New LAA member

[jamcgee1978]

Hi there,

Quick post to say hello from a gloomy scottish January here in Prestwick, I have enjoyed aviation since an early age from living next to Manchester Airport in the 90's with my hand helder scanner at the airport hotel (anyone remember this place) to finally achieving my goal becoming an Air Traffic Controller and then gaining my PPL.

I have been thinking about how to reduce my outgoings on cessna/piper rentals for a while now since our family started to grow in 2014. I thought i couldnt justify going on a trip to the islands and it costing a fortune each time. Drastic action was needed for fear of losing my PPL and my focus shifted to shares, my thinking is i either use my license or lose it gradually. That same year i met a chap at Glenforsa in G-SPED who made me focus my attention on the LAA and since then i havent looked back to be honest.

Ive always enjoyed building things 3 years ago a friend and I began a crazy idea of constructing a flight simulator in a boxroom based on the 777 which went well for the initial build and then we moved house so it currently resides in the garage loft in a poor looking state witha view to one day getting round to it.


When i began looking at kits my focus was on Europa, Eurofox and Vans. I then settled on the Europa all though an older design it just looked great, could carry load and the performance figures put our P28R at the club to shame all at 13L / hr.......wow. Fast forward to now we are expecting our second child in 3 weeks making us a family of 4 so i have returned again to looking at Vans and more specifically the 4 seater RV10. An expensive and bewildering conquest but I keep thinking a 2 seater would put our family jaunts back in the hands of the club rentals.

My plans thus far for this year are:
1. Join the LAA
2. Prep the garage
3. Build EAA1000 workbench (what a find that was)
4. Find my local strut (visited Strathaven this summer and had a chat with colin ref hangarage)
5. Get down to the LAA rally in the summer to see these aircraft up front and have a chat to builders(leave booked!)

So this is me and any advise and help for a beginner is most welcome!

James

[Ian Melville]

Welcome James.
Keep you eyes open for pre-loved tools.

I found the EAA Chapter 1000 bench only after I spent a lot of time designing and constructing my own Though mine can be flat packed quite quickly.

[jamcgee1978]

Thanks for the advice Ian will do....ye its a great designed bench i was thinking how to build a bench to accommodate the length of the wings etc and then when i realised you dont have to, ofcourse just build a few benches that can join together if needed...

[Harry Hopkins]

Good afternoon James,

A warm welcome to the LAA. The RV aircaft offer a big bang for your buck and most have been built by first time builders. That said, the -10 is a big project. I suggest you start by signing up for one of the LAA's metalwork courses - it's been said that the hardest part of any project is drilling the first hole.

Good luck with your project and happy riveting.

Harry

[jamcgee1978]

Thanks harry that was one thing i was going to look into this summer thanks, great the LAA have these resources im pretty confident building as long as ive got a manual / instructions , not so good free style ! Yes the 10 seems like a mammoth task tbh and ive spent the last 12 months deliberating 2 / 4 seat options mainly due to cost and the massive difference between the RV14 and the 10. In the end for me personally i love to take the kids away to the islands here and it would be heartbraking being able to take one at a time so my option was easy in the end either vans or jabiru and i didnt like the reviews/threads id read about the current Jab engine.

[ThePipster]

Hello James,

With two small children, I would be tempted by a Jodel 1050, 2+2. Economic and fun to fly and with all that nappy changing you won't have tine to build anyway.

Best regards

Phil