Roberts RV6, we stop for fuel on the way to the RV fly-in at Colmar.
Thinking about building?- What do you need in addition
to the 'Van's Kit'?
You have seen my site, been to a local airfield
and checked out the RV's. You may have even been out in one. Now you
are thinking about building one.
Here is a list of parts and some example prices to help you plan and budget your RV7 build. Not all prices are included and NOT ALL PARTS are necessary but you may wish to consider them when calculating your own build costs.
These prices may become out of date as most aircraft parts are sourced from America, today the £ is worth $2.03.
VAT: Is payable on all parts imported into the UK. Duty is not payable on aircarft parts, but these parts must only be capable of being fitted to an aircraft or HMC&E may charge you some duty.
The following prices and example is based on a Vans RV7 Quick build.
I am adding and updating this page - it is not a comprehensive list and is intended to help you price your kit by listing parts and items you may have not thought about. Some prices are missing as I don't have up to date prices.
Here is a list of parts and some example prices to help you plan and budget your RV7 build. Not all prices are included and NOT ALL PARTS are necessary but you may wish to consider them when calculating your own build costs.
These prices may become out of date as most aircraft parts are sourced from America, today the £ is worth $2.03.
VAT: Is payable on all parts imported into the UK. Duty is not payable on aircarft parts, but these parts must only be capable of being fitted to an aircraft or HMC&E may charge you some duty.
The following prices and example is based on a Vans RV7 Quick build.
I am adding and updating this page - it is not a comprehensive list and is intended to help you price your kit by listing parts and items you may have not thought about. Some prices are missing as I don't have up to date prices.
Wings on about to roll out of the hanger for first engine start.
The way to fit split pins properly -
Aviation Standards!!
The Airframe and kit options.
The first decision other than RV4,7,8,9 or even RV10. Or do you go
standard or quick build? The quickbuild kit airframe is approx just
under 50% build. However this may not be 50% of your build it is more
like 50% of the airframe build. I took the quickbuild option as I
was building on my own.
Along with the airframe kit price there are a number of options you
may wish to consider.
*** NOTE *** Cost shown with VAT on item cost. You will be charged on total shipment cost INCL transport/shipping costs. See shipping costs table.
| Description | $ Cost | £ Cost | VAT | Total | Comments |
| Vans RV7 Quick build kit (tailwheel) |
$26'300
|
12955.67
|
2'267.24
|
15'222.91
|
|
| Electric Elevator Trim |
$260.00
|
128.00
|
22.41
|
150.49
|
|
| Manual Aileron trim |
$46.00
|
22.66
|
3.97
|
26.63
|
|
| Electric Aileron trim |
$285.00
|
140.39
|
24.57
|
164.96
|
|
| Vans Static Air Kit / SafeAir1 Static Air Kit |
$19.00/
|
9.36
|
1.64
|
11.00
|
|
| Pre-Punched VFT Instrument Panel |
$60.00
|
29.56
|
5.17
|
34.73
|
|
| Map Box |
$35.00
|
17.24
|
3.02
|
20.26
|
|
| Air Vents | |||||
| Dual Brakes | |||||
| Sliding Canopy Option | |||||
| Landing Light | |||||
| Park Brake | +additional pipe and AN fittings. |
Engine & Propellar
The engine is the next biggest expense after the airframe. Vans have an OEM
agreement with Lycoming and can offer a very competitive price on a
brand new engine. Apart from the engine size, you also have a number
of engine options - Constant Speed, Injection. However there are other
options to buy a second hand engine, another manufacturers (Superior)
or a UK sourced rebuilt engine.The propellar options are Fixed or constant speed from a number of different manufactures - again Vans has an OEM agreement and can supply very competitive priced props.
Vans also supply 'Firewall Forward' kits that include all the parts you need to fit the engine to your RV, the example below is a good reflection of what the cost of all the components (pipes, filters, oild cooler mounts etc) you need to install the engine..
| Description | $ Cost | £ Cost | VAT | Total | Comments |
| Superior IO-360 (180HP) constant speed |
$22'215.00
|
10'943.35
|
1'915.09
|
12'858.44
|
from Jade Air Plc |
| Lycoming IO-360 (180HP) |
$24'400.00
|
12'019.70
|
2'103.45
|
14'123.15
|
plus shipping from Vans |
| Electronic Ignition (only allowed on one side on PFA aircraft) | |||||
| Firewall forward kit (all the part necessary to fit engine to your RV) |
$4'940.00
|
2'433.50
|
425.86
|
2'859.36
|
c/s |
| Airflow Performance Fuel Injection Pump and Filter |
$580.00
|
285.71
|
50.00
|
335.71
|
Needed for injection engine |
| Andair fuel selector |
$360.00
|
177.34
|
31.03
|
208.37
|
Better than standard Vans one. |
| Metal Sensenich Fixed Pitch Propeller |
$2060.00
|
1014.78
|
177.59
|
1192.36
|
|
| Metal Hertzell Constant Speed Propeller |
$6090.00
|
3000.00
|
525.00
|
3525.00
|
|
| Wood Fixed Pitch Propeller | |||||
| MT 3 Blade Propeller |
$8060.00
|
3970.44
|
694.83
|
4665.27
|
|
| Spinner |
$160.00
|
78.82
|
13.79
|
92.61
|
|
| Oil Quick drain | |||||
Engine and Flight Instrument options.
Again even more options with the engine and flight instrument options.
Basic conventional guages or the latest electronic engine monitors.
| Description | $ Cost | £ Cost | VAT | Total | Comments |
| Tachometer (RPM) |
$26'300
|
||||
| Manifold Pressure Gauge | req for c/s | ||||
| Oil Temp, Oil Pressure | |||||
| x2 Fuel Qty, Fuel Pressure | |||||
| Pre-Punched VFT Instrument Panel | |||||
| Volt & Ammeter | |||||
| CHT and EGT gauges | |||||
| Advance AF-2500 Engine Monitoring System | - very good what I have installed | ||||
| Advance AF-3500 Engine Monitoring & EFIS System | - Would possibly go for this next time | ||||
| Dynon D180 Engine Monitoring & EFIS System | - Dynon version of above, when comparing check probes are included. | ||||
| Dynon D100 EFIS | - very good I have this EFIS. | ||||
| Altimeter | Manual Alt required on PFA Permit | ||||
| Magnetic Compass | Manual Compass required on PFA Permit | ||||
| Airspeed Indicator | Manual ASI required on PFA Permit | ||||
| Artificial Horizon |
Avionics.
Radio, intercom, transponder and GPS etc. But please remember..... the PFA
permit restricts you to day VFR. So filling your kit with the latest
IFR kit will be a complete waste of money - not that this has stopped
some builders! Also remember to think about what all the kit will weigh.
The firewall kit from Vans includes a wiring kit however it does not
include screened wire for the intercom or RG400 aerial wire for the
transponder or radio.
| Description | $ Cost | £ Cost | VAT | Total | Comments |
| GPS - Garmin 196 (incl panel mount) |
£409.00
|
71.58
|
480.58
|
||
| GPS - Bendix/King Skymap IIIC |
£1040.00
|
182
|
1222.00
|
||
| GPS - Garmin 296 (incl panel mount) |
£699.00
|
122.33
|
821.33
|
||
| Radio - ICOM A200 (has audio input for alerts from EFIS etc) |
£450.00
|
78.75
|
528.75
|
- has 3 inputs for alerts from EFIS and Engine monitor. | |
| Transponder mode C or Not? |
$1785.00
|
879.31
|
153.88
|
1033.19
|
- no alt needed as signal can come from EFIS if installed. |
| Intercom - Mono |
$154.00
|
75.86
|
13.28
|
89.14
|
|
| Intercom - Stereo |
$230.00
|
113.30
|
19.83
|
133.13
|
- attach your iPod. But you will need stereo headsets. |
| Autopilot - Digiflight II - Two servo |
$3690.00
|
1817.73
|
318.10
|
2135.84
|
|
| Intercom wiring kit |
$180.00
|
88.67
|
15.52
|
104.19
|
|
| RG-400 screened aerial wire for radio & transponder | - not included in FWF wiring kit. | ||||
| Encoder (needed for transponder alt if you don't have an EFIS) |
$166.00
|
81.77
|
14.31
|
96.08
|
|
Electrical & Lighting
PFA Permit aircraft are not permitted to fly at night so night lights are
unnecessary however they often come combined with strobe lights. Again
strobes are optional. A electrical wiring kit comes in the firewall
forward kit or can be purchased separately as loose Vire from Vans or
other suppliers. The Vans wiring kit is a good start - it does not include
circuit breakers.
| Description | $ Cost | £ Cost | VAT | Total | Comments |
| MAC Stick Grips |
$170.00
|
83.74
|
14.66
|
98.40
|
|
| MAC Flap Position Sensor |
$30.00
|
14.78
|
2.59
|
17.36
|
|
| Strobe & Nav lights |
$725.00
|
357.14
|
62.50
|
419.64
|
- kit from Vans |
| Electrical Wiring kit (from Vans) | |||||
| Circuit Breakers | No. depends upon your build. | ||||
Other
Painting can be spilit into two - interior and exterior. I painted the interior
myself in stages. However I decided to have the exterior painted professionally.
The interior seats can vary in price from DIY (by your wife!) to professional
leather with headrests and leather side panels etc. Price below is for
what I fitted from Classic Aero.Tools is another cost for your project, you will have some like hammers and drills etc. But there are a number of tools you will have to buy - some optional and some you may be able to borrow..
| Description | $ Cost | £ Cost | VAT | Total | Comments |
| Paint, External Professional |
£4'500
|
||||
| Seats (leather) Professional |
$1297.00
|
638.92
|
111.81
|
750.73
|
|
| Fire Extinguisher |
$175.00
|
86.21
|
15.09
|
101.29
|
|
| Tools required - other than in a 'normal tool box' see here for list |
$2000.00
|
985.22
|
172.41
|
1157.64
|
Buy in the USA and save 50% |
| Weight and Balance |
£100.00
|
Twice if you fly before painting |
PFA Permit Fees & other charges.
As with every other part of live you are going to have to pay fees and taxes
to get your toy in the air! Here are some of the charges you will have
to pay.| Description | $ Cost | £ Cost | VAT | Total | Comments |
| PFA membership fee (per year) | |||||
| PFA Project registration Fee | |||||
| PFA Inspector fee (per visit) - Varies according to inspector |
£30.00
|
||||
| PFA Inspector fee, final inspection Fee |
£150.00
|
||||
| PFA Initial Permit fee |
£450.00
|
||||
| PFA Mod Fee (per mod) |
£45.00
|
||||
| PFA yearly Permit renewal fee |
£180.00
|
||||
| Test Pilot, flight testing |
£400.00
|
||||
| CAA Registration | |||||
Shipping Costs & Import Tax
Obviously the kit comes from America, so you need to ship!! The shipping costs
below are based on a Vans RV7 QB kit that was shipped on it's own -
not part of a group. The whole kit (apart from empannage) - Fuse, Wings
& Finish kit was shipped together.| Description | $ Cost | £ Cost | VAT | Total | Comments |
| Vans crating charge - Quickbuild fuse & wings |
$450.00
|
||||
| Vans crating charge - Finish Kit |
$85.00
|
||||
| Vans crating charge - Empannage |
$18.00
|
||||
| Freight Forwards Fee (USA) |
$337.46
|
||||
| Ocean Freight Quickbuild (Fuse, Wings, Finish) USA-UK |
$2'432.80
|
||||
| Above plus - Terminal Handling Fee |
£300.39
|
||||
| Customs Fee |
£45.00
|
||||
| Other agency and shipping paperwork fees |
£50.00
|
||||
| ## Total charges to ship Vans RV7 QB kit to UK Apr'04 |
£1'726.55
|
Example shipment Not incl Kit custom taxes etc. | |||