Yeah. I hear the warning: I know of one RV-8a completion after nearly 2 decades, and one RV-9a at "90 %" after 4000 hours. This will be my first build and I have no valid reason to think I would be a faster buider than anyone else. So, I suspect I may be a little optimistic about the Arion Lighning completion time. But looking at the instructions and build manual, it will clearly be less time consuming than many other kits. Also, the company offers a very flexible build assist program that is, for me, a viable safety net. You can go to the build assist facility and complete the airplane with 3-4 weeks of your time (yes, extra cost of $4000/week, but I think that is pretty reasonable if you need and can afford it). With a week or two off for paint, you end up with the A/W certificate after 4-6 weeks. Also, you can do part or all of the assist, as desired. I am intending to do about a week, which will get most of the more critical assemblies done, and then ship home to complete. I am thinking this will accelerate the project a little, but still leave me with the feeling that I did a lot. They also offer very competitive panel assistance. If I get stalled on the project, I can always go back to get it finished more quickly, but that is not the current plan. I looked up a few current owners on the federal registry and reached out to a few. It seems that the factory assistance works well for those who did it. I guess I'll find out soon for myself.
