Homebuilt/Kitplanes

Comversely though, while you’re building it, if you know youre going to fly in it one day it really does concentrate the mind. A very good thing to bear in mind if ever you do find yourself working on a project to fly – my work may be responsible for someone’s life one day.

I’d be too terrified to fly an aircraft I’d built myself:D

@phantomII: check out www.eaa.org

A Corby Starlet visited the strip I fly from last Sun, a homebuilt which had taken 17 years to finish, single seat, tailwheel, with a VW engine, looked and sounded great. It must be so satisfying to fly an aircraft you have spent all that time and patience on. Wish I had the ability and space to do just that.

Been building an Evans VP-2 for a while , not a lot done , but have collected all of the metalwork fittings , nuts , bolts , instruments , my father-in-law is a carpenter and he retires this year , so we’ll get stuck into her early next year .

What do you have to have or know to be able to build a kit plane?

What do the prices range in?

What’s the price of say a Vari-Viggen?

I know someone who has been building a Lancair for the better part of 14 (!) years now. I’ve met someone who has been building a Long-Ez for more than 20 years now and another one who completed one in significantly less time (his wife left him during that period, maybe that helped..:D ). Then I know someone who spent five years building an RV-4 which crashed during takeoff on its second or third flight (nobody seriously hurt) and was damaged beyond repair. On the other hand I have also met a fellow who built three plans-only aircraft in 10 years, one of which was his own design, and another fellow who has completed (!) two all-metal high performance aircraft of his own design in a 25 year period.

Yet, if I had the space and the money I wouldn’t mind doing something like that myself…. 😀