Once the house was paid for, the kids’ education fund was topped off, and my wife had - well, whatever she wanted, I’d bring this home. I’d need to find a copilot/crew chief, but that shouldn’t be too hard.
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It has been reregistered as Experimental so you can do your own maintenance (ie, be your OWN crew chief)!
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Great catch. In my fantasy, I pay someone to look after her, but I’d love to help and learn how to do basic maintenance. I imagine that with that much time, including 2000 combat hours, there would be plenty of wrench turning to keep her flying. We would need to install surfboard racks obviously.
What’s amazing is how identical that cockpit is to the DCS Huey, albeit the lack of armament panel.
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That would be perfect for camping trips!
My bucket list is a Vans RV-4. I don’t play the lottery, but I’m working towards that goal a little further down the road.
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I’d buy my own compound and get an A-6 airworthy once more.
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Fantastic airplane. I’ve flown both the 4 and the 8 from the backseat. They are both great and fly very similarly. I won’t discuss the differences, because you’ve probably done your own research. The 4 that I flew was Bob Goodman’s (former F-15 driver) turbocharged Subaru engine powered aircraft, which won the Sun n Fun time to climb in category one year. When I flew it, he and his engineer buddy, Tom Wyatt (RIP), were still working out the right sized turbocharger, so we didn’t stray too far from the pattern at LZU. But it was clear that RVs are amazing designs.
The 8 that I flew was the Vans’ company demonstrator RV-8A. We did some light acro in it. I was very surprised at how light and balanced it was on the controls, even with two above average sized dudes in it. Awesome airplanes.
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Well there is a Scooter for sale in Arizona. Though I’m not sure I’d be able to get in and out of it.
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Beautiful. Much cooler than and L-39 
Looks immaculate. Wish that they would have showed the cockpit.
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Yeah, I’ve flown the 4 quite a bit, and have some upfront time in the 8, but never owned either. Definitely love the 4, it’s a rocketship and very light on the controls. I used to cruise at 11k doing right at 210mph true, burning 6gph.
The 8 is great as well, and probably a better airframe for light acro and soft fields, but the 4 fits my mission, costs less to operator and just feels ‘right’.
Trying to decide whether to build or buy, it’s a tough call because I’m afraid it would take me too many years with the little spare time available.
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My old man got checked out in an L-39 owned by a race team. He had fun, but would definitely prefer the A-4 I bet!
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I began building an 8, finished the empennage, but ended up selling it when we moved to a loft and lost the workshop. It was my wife’s dream to live in the city, to which I agreed, with the idea of renting a T hanger to finish the RV. Never happened, so sold that project after it collected dust for 5 years. The truth is that every time I ran the numbers, you didn’t save by building. It was mostly for the experience, satisfaction, and being able to do your own maintenance without having an A and P.
Build if you have a couple of years to do it and have a garage with space. From helping others with their projects, a recurring theme was to keep the project close so that the family can come hang out in the shop while you build, or in a best case help.
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The RV is among the most versatile, delightful flying machines ever conceived. You just can’t go wrong. But unless you have a mechanic friend to help with the annual, you pretty much must build. I love my pitts but currently she’s stuck all apart in my hangar while I wait for my mechanic.
If I manage to finish the helicopter I may ditch the Pitts entirely. She has given me some very proud moments; both flying and fixing. But the total dependence on another human for the right to fly her each year is such a drag.
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But wait, there must be an interesting story there. Old man a jet pilot, race team owning an L-39?
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Found some cockpit pics from another website listing. Looks very clean. A mix of old and new instrumentation.
- Collins Comm
- Collins Nav
- Garmin 200 MFD
- Dynon Avionics EFIS-D10A
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has to be …
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1 each @tempusmurphy. We can only fly them 1 at at time but it never hurts to have a spare of these things
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Ha, ha!
“But my daddy has two Hinds!”
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