Why We Really Start With the Empennage

The odyssey begins of all places at the 'arse' end of the plane. The common wisdom is you start building here because it's cheap and you won't have a lot invested if you don't like building or come to find out you don't have the skills to complete the project. This is an interesting theory but I don't accept it. The RV-9 empennage kit costs $1,400 plus shipping. This isn't cheap and it isn't the whole story.

The fact is you'll need another 1,500 to 2,000 dollars in tools to assemble the $1,400 in parts. If you're planning to justify the purchase of the tools by using them on projects around the house, think again. The simple fact is most of those tools won't be needed when you remodel the kitchen or do any other home improvements that your other half has visions of you doing. Dimpling, deburring and riveting are not typically part of kitchen and bathroom remodeling projects. If you're going to amortize the cost of the tools over more than one project, you'll need to tell your other half that you're planning to build more than one plane. Tactically, this is information you may not wish to divulge- at least immediately.

Certainly you've heard the adage, time is money. Building a plane takes lots of time. Van's makes no bones about the significance of the scope of this undertaking. What your wife doesn't know is it doesn't matter that the tools won't be much help with home repairs because you're not going to have time for any home repairs. If we're agreed that time is money, then again, this isn't a cheap project and it doesn't matter which end of it you start on.

I have not mentioned that you'll also need a place to commit your act of building. The word is someone did it once in a one car garage and therefore you can too. If you have a two car garage and you're planning on using just “your side” my suggestion is to tell the wife it'll be safer if she parks her car outside too. This will give you more space and avoid arguments over the inevitable scratches, scrapes, dings, dents and worse. In reality, at least some of these you won't be responsible for and there's no reason for them to create needless friction.

Another line of thinking is the empennage covers a lot of the basic building techniques used elsewhere. This strikes me as one of those really great sounding arguments that just doesn't hold up to closer scrutiny. If these are the same techniques used elsewhere, then why not start somewhere else? What is so special about starting at the back end of the plane where so many important control surfaces meet, when you have no building experience? So, why is it everyone starts building the empennage first?

My theory is simply that the tail is the most "sellable" part of the plane. It doesn't matter if it is affordable, it looks affordable. Hey, it's only $1,400. As a master of self deception and delusion, I'm not really going to think about the fact that in the end, if I'm really going to fly, I'm going to need to pay for all of the parts to build the plane. No, I can tell myself it's only $1,400 and then I don't have to worry about the other $58,600 (more or less) needed to complete the project. Spouses unanimously agree, $1,400 is a relatively small amount compared to the cost of the whole plane. It's also more likely that a spouse will put up with two small boxes of parts than the whole kit. And again, it's only $1,400. And finally, think about these two "coincidental" facts: Who buys most kit planes, men or women? What's another name for the empennage? Now do you really think it's a coincidence that kit plane manufacturer's around the world are trying to sell men a little tail?

OK, I admit it. I have sinned and bought little tail.