This post covers the timeline between purchasing the kit in November of 2024 and start of the build.

First Landed Part!

The exhaust (from Custom Aircraft Parts) was the very first item to arrive.

My New Friend Keith

I made an introduction on the RV10 Facebook group and had started to socialize that I had started the project. I’m not sure which Facebook group he found me on, but my now-friend Keith reached out with an offer to meet up and check out his RV10. Even better, he needed a flight review. OK!!

I met up with Keith at his KOLM hangar. This would be my first time really getting to see an RV10 up close. Keith and I got to know eachother, and knocked out a flight review oral before launching to KTTD for the practical portion. The trip to TTD was multi purpose. We needed some flying to do the practical portion, of course, but we also were going to pick up a part. We meandered our way south doing the FR tasks on my hitlist. Keith showed himself to be a great pilot.

On our way out of TTD, I was in for a surprise. Keith offered to switch seats with me, so I could fly the return trip. WOW, YES PLEASE! Turns out Keith was not only a great pilot, but also had great instruction skills as he talked me through the transition notes for his airplane. Keith’s RV10 really flew nice. The takeoff performance was what I found to be most astounding. I really don’t like to speak ill of my PA28-180, but it is, quite frankly, a porky pig and I dread climbs and short field ops. The RV10 felt like a Mooney++.

Arriving back into OLM, Keith walked me through a landing. Easy! I’m always a little nervous about landing other people’s airplanes, especially exotic/high performance types, but there was no fear warranted for the RV10. A perfectly reasonable touchdown was had by easing off the power, and letting the airplane settle onto the runway while maintaining directional control.

Empennage

It didn’t take long after purchasing the kit for the empennage to be ready. I asked Vans for a ballpark shipping quote and they said $1000. Meh, I could probably do it a little cheaper, and I wanted to see the Vans factory and get a ride in the RV10 demonstrator. I asked Vans for “Will Call” and booked a UHaul.

I am used to driving my Subaru BRZ sports car. I am not used to driving a box truck with no rear visibility. The trip was a little nerve racking, but I did manage to get to Aurora and back, with both crates of parts unharmed and with really minimal trouble. I also got a factory tour and a ride in N410RV.

Pulling up to my hangar at S50, I was hoping I’d be able to extend the loading ramp and then push the crate down onto my hangar floor. That was absolutely not going to happen. I really underestimated how hard it is to move a several hundred lb crate. Luckily, I found some airplane mechanics working in a hangar next door to help me, and between the 3 of us we were able to unload the large crate.

Over the next few days, I completed the inventory with no issues.

Showplanes Composites

In March, the Showplanes cowl + composite tailcone arrived.

Finish Kit

Fast forward to June, the finish kit came ready. I repeated the routine from the empennage kit, though, this time with a UHaul pickup and without the tourist activities at Vans. Arriving back at my hangar, I opened the crate still on the truck and unloaded it part by part. When I was done, I just pushed the empty crate right off the tailgate. Done!

Inventory of the finish kit went much more quickly than the empennage kit. The finish kit has less very small parts, and less very large parts, which means nearly everything is marked with a PN and easily accessible.

RV10 Mods

I ordered a handful of RV10 mods, mostly inspired by community vibes and the fear of long lead times.

• Planearound 3rd latch kit
• Airward tunnel access kit
• Airward reenforced hinge kit

Oshkosh

I’ve known my friend Bill about as long as I’ve lived in Seattle (5 years and counting). As long as I’ve known Bill, we’ve talked about going to Oshkosh together but hadn’t actually ever really committed. With the RV10 build looming, and Bill wanting to also start a new project (something like a Bearhawk?), we had enough motivation to really, actually, finally go to Oshkosh this year.

Bill and I had originally planned to make the trip in his Carbon Cub, but over lunch we realized the trip in the Cub would probably be too long of a slog for either of us to remain enthusiastic, so we opted to switch up to taking Bill’s DA62. With long range, a quiet/comfortable cabin, oxygen, WX radar, TKS FIKI, and the performance to easily climb up high, the DA62 is about the best possible GA XC airplane until you get into the turboprop category.

Bill and I made the trip from BFI to OSH in about 8 hours, arriving just before the arrival window closed at 8:45. This was my first time flying the arrival in a long time, but with WX holding back traffic arriving from the south, we had the high/fast approach all to ourselves making for an especially easy arrivial.

At Oshkosh, I hit up the vendor booths and got to know the community by walking around the RV10 rows in the morning as folks were getting up and socializing. I met a lot of great people who were all very eager to get to know me and show me their airplanes.

Background

My name is Chris Seto. I’m an embedded firmware engineer living with my wife in Seattle. I’ve been a pilot for the last 13+ years. In that time, I became a CFI and stepped through owning or partnering in four different airplanes.

This blog is my build log for my new RV10 project.

It’s impossible to discuss a new airplane acquisition without mentioning The Mission (TM), so I’ll outline mine here:

• I primarily use my airplane because I enjoy flying and being a part of the flying community
• I often give rides to non-pilot and pilot friends alike, usually to the San Juans
• I have friends at KORS, and I often fly up there to visit them over the weekend
• I work in the Bay Area, and sometimes commute from Seattle to KHWD by GA
• Secondarily, I use my airplane to personally remain instrument current and capable

N610SH

My current airplane is a PA28-180, N610SH hangared at Auburn Municipal, about 40 minutes south of where we live in Seattle. I’ve owned 0SH for about 6 years at the time of writing, and honestly, I could never have hoped for a better airplane for this period of my life. 0SH is a Cherokee “Challenger”. The Challengers were only produced between 1972-73 (before anyone tries to correct me that it was only 1973, mine was actually produced in `72). The Challenger is primarily characterized by its Hershey bar wing, but with all of the “modern” amenities of an Archer II (throttle quadrant vs knobs, floor mounted trim wheel vs lasso trim, stretched fuselage, larger dorsal fin, etc). That mix makes it a mix between the old and new generation of PA28s. It seems like people prefer the Hershey bar wing over the taper wing, so this makes the Challenger a desirable type. There weren’t that many Challengers produced, something like 600 exist in the world today, so they are somewhat rare.

0SH builds on the rarity of the Challenger heritage and was extensively refurbished by Command Aviation at KBLI. I know little about the airplane before this refurbishment, but my understanding based on logbooks is that the airplane was in fine condition, but was just outdated and vanilla in terms of amenities.

Command did an incredible job restoring the airplane inside and out. Fully new interior, new thicker windows, noise proofing, one piece windshield, new CNC cut panel with Aspen PFD + GNS530W, every aeromod available installed, new LED interior lights, 3x HID landing lights, Lopresti wingtips… the list goes on.

I bought the airplane at a time when there was minimal froth in the market. In retrospect, I got a /screaming/ deal on it. At the time, it was a lot for an airplane, but I had a feeling that it was worth it. With aircraft prices skyrocketing during/post covid, and a 6 year long history of no real mechanical issues, this turned out to be one of the best purchasing decisions I’ve ever made.

Owning and flying 0SH has been great, but there are a few things that continually bug me:

• Truing 150MPH, it’s fast for a FG Cherokee, but my trip to the Bay Area is kind of a slog
• Climb performance is not great
• It’s an inefficient airplane with probably 10G less fuel capacity than I’d like
• Useful load is only about 800lbs

All of these factors combine to take a decent chunk of usefulness out of the airplane. Consider on my trip to the Bay Area, I’m refueling once, and then spending a lot time climbing back up to altitude, taking a bit hit to airspeed the entire way.

These factors let me to consider the possibility of a new airplane. I had considered buying a new DA40 or Cirrus, but even with the eye watering price of these airplanes, you don’t buy your way out of issues. For example, the DA40 would require a larger hangar (VERY hard to find in Seattle) and even after spending all that money, I’d be left with a underperforming airplane. I could fit a Cirrus in my hangar, but I’d heard too many horror stories about MX issues and long lead times (especially for the parachute repacking).

I had not put serious thought into an experimental, mostly because I knew with my work schedule, it’d be hard to find the time to build the plane. That’s not the only issue. My wife and I live in an apartment, and the airport is 45 minutes away. It’d be a major time commitment to even go to the airport to work on the plane. The last thing I want is a kit which sits around, accumulating minimal progress.

It occurred to me that of the experimentals, both the RV10 and Sling would likely fit my mission if I could get through building one. I was initially strongly considering a Sling, mostly because of their extremely generous build assist program. After flying one in LA at The Airplane Factory, I decided that it seemed like too small of a step up from the Cherokee. It was kind of small inside and while it did go MUCH faster, It didn’t quite go fast enough. I felt like the RV10 was the more senior option in every way, unfortunately, including build difficulty.

One of my few local contacts into the experimental world was Justin, who owns a mechanical engineering consultancy. I called him up and asked what he thought about doing some kind of build assist for an RV10. He told me that this would really be something Ephraim at Experimental Aircraft Services could do justice. I used to be based at AWO, and I had met Ephraim, but only really in passing on several occasions. Funny enough, the first time we really talked was when he helped me drag my Subaru BRZ out of the snow and ice outside my hangar one winter day.

Ephraim seemed excited at the prospect of a build assist RV10, and had schedule time for it. This RV10 project was now viable!

In November of 2024, I begin the first wave of the ordering process. From Vans, I ordered the empennage, QB Fuse, QB wings, and finish kit. From Barret, I ordered a wide deck IO-540 with CAI, roller tappets, dual P-Mag EIS, and B&C alternator primary and standby.

Going the cold air induction path set off an avalanche of parts changes. I deleted the cowl from my finish kit order with Vans and bought a Showplanes cowl/induction system (and composite tailcone, unrelated).

Ephraim recommended Aerotronics for the panel, and I booked production time in October. Ephraim and I formally engaged with a build start time in August of 2025.