flown and Lycoming says the engine is only preserved for 6 months.
If you were in my shoes, would you order the engine now?