Tom,
My twenty cents worth!
You need a challenge!
You need a project!
You need spare time!
You need money!
You need not to believe 'build time' quotes!
You need an understanding partner!
You need confidence!
You need patience!
You need to control frustration!
You need to control excitement!
You need to enjoy building!
You need to like fiberglass!
You need to be able to take advice!
You need a professional attitude!
You need to be able to prioritize!
You need to be able to delegate!
You need to be a finisher!
YOU NEED TIME!
Great fun, very rewarding, a real challenge, very absorbing!
I am about to break a Europa record, I think.
Over the past 7 years I have got married, had 3 children, shifted house AND
BUILT A EUROPA AIRCRAFT
and the marriage is still in tact.
Cheers,
Tim
Tim Ward
12 Waiwetu Street,
Fendalton,
Christchurch, 8005
New Zealand.
Ph 0064 3 3515166
ward.t@xtra.co.nz
----- Original Message -----
From: <tom@tompaul.com>
Subject: Europa-List: to build or not to build
>
> Hello group,
> I need some advice. Not about technique or materials, but about the
> more basic question of what becoming an airplane builder does to one's
> life.
>
> If you have a moment to indulge such a question, read on; if not,
> happy building and flying.
>
> I am 39, single (not married, but living with someone) freelance and
> not exactly financially stable. I do ok, but I live in New York City,
> so my expenses are high.
>
> I have been dreaming about a Europa for 10 years, ever since i saw it
> at Sun 'n Fun back when it was a new design. I have been flying for
> 18 years.
> I found a kit in a partially-built condition that i purchased last
> fall. It was a decent deal at $19k for a mono XS with all the fast
> build options, including the flightcrafters headstart that got the
> cockpit module bonded in place. Since then, the builder has made a lot
> of progress with control mechanics and the tail plane, and various
> layup work to complete the wings. Nothing is closed yet. He
> estimates it to be about 60% finished.
>
> The kit is still in Southern CA, and i am now considering my options
> for retrieving it. Most people around me (friends and family) think i
> am nuts to take this on. I am a very busy person and a bit of a
> workaholic, striving to make a name for myself in NY as a Sound Mixer
> and Sound Designer for movies. It is going well, but you never know,
> being freelance. I basically don't have time to do anything
> recreational these days, but the work does come in spurts, so i have
> some weeks where i am not so busy. I have a little cottage upstate
> with a one car garage that i am turning into a workshop for the Europa.
> I am just worried about getting into something that requires more time
> than i have to give. My girlfriend says this is something a retired
> person should do, not a person busily building his career, and with
> other hobbies. I am very dedicated to writing music and playing the
> piano when i have a spare moment, and i am worried about losing these
> moments to the Europa. I know there will be a lot of research involved
> in building a plane, especially when it comes to the panel and the
> electrics. This kind of stuff is fun for me and i am very
> mechanically inclined and able to do things like this. I don't mind it
> taking me a long time to finish, either. I fully expect it to take a
> couple of years, at least. If the kit is really 60% done, then, based
> on the factory's build-time figures, I would estimate 500 hours more
> to finish it. If I could average 5 hours per week, it would take two
> years. I don't mean one hour per night, five days a week, i mean
> AVERAGE. There would be weeks when i couldn't touch it, and there
> would be weeks where i work 50 hours on the plane. I intend to make
> the workshop a clean, task-dedicated space that is locked when i am not
> working on the kit, and is dedicated solely to the Europa.
>
> I will have to start a fund for the firewall forward bits anyway. Of
> course i would like the 914 and the airmaster, so i would have to save
> my pennies. I have about the value of these things in credit card debt
> at the moment. Maybe a 912 would be the way to go.
>
> If I had the money, i would buy a completed europa or another sport
> plane like a Decatholon. Frankly, I want to fly, and building is a
> means to an end. I am too bored with the performance of the rental
> fleet of Cesnas and Cherokees. I know some of you love the building
> and mourn the completion of the kit, but my motivation is owning and
> flying a wonderful, fast, aerobatic, handsome, affordable plane.
> As i said before, it has been a dream for a long time and i am very
> excited to make this happen.
>
> To all of you europa-builders, please let me know what your experience
> has been regarding the impact of building on your life and your time,
> and please give your impressions and/or advice regarding my situation.
> Feel free to ask about something if i have left any important
> variables untouched. Many, many thanks! This is a tough one. I don't
> want to let it go.
>
> Best,
>
> Tom
>
>
|