Ive notices alot of cleverly designed kit planes the past few years. The only problem is theyre kit planes.
-Is anyone else bothered that so many nice affordable planes are only available to those who have mechanical skills and time to spend 8 hours a day for about 4 months to build them?
-Are there companys that will build kit planes for you?
-What about quick build kits? I found this one that only requires 190 hrs: http://www.bbardaviation.com/PRODUCTS/allegro2000.html
-Has anyone here built a kit plane? How difficult was it?
-For those who dont want to build one, what are your favorite kit planes that you would want to own if it was available completely built?
I like this one: http://www.whisperaircraft.com
By: Melvyn Hiscock - 4th May 2005 at 17:59
The reason I posted that link is because the quick build kit version of that plane only costs £12,000 (compared to the £29,000 base price). Thats a huge difference in price for only 190 hrs of finish work, kits usually take 1000 to 2000 hrs.
Add in the costs of workspace, tools, travel to and from the workspace, lost interest in your capital sum, buggeration factor and £29,000 is not that steep.
190 hours is optimistic in my view. You may be able to do that in a perfect world but I would triple that (from experience) as you will (and should) spend at least twenty hours just reading the manual. That only leaves you 170 hours, or 17 ten hour days. It’ll take you a day to mask it, two days to paint it, half a day to do a proper weight and balance, at least a day on the phone chasing stuff that isn’t included in the kit and that leaves twelve and a half days build time. Just getting the motor to run properly could take half of that.
To put it another way, I can build an electric guitar, from scratch using planks of wood to playing article in four days (I did it once for a bet) but since I have made hundreds and have all the tools it is not that big a deal. Making a first one will take way longer.
By: mixtec - 4th May 2005 at 17:47
That one linked to in its floatplane variety looks fun, but at today’s exchange rate £31,000 looks a bit steep for a plastic thing with a rotax.
The reason I posted that link is because the quick build kit version of that plane only costs £12,000 (compared to the £29,000 base price). Thats a huge difference in price for only 190 hrs of finish work, kits usually take 1000 to 2000 hrs.
By: Moggy C - 4th May 2005 at 09:39
I don’t think I could ever find the time to construct a kitplane, but I did once do a little work for one of the manufacturers.
My conclusion then was that many of the builders actually get their jollies from the building and aren’t really fliers at all. Particularly true of the bulk of Europas, these generally seem to take about ten years to complete.
That one linked to in its floatplane variety looks fun, but at today’s exchange rate £31,000 looks a bit steep for a plastic thing with a rotax. There’s many a good Yak 52 going around this price level (I know – running costs :rolleyes: )
But in dreamland, ready built, there can only be the Spitfire 26 surely?
Moggy
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May 4, 2005 at 12:37 am