BUILDING EXPENSES AND FINANCING

By Jim Ruttler, Instrumented Rated Pilot, RV-10 Builder, Patent Attorney
www.ruttlermills.com
jim@ruttlermills.com

When I first looked at experimental aircraft kits, I wrongly believed that the prices of Vans aircraft included everything you needed to build and fly the plane.  This was incorrect as there are many hidden expenses that you don't realize until you get into the build.  I think Vans does this intentionally to get you hooked, but I'm also glad they do it because it makes it easier to commit.  However, nobody likes surprises, so I'll provide more information on total expenses here and also discuss financing options available.  

The airframes offered for Vans aircraft include the following prices.  As you can see, there are sections of each of the airframes broken out: empennage, wing, fuselage, finishing.  These are the various sections of the airframe and are purchased separately.  So, for the RV-8, you can begin the project for $1775.  When you complete the tail section, you can order the wings and so on.  Note that some of the airframes include a quickbuild line item.  This is the total amount of the airframe if you were to do the quickbuild wings and fuselage options, so the RV-8 would be $34,695 total for the quickbuild or $23,475 total for the slow normal build.  It therefore runs you around $9k extra to have much of the airframe built for you.  

		Again, it is critical to understand that you don't pay for everything up front.  You pay as you go and as you complete each section.  I've met builders who have finished their planes in as little as one year and others who have stretched it out to 7 or 10 years or even 20 years.  It doesn't cost much to get started, but over time there are additional expenses that you should be aware of. What are those additional expenses that eventually come due?  Primarily they are the engine, avionics, propeller, and interior (the RV-12 prices are the exception and this model includes the engine and the avionics and the quickbuild includes the interior).  For the other models, notice that there is no engine or avionics or prop mentioned.  That's because they aren't included in the price and you have to purchase them separate.  This may be obvious to some, but again for me it wasn't obvious until after I committed to the project.  Also not mentioned in the prices are interior costs.  So in addition to the above prices, you have to also plan for the engine, avonics, interior, prop and also tools. For tools, the best place I found was Cleveland Tools.  This is a family run operation and they offer a nice introductory package for new builders for around $1500.  This is a pretty comprehensive kit, but there were a few things that you will discover that you need as you get further along in the process.  The intro kit will get you through the empennage without any substantially additional purchases. For the engine, avionics, prop and interior, you don't have to buy these upfront, but again knowing about them can help you plan better.  The engine costs vary widely depending on the airframe you choose.  You can get a brand new Lycoming engine for the smaller RV-14 and RV-8 for around $30k, whereas the RV-10 engine is substantially more at $50k due to the increased size of this model.  The propellers also vary depending on the airframe you choose and whether you want a two or three blade and whether you want fixed or variable pitch.  The prices range from $4k to $18k. With regard to avionics, you should expect to spend $20k or $40k depending on whether you want the visual flight rules panel or the instrument flight rules panel.  These panels are offered from Dynon/Advanced Flight as quickbuild panels and include all of the screens, radios, antennas, buttons, etc.   The interior costs can be pretty minimal.  Vans does not upholster the seat frames that are included in the kits, so you have to at least have that done.  Oregon Aero, Aerosports, Flightline Interiors are some of the more popular shops that cater to Van's builders.  Seats upholstery is about $1k per seat plus a little extra if you want leather.   You can also add paneling, headliners, carpeting, etc. for extra.   So, the airframe costs are not the whole story.  What ends up happening is that your initial expenses are relatively low and they grow as you move through the project until the end where the expenses really pile up due to the engine, avionics, interior all coming due.   That leads me to financing.  Nobody is going to finance your build start to finish with no money down.  And banks don't want to get stuck with a partially finished experimental aircraft.  They want to be reasonably certain that you are going to finish the aircraft and that you've got enough invested that you won't walk away.  I paid cash for and completed the empennage, wings, and fuselage sections and then used this progress and equity to obtain financing through NAFCO for the remainder of the project, including the finishing kits, avionics, engine, prop, and interior.  The terms were very good: no additional money down, 20 years fixed, 5%, and no pre-payment penalty.  It was treated like a construction loan and the money was disbursed to the vendors directly for the products I wanted.  The only difficulty was deciding what I wanted and getting invoices from all the vendors to submit for payment; otherwise, it was easy.