Hallofo
Pawn in the game of life.
Howdy all, just a fairly quick question about how much I'm going to be spending... I was originally posting this under the RFD sub-forum, but some of the questions are fairly general.
I decided a while ago that I'm going to build a Dominator from a kit. For budgeting purposes I would like to get "all new" prices, so if I can't get what I want used I can go ahead and buy new without pissing off the Minister of Finances.
So first question: I added up the kit components on the RFD website and came to a little over $10,000, sans engine but including all the "bells and whistles". Is this about right?
Second: I'm thinking of a Rotax 503/582 (with a lean towards the 582, I'm a Big Boy and need a beefy engine). How much more will this set me back?
Third: This will pretty much be my only "toy" I can afford, and spreading out the cost would be a Good Thing. So, would it be better to get the basic airframe and engine and learn to fly and gradually add parts (nosecone, pre-rotator, etc...) or just get everything all at once? I lean to the "add parts" option, so I will be able to fly without all the extras, then add stuff on instead of using extras as a crutch in my larval-pilot stages.
Fourth: Training. My goal is a shiny new PPL, then moving on to a Gyro Cert afterwords. My question is this: do I NEED a gyro add-on to fly a sport-light Domi, or is it just a really good idea? I'll probably start building about the same time as I start my PPL training, so by the time I'm done I'll have a new gyro to fly. No matter what, I'll be getting a few dozen hours of tandem time at least before I "get high" in my Domi (as breaking my shiny new gyro would have a negative effect on my happiness. And Health). Are there any places in So Cal I could get this training? I currently live in Oregon*, and I know there is an awesome place up by Portland for training, but The Wife is making noises about moving south and I want to keep my training current.
* My address is in Oregon, but I am overseas 11 months out of 12. Currently I am in the Marines in Iraq on a 1-year "recall" tour, but I will be back in Afghanistan as a computer geek($$$) in a few months. The point of saying that is while I might "live" in Oregon, I really can't get out much and fly, unless its on one of my 2-week leave periods. I'll be doing some insane studying over here so I can get home, get licensed and get in the air. Related: is it possible to do ground school on my own time, and then show up to the airport just for flight hours and tests?
Overall I can justify spending quite a bit on this and my training, I understand that this is a costly [strike]sport[/strike] obsession, and would much prefer to drop some heavy coin in the beginning and save some heartache later on.
Thanks all!
I decided a while ago that I'm going to build a Dominator from a kit. For budgeting purposes I would like to get "all new" prices, so if I can't get what I want used I can go ahead and buy new without pissing off the Minister of Finances.
So first question: I added up the kit components on the RFD website and came to a little over $10,000, sans engine but including all the "bells and whistles". Is this about right?
Second: I'm thinking of a Rotax 503/582 (with a lean towards the 582, I'm a Big Boy and need a beefy engine). How much more will this set me back?
Third: This will pretty much be my only "toy" I can afford, and spreading out the cost would be a Good Thing. So, would it be better to get the basic airframe and engine and learn to fly and gradually add parts (nosecone, pre-rotator, etc...) or just get everything all at once? I lean to the "add parts" option, so I will be able to fly without all the extras, then add stuff on instead of using extras as a crutch in my larval-pilot stages.
Fourth: Training. My goal is a shiny new PPL, then moving on to a Gyro Cert afterwords. My question is this: do I NEED a gyro add-on to fly a sport-light Domi, or is it just a really good idea? I'll probably start building about the same time as I start my PPL training, so by the time I'm done I'll have a new gyro to fly. No matter what, I'll be getting a few dozen hours of tandem time at least before I "get high" in my Domi (as breaking my shiny new gyro would have a negative effect on my happiness. And Health). Are there any places in So Cal I could get this training? I currently live in Oregon*, and I know there is an awesome place up by Portland for training, but The Wife is making noises about moving south and I want to keep my training current.
* My address is in Oregon, but I am overseas 11 months out of 12. Currently I am in the Marines in Iraq on a 1-year "recall" tour, but I will be back in Afghanistan as a computer geek($$$) in a few months. The point of saying that is while I might "live" in Oregon, I really can't get out much and fly, unless its on one of my 2-week leave periods. I'll be doing some insane studying over here so I can get home, get licensed and get in the air. Related: is it possible to do ground school on my own time, and then show up to the airport just for flight hours and tests?
Overall I can justify spending quite a bit on this and my training, I understand that this is a costly [strike]sport[/strike] obsession, and would much prefer to drop some heavy coin in the beginning and save some heartache later on.
Thanks all!