NOW, will you please buy this plane?

Boy, was I ever wrong a year ago when I was trying to sell the RV-7A project and I speculated that it only needed "30 hours or so" to be flying.

I've put up 550 hours into it since then, as people said "finish it and then sell it; it'll fetch more money." They were probably right. I never got an offer on the project except from the idiots who troll Planet RV and try to pick up projects for practically nothing.

But now, the project is finished, and there's almost nothing left for a buyer to do except flight test it. First, though, you'll have to time the engine mag and the Lightspeed. I tried, but walked away from it this week when I realized that I'm just not smart enough to do work in the engine compartment on an ongoing basis. My pal, Brad Benson, timed the mag and LS for me so it's just awaiting an inspection (also just installed a replacement ELT battery).

Anyway, it's all done. The wheel pants have been finished (not cosmetically, though) and the leg fairings fitted. The paperwork was submitted for an airworthiness certificate and it may yet get an inspection prior to sale. It's already registered and even the sales tax has been paid on it. Everything that I was going to do on the plane before flying it has been done.

In the last few months, finishing this thing up, I've spent a lot of money, but in the process realized that I can't really afford this thing on an ongoing basis, as much as I'd like to be able to. And the stress of trying to balance a declining economy and an increasing expense and time suck is worth letting it go. I wanted to build a plane. I built a plane.

Again, here's the specs:

Engine: Mattituck TMX IO-360 - vertical updraft (New: $24,000)
Configured for fixed-pitch prop but plumbed for constant speed. New Sensenich FP installed. ($2600)
Plane Power 60 amp internally regulated alternator
One mag, one Lighspeed electronic ignition.
Tri-gear

--VFR instrument panel
- Dynon D100
- Vertical Power VP-50 (Video: Learn more)
- Grand Rapids EIS 400 engine monitor
- ICOM A210 radio (antenna installed on belly)
- PS Engineering 1000II intercom
- Garmin 327 transponder (antenna installed on belly)
- 406 mhZ ELT (antenna on top)
- GPS antenna located under coal to a portable GPS panel adapter (Garmin 296 not included)
- TruTrak wing leveler - servo in right wing
- Backup altimeter and airspeed indicator installed and plumbed
-- Hooker Harness 5-point belts
- New Vetterman exhaust
-- False floors with soundproofing. Firewall soundproofed.
-- Fire extinguisher installed
-- Cowling primed.
-- Flightline Interior interior
-- Tip-up canopy
-- Empty weight: 1118. Full weight and balance report available.
-- Whelen strobe/nav
-- Wheelpants, leg fairings, intersection fairings fitted. Surface not prepped for paint.
-- Manual trim
-- Fully placarded
-- Dual brakes
-- Matco nosegear upgrade installed

No tools are included.

A complete building log with pictures can be found here. It's a big file. It doesn't include work I've done in the last 10 days.

$80,000 gets you a nice plane and gets me out of debt.

Serious buyers only, please. No tire kickers. Contact me