RV Building Resources

One of the neat and amazing things about building an RV is the wealth of resources available to the builder, thanks to the internet and the willingness of builders to post their experiences. I don't know if I could do this project without them. Related to this is the large and active RV community that is out there. Anyway, here are the resources that have been most useful to me. 

Builders Web Sites   There are a lot of builder sites out there and they are listed on the Vans Aircraft Company web site.  Some of the more elaborate ones are almost like an online illustrated instructional manual.  If you are building an RV-7 like mine, I'd say Mike Bullock's is the best.  I don't know how I could have built my RV without the builders web sites.

Van's Air Force. This is a site maintained by Doug Reeves and features RV-related news.  Doug updates it every working day. It's the second web page I surf at the start of every day! (The first is the Drudge Report). It also has my favorite RV-builder's forum where you can ask questions, give your two cents or search the archives.  You can ask a question on any aspect of building an RV here and get answers from 5-10 people who have been there and done that. It's amazing. Reading through the posts on a daily basis triggers ideas and possibilities of things that you never would have considered otherwise. Also, the site has the best RV-related classifieds there is. Good deals get snapped up immediately though. It's a seller's market when it comes to RV-related stuff. Finally,  there are things like builder white pages, articles, images, etc.

Van's Aircraft Company Web Site. Van's site is really well done and has a ton of information. You can also order parts and accessories online. It's a personal thing with me: I would much rather order something online than have to make a phone call and read part numbers and quantities to someone.

AeroElectric Connection.  When you get to the electrical system, the AeroElection Connection (11th Edition) by Bob Nuckolls is the bible.  In addition, there are many invaluable articles on the AeroConnetion website  that you can download.  There is also an FAQ.

Tony Bingelis Books.  This is a series of four books -- The Sportplane Builder, Sportplane Construction Techniques, Firewall Forward, and Tony Bingelis on Engines.  My set is well worn.  If you are building or restoring these are a must-have.  There is a reason they are so popular and that Tony Bingelis is one of the EAA legends. 

Kitplanes magazine.  Highly recommended it you're building a kitplane. 

Local EAA Chapter.  I belong to the Annapolis EAA Chapter 571.  The President built and flies an RV-8 and there are at least three other RV builders in addition to myself.  This really paid off in the later stages of the project when preparing for the DAR inspection and first flight. 

Experimental Aircraft Association (EAA) Website. The EAA information is more general in nature than the RV-7 specific content above; however, they have good information about the FAA registration processes. The EAA Sport Aviation magazine is outstanding; every issue has an article or two pertinent to something I'm doing on the RV, it seems.  Now you can search through all the Sport Aviation past issues through the EAA website.  They also have well-regarded Tips on video.  These were too late for me but would have been very useful in my early days.  

Oshkosh and Sun 'N Fun: The annual EAA fly-ins at Oshkosh, Wisconsin and Sun 'N Fun at Lakeland, Florida are great for meeting other builders, checking out their planes, meeting with the vendors, and listening to speakers on every aviation subject imaginable.  You can save a little money on show specials and meet the big names in the RV and RV vendor community.

Local Builders . I've visited with two people who have built multiple RVs each. They've really been generous with their time and it's been most helpful. I've had two people visit me as well. 

RVator . The newsletter published by Van's. I'd say this is a must-have item because it is Van's forum for publishing service letters. It also contains useful building tips, interesting RV-related stories and updates on what their intentions are for the future. When an RV gets build, the builders can send in a paragraph about their aircraft. Checking them out familiarizes me with all the options there are.