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Recently Purchased RV-8A QB SE TX

tcastleman

I'm New Here
Hi everyone,

I recently bought an RV-8A QB kit. I thought it would be many years before I could afford the time, space, and money to undertake an RV project, but I found a really good deal on a kit. I would have preferred the tailwheel, but oh well.

I'm just posting here looking to make connections with other RV builders/pilots. I know a few already (hi guys!). I'm located about 15 minutes south of Beaumont, TX.

I won't be able to start until August sometime. I have a broken leg that needs to finish healing. Also, getting the shop ready is a project on its own....

I have some experience in manufacturing and working on aircraft, but this is my first build. I might have been a little too ambitious purchasing this kit (shrug).

I've spent a few hours reading posts on this website. Thank you all for making this website a good source of information. I'm looking forward to getting started on this kit and joining this community!

~Thomas
 
Welcome aboard! While you wait for the leg to heal, you can still read and reread the plans.. go over Section 5 about 5 times, practice riveting and drilling out rivets.. watch this site several times a day for deals on tools.. have fun! How far along is the kit? It may not be too big of a deal to go tailwheel at this stage. If the empennage kit is already completed, then you missed out on a nice learning curve, it wouldn’t hurt to buy the practice toolbox and practice wing section to get back into the rhythm of reading plans, drilling, dimpling, riveting, and removing rivets etc...
 
Are you sure you can’t convert to a tail wheel at this point?

I think it'd be a pretty major project to try and retrofit the gear towers into an already-built fuselage, involving substantial disassembly of the forward fuse.
 
Thank you for the welcome, Tom. I think the vertical tail is finished but that's about it. Either the vertical or horizontal is finished. I forget exactly.

I probably could convert to a tailwheel, and maybe I will.... But I think I could settle for a tricycle gear. I guess it depends on how long it would take and how much it would cost. I don't really have a good idea of that yet.

Looking forward to have something more to say about it haha.
 
I’m not a builder but just a “flier.” However, my recommendation as to whether you go 8 or 8A is to first decide where you’re going to fly your RV. If it’s only on hard surface runways then either the 8 or 8A configuration will be fine. But if you plan on extensive use of grass runways then definitely the traditional gear configuration.
 
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