Darrell Haas RV 9A
Flying is more than just a way to be transported from one place to another. It is a lifestyle and since you can't fly every day, the building can keep you involved. The snow can be piling up outside or the wind can be at almost hurricane speeds and you can be comfortably inside your hanger or garage drilling holes in a strut or removing Clecos.
Building your own aircraft also gives you an opportunity to literally know your aircraft from the inside out. When it comes time for your annual inspection you can save a great deal of money because you are the manufacturer of your aircraft and you can perform your own annual inspection. I can not stress how much of a learning experience building an aircraft can be.
It is not uncommon for a builder to complete his aircraft, fly it for a short time and sell it so he can build another one. Once you get started building, you look forward to going out and driving some rivets or drilling holes. My wife and I sold our Tri-Pacer 22-150 and are building a Van’s RV 9A.
Our new plane when finished should look a lot like this.
Here are some pictures of part of the empennage of our Van’s 9A Kit Plane.
Many of the kit plane manufacturers sell sub kits so you do not have to pay for the whole plane all in one payment. You can pay as you build. If money is an issue, many people build with a partner.
Happy building,
Darrell Haas