Floopy1

Madmax,

Thanks for the encouragement! Send some pics of the RV project. I know three guys who have built the real RV-4 from Van's Aircraft. If you can, get a ride in one sometime. Van's Aircraft are amazing airplanes.

I was at the flying field yesterday, and someone had an RV-4, but it was an ARF (wuss!) Still, it looked pretty sexy.

As for taking on a big project like this with little experience, here's what I have to say about that: If you read my posts, I always make it a point to state that I am doing everything deliberately slow. I am scrutinizing every decision, measuring thrice and cutting once, and more than anything, I am relying on others' experience and expertise to guide me through the process. By virtue of the fact that this kit has been around for awhile, there are many builders whom have shared task-specific advice on the forums, to say nothing of people who have read my "blog" and have given me advice directly.

Above all of that, it's only money, right? And if it comes out crooked, then I'll become a better pilot in learning how to manage flying it! Also, if you're anything like me, you love the process of learning new things. You love reasoning out problems and coming up with solutions. You love using your mind creatively and being amazed when your ideas work well.

And to those guys at the club who say this kit is too hard, I ask you this: Did Neil Armstrong have any experience walking on the moon before he did it? No! Did the 1980 U.S. Olympic Hockey team back down when everyone said they couldn't beat the Soviet Union? HECK NO! Did Dick Rutan and Jeana Yeager stay at home when they said no one could fly around the world non-stop? NO WAY!

So toss off that negativity and do whatever you want to do.

One more thing... I got that same advice a few times at the flying field, myself. I asked them how many airplanes they had built. Answer: zero. The best armchair quarterbacks seem to own a lot of ARF's.

-Floop