Buying one already built is an option. Just gotta find one that's for sale and doesn't look like it requires a ton of work to get it to a flyable status. If it does, I feel like building would have an advantage.
Side note, was your final empty weight close to the advertised empty weight? What about the build experience was it that you hated?
Empty weight with my engine, and overall build plan, came in where I expected it.
First off, when builders quote "build hours" they are generally referring to time in the shop actually building the plane - the hours some of them like to log. What is generally not mentioned (and never by kit manufacturers) is the many hundreds of hours you will spend ordering parts, doing research, asking questions, re-ordering parts you ordered wrong, reading internet forums for answers, etc.. In most cases, certainly for new builders, you can easily double the number of build hours for this process. This is a massive amount of time that takes you away from your family, friends, and other life joys and responsibilities.
Again, for new builders, there is a massive amount of frustration that comes with this process. It comes from part manufacturer screw-ups and delays that delay your work by months. It comes from incomplete, or lack of, clear instructions from the manufacturers - and it comes from the panel forward.
What most newbies don't understand (I didn't) was that everything from the panel forward is up to you to figure out on your own.
This is true for pretty much every kit manufacturer (though Vans does a pretty good job if you follow their prop and engine combo's). This is also where you realize you know nothing about aircraft wiring and are expected to design a complete, safe, redundant electrical system. Then you have learn how to put this very complex system together.
Oh, but first you have to learn how to draw it on a very large piece of paper or on a computer program! Then you have to learn to install it with the skill of a professional (your experience with automotive wiring is useless here). And once you've got it installed you will spend a couple of months tracking down all the minor errors you made during the install, which in the end, aren't minor.
If you want to go full glass, you will quickly learn that none of the instrument manufacturers actually provide clear interconnecting wiring diagrams and you will have to spend hours studying manuals to figure out which wire #87 on the display goes to which wire number #128 on the connector to the transponder (or does it go the encoder?). Ever wired a multi-pin connector for multiple devices without an interconnecting diagram? Well, welcome to a whole new world of frustration. Even the damn connectors themselves can be a huge PITA.
Next you have to learn how to design a safe, redundant fuel system. Again. most manufacturers provide little or no guidance on this because it varies drastically by engine choice, and personal risk tolerance. Pump configurations, check valve locations, hose/tubing types, fittings, can all drive you crazy as you try to decide what is right for you and where to locate them In your aircraft. (There are thousands of different opinions on build forums about where these components should be and how they should be piped!) Then you have to figure out how to source all of these parts that hopefully will all fit together. And yes, you will have fuel leaks. Probably a number of them...
You will build some things wrong. It will cost you money, sometimes a lot of money you didn't budget for. You will have accidents that cause you to rebuild more things.
Think you know a thing or two about tubes, hoses, and fittings (if your new to this)? Welcome to many dozens more hours of frustration as you try to figure out the correct hose, fittings, connectors, and adapters. Pretty much nothing connects together simply. Threads are different, some hoses are spec'd by inside diameter but you will order the one spec'd by outside diameter. AN or NPT? This alone can drive you crazy. How much torque? What lubricant? No lubricant? None of this stuff is in the kit manufacturers instructions either (possible exception of Vans).
I think the greatest build frustration is all of the wasted time. It grates on you after a couple of years.
But the final, and perhaps the ultimate frustration is the realization that once your done and got your AW cert., you will still spend
the next two years or more troubleshooting, fixing, and re-doing things that weren't done right the first time.
I know there are people out there who enjoy building. Clearly I live in a different world, because I will never understand them.
Perhaps, I value my time too much. I have a wonderful wife, and a wonderful life. I would much rather be spending precious time with her than wasting literally thousands of hours of my life with the frustration of aircraft building. Life is too short to waste so much of it on this endeavor.
FYI - if you post further questions to me on this thread I won't see them, nor will I respond. Once I post something on this forum I never go back and read anything that follows. When you post an answer this long there will no doubt be those who attack me for my opinions, or punctuation/spelling, or whatever and I don't care to read them or engage.
