I think it is fair to say that progress has slowed down, however it has not stopped. This post is mainly a discussion with myself and others out there.
Current status:
- Finishing the bottom skin on the left wing, right wing has been complete for a while now
- Botched the Aileron tube so ordered a new one and am carefully drilling that one.
- Aileron Pushrods are complete. I do agree with others that it seems like a strange design to rely on those blind rivets mated with an aluminum tube for such a critical part, however thousands of RV's have shown it works fine. I would pay a bit more to have a formed part for this purpose.
While reading other RV-14 blogs, I have seen at least one builder let the scope of the large project get in the way of moving forward. What I mean is looking at the cost specifically of the rest of the build and realizing that it will indeed cost most likely $120 - 130K+ to build the plane. I will admit to falling into this same trap. It is well known up front but often in the build you find yourself thinking about how long this takes, how much this costs, etc, etc and start to realize that it is a major commitment. Not to mention the final (year?) time where you need a hangar and need to go there to work on the aircraft rather than in your garage. I personally will delay that as much as possible.
Seasoned builders will already understand how this happens, and certainly there are hundreds of abandoned projects that fall victim to this same line of thinking.
My version of this is the "How much plane do I need?" line of thinking. I own a Cherokee 180 with a partner although I used to own it myself. So at this point I am quite familiar with what it takes to own. I also have a fully functioning aircraft that does the job. Do I need a much faster plane that costs a lot more? What trips would I take with this, that I have not already with the one I have? etc etc. You can see how the questioning leads you down a path. Where it usually leads me is: Why didn't I just continue building that RV-9A, or why not just sell the whole thing and build an RV-12 since that is less $, the same speed more or less of what I fly today, and much more fuel efficient. Engine overhaul is less, etc. Ughhhhh.....
Then I realize that I am already into the project, and once the other 14s start flying I know I will be happy with my choice.
I absolutely can see though how projects get sold and/or abandoned. Thanks for listening :) Back to building.
