Airplane build
- Thread starter CESLAW
- Start date
I built a Taylor Monocraft in highschool.. finished a year or so after... great learning experience but in hind sight i would have rather spent the time and money flying and getting the ratings and let someone else pay for it. I did go on to fly skydivers and do airplane delivery... sadly my hanger door is now closed.
Randy:
Not presuming . . . .
Private, VFR. Hope to have tail dragger endorsement in a few weeks. We have a 172, which we plan to keep. The biplane would be purely for the thrill of the build - and "low and slow" fair weather flying. (Ryan expects to do some barrel rolls and loops.)
Not presuming . . . .
Private, VFR. Hope to have tail dragger endorsement in a few weeks. We have a 172, which we plan to keep. The biplane would be purely for the thrill of the build - and "low and slow" fair weather flying. (Ryan expects to do some barrel rolls and loops.)
Ron Earp
Admin
That sounds like fun. I would like to own and fly a round motored biplane, or at least a biplane, before I check out. I find I just don't get excited about our club aircraft anymore and with me just wanting to fly VFR I don't have a need for additional complexity.
Peter Delaney
GT40s Supporter
Chuck, you probably should have a look at this :
Supermarine Aircraft Spitfire
90% scale Spitfires, all aluminium, 2 seats. V6 or V8 !!
Kind Regards,
Peter D.
Supermarine Aircraft Spitfire
90% scale Spitfires, all aluminium, 2 seats. V6 or V8 !!
Kind Regards,
Peter D.
After thinking of building a Rutan Longeze and getting the plans I eventually built a Quickie 2 from a raw materials kit. This took years as I was working long hours at the time and also had to give time to being a family man. I sold the project when it was almost complete, with only the surface finishing and painting to be done and a friend who ran a paint shop completed it and flew it for a while. He has since sold it and as far as I know it is still flying.
I next built a Jabiru SP470. THis was another all composite aircraft which was a nice little aircraft with rather peculiar handling characteristics but good fun for over 3 years.
The next homebuilt aircraft was a CZAW Sport Cruiser which I built with a friend from a kit. This was all metal held together with pop rivet fasteners - thousands of them! This flew well but my partner in the project wanted his money out so we sold it.
I then bought an RV9A that had been built by someone else and am currently enjoying flying it. This is the best homebuilt aircraft I have flown by far with very nice coordinated handling and excellent performance, being both fast but also able to land at a reasonable speed which enables me to get into and out of short grass strips when necessary.
The world of home built aircraft building is very much more regulated here in the UK compared with the US. Before starting a project it has to be registered (and has to be an approved design). The builder is then given a build schedule and each stage has to be inspected and signed off. Also we are not allowed to fly IFR or at night in homebuilt aircraft. However, one big advantage is that we are allowed to do our own maintenance, subject to an anual inspection, which is a considerable cost saving over the operation of a production aircraft where all maintenance has to be done at a professional maintenance organisation and everything has to be signed off by licenced engineers.
Chris
I next built a Jabiru SP470. THis was another all composite aircraft which was a nice little aircraft with rather peculiar handling characteristics but good fun for over 3 years.
The next homebuilt aircraft was a CZAW Sport Cruiser which I built with a friend from a kit. This was all metal held together with pop rivet fasteners - thousands of them! This flew well but my partner in the project wanted his money out so we sold it.
I then bought an RV9A that had been built by someone else and am currently enjoying flying it. This is the best homebuilt aircraft I have flown by far with very nice coordinated handling and excellent performance, being both fast but also able to land at a reasonable speed which enables me to get into and out of short grass strips when necessary.
The world of home built aircraft building is very much more regulated here in the UK compared with the US. Before starting a project it has to be registered (and has to be an approved design). The builder is then given a build schedule and each stage has to be inspected and signed off. Also we are not allowed to fly IFR or at night in homebuilt aircraft. However, one big advantage is that we are allowed to do our own maintenance, subject to an anual inspection, which is a considerable cost saving over the operation of a production aircraft where all maintenance has to be done at a professional maintenance organisation and everything has to be signed off by licenced engineers.
Chris
Ron Earp
Admin
I hope you don't mind - I moved this from the paddock to Wings, Wheels and Keels...
I'd love to build a P51D some day. There was a company in North Texas (Addison I believe) that made 3/4 scale P51s with small block Chevy engines.. They went out of business probably 20 years ago.. Maybe more.. Not long after Jim Bede made a lot of people mad..
I'd love to build a P51D some day. There was a company in North Texas (Addison I believe) that made 3/4 scale P51s with small block Chevy engines.. They went out of business probably 20 years ago.. Maybe more.. Not long after Jim Bede made a lot of people mad..
Jim Craik
Lifetime Supporter
Ah yes,
The BD-5, such a pritty aircraft, it made a lot of people angry and a lot of people dead.
Sorry - duplicate post.
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Hi Jim
They disappeared because the company went bankrupt after they were sued by a builder in the US who modified his Quickie 1 (the single seat version) and then crashed it. This happened shortly after I had taken delivery of my kit, which was basically raw materials, and made the build process difficult without factory support. There was a bit of deja vue when RF went bust shortly after I had taken delivery of my incomplete GT40 kit! What did really help during the project was the US based Quickie Builders' Association who produced a regular newsletter (this was pre internet days) that was full of building tips and advice and really enabled me to keep going.
Q2s flew very well if built according to the plans. The only difficult part was landing which was fast at 100 mph; the tail dragger version was difficult to stop after roll out and was easy to tip on its nose if the braking was too enthusiastic. I think that almost all accidents that occurred (and there were quite a few) happened due to loss of control after touch down. When I heard about this during building I converted mine to tricycle gear from a kit being offered by another Q2 builder which made landing much easier - but still fast.
I never added up the time spent building my Q2 but people who had said it took about 6,000 hours. It took me over 10 years, but I did have a job at the time.
Chris
Not a kit build I am afraid, but this is my ship, purest form of flight, done over 500km flights and have been up to 19,500ft in Lee wave, all without an engine!!!!! I suspect that most "power guys" dislike gliders as they are so darned hard to see, minimum cross section esp when heading towards you at 100kts!
Jack Houpe
GT40s Supporter
I built and got the first experiment certificate for a Carbon Sting. I used the Rotax 914 turbo (predator drone motor) which I inter cooled. Flew it all over the USA at 6.8 GPH, 135 knot cruise with ballistic chute. Climb rate at 70 and sea level was 2000 fpm, flew it to just below class A airspace a couple times with O2. Sold it to a good guy in Australia. The sucker in the right seat is my best Friend Mike Trusty, we were just over Lemore CA looking at the runways when I snapped that picture. Our next plane is going to be a stearman and we are going to find a barn to fly through. HA!
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Chuck - Build the bipe, gives you some time to think about manuevers, intentional or otherwise. 2nd choice would be the P-51. The elliptical wing of the Spit will hand you a nasty surprise in a low speed turn. Speed up and power on until you level out. Same goes for trying to horse it up on takeoff ( the reaction will be more violent than the 51 ). The "hangar star" factor on the bipe is considerably less but if you don't have to go anywhere in a hurry, that's the one.
Hello Chuck
Or you can build a Votec
You can chose 5 different Planes
Votec 221
Votec 351
Votec 322
Votec 251
Votec 452
The first plane my father builded was a Long EZ a very good airplane . It s Fast, good range and cheap to fly.
Greetings from switzerland
Or you can build a Votec
You can chose 5 different Planes
Votec 221
Votec 351
Votec 322
Votec 251
Votec 452
The first plane my father builded was a Long EZ a very good airplane . It s Fast, good range and cheap to fly.
Greetings from switzerland
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