Updates and other news

Well, I finally did it. I took the checkride, passed, and I'm now a certified and working flight instructor. Yay for me!
Now that I have secured a source of income, I'm onto phase 17 of my Master Plan: Moving the crap out of my parent's house. I can't afford an apartment, plus there are undesirable side effects of apartment life: very close, irritating neighbors. I have become enamored with very tiny houses a la Jay Shafer's Tumbleweed houses, particularly his Fencl.

I can't just buy or build a Fencl as designed, though. North Carolina law doesn't provide for a house built on a utility trailer. Either it's titled as an RV, or it's subject to the building code. So, the options I have explored are as follows:

• Build the house to code on a foundation
• Build the house on pontoons and call it a houseboat
• Construct an RV from scratch with the houses floor plan

Building to code: The actual structure of the house would require very minimal modification. It needs to be stretched 1 foot in width and 2 feet in length. This has materials benefits; it would be almost faster to construct. I also wouldn't have to buy a trailer. The downside is making sure that the structure meets all the codes, which are expensive. All of the inspections increase the price as well. The permanence of the structure is an issue too. I like the idea of being able to easily relocate if need be.

Building on pontoons: As far as I can tell, you can do just about any dang thing you want on a pontoon boat. I could even float it on a private pond without ever contacting the government once. Without an engine or related systems, it would essentially be the aquatic version of building on a trailer. The downside here is huge: I have absolutely no experience designing and building a boat, and I'm worried about how heavy/topheavy this thing is. I'm also concerned that the required pontoons would be more expensive than building on a trailer.

Building an RV: This is as close to the original plan as I can figure. Instead of using a utility trailer as a chassis, I'll use axle kits and so forth to create a custom chassis. This way I can build a homebuilt RV, with a recreational vehicle title and everything. Then it becomes about building it to DOT standards. My metalworking is questionable at best, but I imagine I could construct a roadworthy chassis to mount an axle kit or two on. I also have to build it light enough to be towed by my pickup truck, though probably only over short distances.

I'll keep a record of progress here.