Hi All,
Here's the first post for our RV-12iS #121708 build log. While we don't technically need this due to us going the E-LSA route, I figured it would be nice to get some opinions from the community as we build that we can either choose to listen to or ignore, haha.
I've wanted to build a plane for a couple of years now, and I was sitting on the couch one weekend in January when I asked the wife (will refer to her as the YL going forward, as it's simpler and I like the amateur radio term) if she wanted to build a plane. Now, both of us don't have pilot's licenses yet, so it's a bit of an ambitious question, but she agreed.
So on January 14, four days after we decided to build a plane, we put the deposit down on the fastener kit, empennage kit, and wing kit. The goal is to build it quickly. I'm sure that's what everyone says, but we have free time to dedicate to it. Hoping that the two of us can put in at least 25 hours each a week. We'll see how realistic this becomes by the time we're finished. It will be interesting to go back and re-read this post in a year or two, but because of the planned speed, we're ordering kit parts fast. In early February we also put the deposit down on the fuselage kit and avionics kit (we're going with the Garmin IFR setup). We'll be placing the powerplant and finishing kit deposits in a couple of weeks. This should allow the timing to work so we could finish in January 2027 at the earliest. Of course, it will probably go longer than that.
The workshop as we're working on the practice kit. The new shop lights were installed so it's a lot brighter down there now.
A bunch of tools when they arrived and we picked up the others
The first practice kit we completed without primer. We made a lot of mistakes on this one!
Working on the second practice kit
Here's the first post for our RV-12iS #121708 build log. While we don't technically need this due to us going the E-LSA route, I figured it would be nice to get some opinions from the community as we build that we can either choose to listen to or ignore, haha.
I've wanted to build a plane for a couple of years now, and I was sitting on the couch one weekend in January when I asked the wife (will refer to her as the YL going forward, as it's simpler and I like the amateur radio term) if she wanted to build a plane. Now, both of us don't have pilot's licenses yet, so it's a bit of an ambitious question, but she agreed.
Choosing the RV-12iS
We did some research on what we wanted to build and explored a bunch of options. RV-7? Tailwheel with a sliding canopy and super fast! RV-10? Super spacious and fast! Sling TSi? Of course those are cool planes, but they're not good trainers and involve a lot of decisions for people who have spent less than an hour in a GA plane. Eventually we narrowed it down to the Sling LSA and RV-12iS. I really liked the Sling LSA but with the significantly longer lead times and less domestic builder support, we ended up choosing the RV-12iS.So on January 14, four days after we decided to build a plane, we put the deposit down on the fastener kit, empennage kit, and wing kit. The goal is to build it quickly. I'm sure that's what everyone says, but we have free time to dedicate to it. Hoping that the two of us can put in at least 25 hours each a week. We'll see how realistic this becomes by the time we're finished. It will be interesting to go back and re-read this post in a year or two, but because of the planned speed, we're ordering kit parts fast. In early February we also put the deposit down on the fuselage kit and avionics kit (we're going with the Garmin IFR setup). We'll be placing the powerplant and finishing kit deposits in a couple of weeks. This should allow the timing to work so we could finish in January 2027 at the earliest. Of course, it will probably go longer than that.
Learning to Fly
Now you might be thinking, we don't know how to fly... well, we're working on that. We found a semi-local flight school with RV-12s, and I did 4 lessons and the YL did 2 lessons. Now we're switching to a very local school to get our tickets. The YL will be going the sport pilot route and I'll start with my PPL with the goal to go further down the track later on. Hopefully we'll be done and ready to fly the plane once it's built. What will we use it for? I'd like to train to CFII eventually, she is interested in CFI-S, and we'll do weekend local trips and some longer XC trips to visit family.Workshop and Workspace
We're in the process of having our basement remodeled. It's 980 sqft and was previously empty. We're having it finished with a bathroom, bedroom, laundry room, mechanical room, and most importantly a 300 sqft workshop. While it won't be big enough to hold an entire plane, and we'll eventually have to move to the garage, it's going to be a great place to prep parts and assemble smaller structures. This also means we're going to start building a plane while under construction. There's a lot of downtime in construction while waiting for inspections, so it's not super crowded down there with contractors most of the time.Priming
Speaking of the garage, we will be using it for priming. Yes, we want to prime the entire interior of the plane. Why? Because if we're spending this much money on the plane, we want it to be as long-lasting as possible. We've decided on Stewart Systems EkoPoxy in ZC Green because we both feel like plane primer should be green. Since it's cold outside, we purchased a Mr. Heater 30k BTU indoor propane heater. The plan is to use plastic sheeting to create a paint wall in the garage, heat the garage up to the minimum temp required for the primer, turn off the heater, vent using the man door and garage door, spray the parts, and then bring them inside to cure for 1-2 days. I did buy a CO detector and will monitor temperature and humidity in the garage. Thankfully this is only temporary until spring arrives, but right now it's cold and there's snow on the ground.Costs
Speaking of money, I have a spreadsheet with everything we've purchased plane-related. Tools, the plane itself, etc. Since estimating the cost of a kit build is difficult, I wanted to share exact numbers as much as possible. To date we're at $4,325.52 for tools/consumables and $33,043.75 on the kit. I'll share a more detailed list of everything we bought as time goes on and I figure out the best way to share that information, but we're expecting about $190,000 for the finished (unpainted) plane. Yes, it's a lot in tools, but we purchased everything on the tool list as well as some essential items for the upgraded workshop. We could have gone cheaper if we had wanted. Most tools were purchased from Harbor Freight, Menards, and Aircraft Tool Supply.Practice Kits
We bought two practice kits from Vans. We spent a lot of time using the kits to learn a lot. We also watched the Metal Magic series on the Kitplanes Magazine YouTube channel which was very helpful. We've practiced cutting, deburring, drilling, cleaning, etching, priming, riveting, etc. I definitely suggest these practice kits. The first time doing a task, it feels overwhelming and impossible. The second time it feels manageable and easier. Way better to mess up on these than the actual airplane.EAA and Community
We reached out to a local EAA Technical Counselor and had breakfast with him at the airport a couple of weeks ago. I'm sure he'll be over soon once the empennage arrives to give us feedback on our initial work. It sounds like he's interested in being involved and we definitely appreciate that. One of the reasons we want to get into aviation is to meet people and build our social circle. We're going to an EAA Chapter soup potluck and attending our first chapter meeting soon as well. We're both very excited about this and have already met a ton of great people in just the month and a half since we decided to build an airplane.Building as a Team
The YL is helping build. For the practice kit so far, she's way better than I am at deburring. She also enjoys the cleaning, etching, and priming process. I like the building and clecos are fun (for now, but I'm sure I'll get sick of them), so I'm sure we'll make a good team. Hopefully having both of us working will help mitigate the overhead of priming the entire interior. We've also picked out the tail number and have it reserved already. N1798, because the YL's birthday is exactly that tail number when read phonetically.What's Next
The first kit arrived in our city today and is scheduled to arrive on Thursday. We have a couple more things to figure out (such as spraying the primer, our first attempt was awful, much like our first attempt at everything thus far). We'll inventory the parts once they arrive, figure out where to put them in the construction zone that is our house, and then start on the empennage. There's not a huge rush since the wings aren't scheduled to arrive until the end of May, so we have almost three months to build the empennage. That will help us get comfortable with all of the processes before starting the bigger pieces.Images
The basement under construction.The workshop as we're working on the practice kit. The new shop lights were installed so it's a lot brighter down there now.
A bunch of tools when they arrived and we picked up the others
The first practice kit we completed without primer. We made a lot of mistakes on this one!
Working on the second practice kit
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