Flight Chops is building an RV-14

TFulwider

TFulwider

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Looks like Steve has partnered with Vans aircraft and will document his build of an RV-14. (AFTER he finishes his instrument rating) I think this could be really big for experimental aviation. He is great at putting together easy to watch and informative videos with a great production value. I believe the series, which he expects to take two years, will show people that it really is possible to do this.

https://www.youtube.com/attribution...u=/watch?v=KMJ1dWa850w&feature=em-uploademail
 
I’ve been on & off since 2008. Anybody top that?
 
WannFly said:
Jason Ellis on YT have been doing this for a while now and in great details. https://www.youtube.com/user/vihravendrel kudos to his dedication. documenting every step and putting out videos for others to learn is big effort
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I know they'd never do it but I honestly think Vans should consider giving Jason an IO540 for his project in exchange for all the free pr he's provided for them. They'd be hard pressed to hire out yt vlog work of similar quality on their own.
 
jsstevens said:
I’ve been on & off since 2008. Anybody top that?
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I got my private in 2009, my instrument in 2011, and it looks like my last logbook entry was in January of 2015. I am still under 200 hours, I believe.

So I started flying, got my instrument, and quit flying in less time than it's taken you to obtain your instrument rating!

:)
 
StevieTimes said:
I got my private in 2009, my instrument in 2011, and it looks like my last logbook entry was in January of 2015. I am still under 200 hours, I believe.

So I started flying, got my instrument, and quit flying in less time than it's taken you to obtain your instrument rating!

:)
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Well, I guess I’ve got staying power. I just passed the written (again) and am gearing up to do a semi intensive to get ‘Er done.
 
jsstevens said:
Well, I guess I’ve got staying power. I just passed the written (again) and am gearing up to do a semi intensive to get ‘Er done.
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I am super determined to get the IR done this year. I am 100% positive that I will. I had said the same thing last year. But hey, at least I am consistent!!
 
eman1200 said:
As much as he’s dragging out his IFR experience on YouTube I can see this project getting boring to watch real quick.
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He's going to be building the airplane in the corner of a vintage aircraft museum shop. I would imagine the guys around there will keep him moving forward at a good clip.
 
TFulwider said:
He's going to be building the airplane in the corner of a vintage aircraft museum shop. I would imagine the guys around there will keep him moving forward at a good clip.
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Wonder if he will actually meet 51%?
 
-KLB- said:
Wonder if he will actually meet 51%?
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You will be surprised how many people build a RV with builder assistance program, basically builds under supervision of a bunch of pro builders and still get to claim the 51% rule
 
-KLB- said:
Wonder if he will actually meet 51%?
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He doesn’t have to. He could build 1% as long as the other 50% was built by amateurs.

Jason Ellis videos are fantastic. For my empennage, I read the plans, watched his video on it and then built it. Helped me immensely in the beginning.
 
jsstevens said:
I’ve been on & off since 2008. Anybody top that?
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I think Steve's been working on his since the 90s.

eman1200 said:
As much as he’s dragging out his IFR experience on YouTube I can see this project getting boring to watch real quick.
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He's not really been dragging it out. He's legitimately had certain issues, despite being a good stick and rudder pilot. If you saw that episode with his friend with the TBM and his doing comms, it was pretty bad. It hasn't helped that much of the Flight Chops project has been about all the interesting stuff he's gotten to fly, meaning the skills required to properly handle IFR haven't been developed as much.
 
Seems like this is the new Youtube trend about half the aviation channels I watch recently announced they are building something. Honestly have a feeling people are going to get bored fast with this unless they are doing a build themselves.
 
DFH65 said:
Honestly have a feeling people are going to get bored fast with this unless they are doing a build themselves.
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....Or are considering doing a build. ....Or would be building now but cannot for any number of reasons. ....Or are considering owning an amateur built plane someone else built. ....Or have already built a plane themselves. ....Or

I think you're correct that build vlogs will not have the same size audience as other aviation focused vlogs. It would be unrealistic to expect otherwise. But experimental amateur built is one of the few areas of GA that seems to be growing in size instead of shrinking. I think the audience and level of interest is bigger than you might suspect.
 
I think the biggest issue is the time involved. Trying to hold people's attention for 2-5 years on a build is going to be tough.

I watch some mechanic channels and it seems like every time the move from the short format fix this problem videos to the I am going to do a full blown restoration on this car they lose audience.

I volunteer at the local warplane museum wrenching on planes on the weekends and I would honestly love to restore or build a plane. As a matter of fact there is a project I was looking at this week. My major hesitation is I know myself well enough to know I don't have the patience for it and would want it done in weeks not years and that just isn't realistic. Now if I already owned a flying plane and had a place to work on a project that I could see myself doing.
 
jsstevens said:
I’ve been on & off since 2008. Anybody top that?
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Dang! You and I are in a dead heat tie! I didn't think there was anyone out there incomplete this long. Hard to finish up, as my area doesn't really get IMC but maybe 2 days a year ... one with icing and the other with TS:confused:

I'm at 800 hours now, and hope to eventually finish it out when work gets easier.
 
DFH65 said:
Seems like this is the new Youtube trend about half the aviation channels I watch recently announced they are building something. Honestly have a feeling people are going to get bored fast with this unless they are doing a build themselves.
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Just wanted to announce that I am building a Gentle Lady RC glider. We started ~3 years ago and hope to have it in the air before Spring of some year.
 
TFulwider said:
Probably about as long as I've been working on mine!
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jsstevens said:
I’ve been on & off since 2008. Anybody top that?
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danhagan said:
Dang! You and I are in a dead heat tie! I didn't think there was anyone out there incomplete this long. Hard to finish up, as my area doesn't really get IMC but maybe 2 days a year ... one with icing and the other with TS:confused:

I'm at 800 hours now, and hope to eventually finish it out when work gets easier.
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That's why after taking TWENTY-THREE YEARS to get my private, I vowed my instrument would be an accelerated course. It's the only way to go.

@danhagan You don't need IMC to get there rating. I know it's nice to get some IMC while getting the instrument, but it's not required. So lack of IMC shouldn't hold you back.
 
Juliet Hotel said:
I know they'd never do it but I honestly think Vans should consider giving Jason an IO540 for his project in exchange for all the free pr he's provided for them. They'd be hard pressed to hire out yt vlog work of similar quality on their own.
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Speaking of that, I wonder what kind of discount, etc, Flight Chops is getting from Vans for all the publicity.
 
SixPapaCharlie said:
Just wanted to announce that I am building a Gentle Lady RC glider. We started ~3 years ago and hope to have it in the air before Spring of some year.
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I built one of those in the early 1980s! I still have the Kraft radios ... make you a deal if you wanna go old-school!
 
While I think it is beyond cool that people build their own airplanes, and I know it must be very rewarding and satisfying to fly a plane you built, I just know myself and know that I would never finish one. I have watched a few videos of builders, and I get bored very quickly. I love watching people fly their planes, but building them, not so much.
 
SixPapaCharlie said:
Just wanted to announce that I am building a Gentle Lady RC glider. We started ~3 years ago and hope to have it in the air before Spring of some year.
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Reminds me of that scene in Crocodile Dundee where the reporter asked him how old he is. He didn't know, he just knew that his mom told him he was born in the springtime.
 
BrianNC said:
Speaking of that, I wonder what kind of discount, etc, Flight Chops is getting from Vans for all the publicity.
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I may have missed it but I don't recall hearing him mention that the was paying for any of it so I assume he is paying for none of it. I assume Vans marketing department is providing the kit and the team of pros he's got building it for him are providing their services gratis.
 
tceq24443 said:
exactly plus most likely a discount or more on his kit. Follow Jason Ellis, the real deal
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See post #15. Also keep in mind the Canadians do it different, I'm sure they have similar rules, but their inspections are different and they probably do the repairman's cert differently as well.

https://flightchops.com/2019/03/29/...rship-between-flight-chops-and-vans-aircraft/
I would guess he's getting the kit at 'cost' and covering some G&A expense as well. In turn Steve will get revenue from views and will probably try to work additional partnerships with other vendors; Garmin/Dynon/Etc..
 
jsstevens said:
I’ve been on & off since 2008. Anybody top that?
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I started IFR training shortly after I got my PPL on July 30, 2001 and passed my IFR on the fourth try on May 4, 2019. 154 hours of hood time.
 
BrianNC said:
That's why after taking TWENTY-THREE YEARS to get my private, I vowed my instrument would be an accelerated course. It's the only way to go.

@danhagan You don't need IMC to get there rating. I know it's nice to get some IMC while getting the instrument, but it's not required. So lack of IMC shouldn't hold you back.
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It's hard to complete as we get basically no flyable IMC around here. During the 40 hours hood time, it felt like being at work rather than having fun. I'll complete it once work is under control, it has helped with accuracy in flying after that training ... stopped as the rentals were getting out of hand unsafe and I concentrated on a plane purchase (first one the Tiger) ... after I had it, I was flying XC everywhere and at most would get a couple of hours delay waiting for a weather change ... was having too much fun flying. The CFIs still give me a bunch of "IR work" during the flight reviews and tell me to "get-er-done". Going straight into IR training after PPL was the most stupid move ever for me ... also ... should have flown for fun a bit more and maybe things would've been different.
 
SixPapaCharlie said:
Just wanted to announce that I am building a Gentle Lady RC glider. We started ~3 years ago and hope to have it in the air before Spring of some year.
Click to expand...
I’m building one of these too. I bought the kit in the early 90s, built and covered it about 15 years ago. Still haven’t put in a radio and flown it yet.....
 
Based on the first video, I think this thread is more appropriately titled "Flight Chops is filming people building an RV-14 for him"

(Don't get me wrong, I'm going to watch every darned episode)
 
Chops mostly seems like he could fall asleep at any minute during his videos. He's no Just Plane Silly.
 
WannFly said:
Jason Ellis on YT have been doing this for a while now and in great details. https://www.youtube.com/user/vihravendrel kudos to his dedication. documenting every step and putting out videos for others to learn is big effort
Click to expand...
Thanks for that link.

Mr. Chops, however has made it to my "No thanks" list with all his click-bait titles...
 
I tried watching flight chops a couple of times but found the guy to be a bit of an annoying goofball. And that facial hair is pretty lame. What's his aviation background?
 
Sam D said:
Based on the first video, I think this thread is more appropriately titled "Flight Chops is filming people building an RV-14 for him"

(Don't get me wrong, I'm going to watch every darned episode)
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^^^THIS!^^^
 
SkyDog58 said:
I tried watching flight chops a couple of times but found the guy to be a bit of an annoying goofball. And that facial hair is pretty lame. What's his aviation background?
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He's a film guy that has been a private pilot for a while. He recorded all of his flights (cessnas and pipers) to debrief himself and then started editing them for fun on YouTube. Started to build a following and now I believe he runs the channel full time.
 
Sam D said:
Based on the first video, I think this thread is more appropriately titled "Flight Chops is filming people building an RV-14 for him"

(Don't get me wrong, I'm going to watch every darned episode)
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So if you take away the cameras it'll be like a lot of people that are "building" their own RV! :) He definitely has a huge team of people and a first class shop, but I have no doubt he'll get his hands dirty as well. I'm not an RV guy but I'll watch every episode as well. I love seeing aviation content getting traction in today's world of cat and faceplant videos.
 
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