"firstflight" wrote:

a nice report on building an RV9A. I have a question about one of your
statements, though:

It handled great and sold for a high price. Turned out to be a good
investment in addition to a thrill to build and fly!

Can you define your terms? This is the first I have ever heard of an
airplane, homebuilt or not, that was not in commercial service
described as "a good investment". Did you keep detailed records of
every cost you incurred other than the kit? And if you did, when you
take the sale price less the kit price less other costs (other than
reusable tools), what do you figure you earned per hour on your 1600
hours of labor?

This is a serious question, since different people will define "a good
investment" differently depending on their circumstances and
preferences. You may have had so much fun building that you
legitimately consider it a good investment if in the end you only lost
$3/hr on your building time compared to $5/hr you might have spent on
other entertainment. Someone giving up a $20/hour second job to get
time to build the plane for resale will not consider it a good
investment unless he or she can resell for more than hard costs +
$32,000.
--
Alex
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