"Can I Build it? Yes I can!"
Bill Turner
I am 36 years old (in Oct 2006), and am the general manager for The National Theatre for Children. I picked the Sonex because it's fast (enough), has a great reputation for customer service, design, and plans, and can be built relatively inexpensively. I started saving up for a kit, but decided that I'd rather start now, so I'm starting from scratch. I hope to have some help from my dad, Bill Sr., and maybe some interested friends.
I don't have a "finish by" date. I've heard you should just pretend you're building airplane parts, and plug away at it bit by bit. I haven't picked an engine yet, but am leaning toward the Aerovee 80 hp.
I don't have a "finish by" date. I've heard you should just pretend you're building airplane parts, and plug away at it bit by bit. I haven't picked an engine yet, but am leaning toward the Aerovee 80 hp.
How hard can it be?
On a whim?
"What the heck, I'll build an airplane!"
Ok, I was not quite that cavalier in choosing to go the homebuilt route. I got my pilot's license in 2004. It's great to have (and I am ever grateful to my wife, Krista, for allowing that indulgence), but now I want to fly. I not only want to fly, I want to get good at it, so I can have the confidence to fly cross-country, to take friends and family up to experience the awesome single-engine piston experience, and so I feel like I've really "earned my wings", and belong up in the air.
But it's expensive, especially with gas prices having increased quite a bit in the last few years. The Piper Warrior I trained can burn 10-11 gallons of avgas per hour, and avgas is consistently at least a dollar more per gallon than a gallon of regular car gas. If you're renting a plane, you can easily pay over $100/hr to fly. That's $1000 for 10 hours of flying.
I sort of feel I can only get really good at flying if I do it a lot, and at $100/hr, that's not much of an option.
An alternative to straight-out renting is to join a flying club. This is actually a very attractive option--you buy a "share" in the club (usually between $3000 and $5000 in MN), then you pay monthly dues (between $50 - $150). For this you have access to a professionally maintained plane or group of planes. You still rent the planes, but for a reduced rate (say $60/hr instead of $100). This is a tempting option--but I sort of don't like the idea of being locked into those dues. Plus, within a few years of joining the club you'll have spent enough on the initial buy-in, plus the dues (not to mention actual plane rental) to pay for all of the materials to build one homebuilt plane. And I imagine the dues go up from time to time.
One could also buy a certificated aircraft. There's lots of Cessnas, Pipers, and everything else out there, and you can get a (theoretically) fully-functioning airplane for anywhere upwards of $14,000. But that's not the end of the story. Every year, you are required to have an Annual Inspection done by a certified Airframe & Powerplant mechanic. This tends to run you at least $1000. Also, by law there are only certain kinds of maintenance you can do on your plane if you're not an A&P. This means repairs on your "used vehicle" will be mighty spendy. And then there's the Airworthiness Directives which are issued by the FAA from time to time for certain airplanes, which again often require the expensive time of a certified A&P mechanic.
And if you're buying used (which is the only option if you're not pretty wealthy), you'll likely be getting an engine with half (or more) of it's useful life already used up. When the engine reaches a preset number of hours, you'll have to get it overhauled. This will run upwards of $5000.
Is this getting too long? So be it.
Option 4: Ultralight
Thought about it, still think about it--this might be a way to get some of my flight fix in over the years, but I still want to fly a full-fledged airplane (that I can operate under the priveleges of the pilot license).
Option 5: Homebuilt aircraft
While "homebuilt" might sound a little scary when you're talking about something that you fly through the air, there is a lot of very serious engineering know-how that goes into a lot of homebuilt plans. The Sonex, which I've chosen to build, is known for being a very well-designed/engineered plane, and very safe if built to plans specifications.
Building an aircraft from scratch has these disadvantages:
1. Takes a really really really long time.
2. Though they may cost less than a good certificated used plane, they're still not cheap.
3. They're really cool. (oops, that's an advantage. I'm getting ahead of myself.)
4. Can be hard to insure. (Although proven designs with a good safety record have pretty good luck, from what I've read.)
Building an aircraft from scratch includes these advantages:
1. You know your aircraft inside and out. You have a much greater understanding of what you're flying than if you just bought your plane "off the shelf".
2. You can obtain a "repairman's certificate" which allows you to do most, if not all, of the maintenance and repair of your aircraft. This could be a big money saver over time. It also means a lot of responsibility on the builder/flyer's part.
3. You can build a plane that matches the way you want to fly. Cessnas and Pipers are "all things to all people"--they carry a decent payload, they go a decent speed, they maneuver ok, they burn quite a bit of fuel. As has been noted in countless places besides here, General Aviation light aircraft like Cessna's and Pipers are design compromises. They're excellent planes, solidly built, but they're designed for everybody, so they do nothing spectacularly. With a homebuilt you have "rich people choices". You can pick from lots of designs that do all sorts of different things well. You can't have *everything* (like a 300 knot cruise and a 40 mph stall speed), but if you know the kind of flying you are likely to do most often, you can find a kit or set of plans that fit what flying means for you.
4. This might sound kind of weird, but I feel like someone who has built their own airplane has earned their spot in the sky, and has a connection with the pioneers and innovators of aviation that you just can't get by renting or even buying.
5. I work in the theater business. It's both my job and something I love. I have a feeling that building my own plane will give me a perspective on the technical side of theater that not many have, and allow me to come up with some innovative solutions to theater problems.
So I've spent the last two years since I got my license looking at the various options: dozens of hours on Barnstormers.com (used airplanes for sale, including homebuilts), dozens of hours learning about the various homebuilts avaiable in kit and plan form--even taking the time to fly now and then. By summer 2005 I was leaning heavily toward the Sonex, designed by John Monett of Sonex Aircraft, Ltd. (a 35+ year veteran of the homebuilt movement). I drove out to Oshkosh, WI to their headquarters and got a tour, and had a chance to ask questions, and see the real completed plane up close. I finally decided to take the $600 plunge and buy the plans for the Sonex near the end of October, 2006. This website will chronicle my journey from plans to completion to first flight.
--Bill
Ok, I was not quite that cavalier in choosing to go the homebuilt route. I got my pilot's license in 2004. It's great to have (and I am ever grateful to my wife, Krista, for allowing that indulgence), but now I want to fly. I not only want to fly, I want to get good at it, so I can have the confidence to fly cross-country, to take friends and family up to experience the awesome single-engine piston experience, and so I feel like I've really "earned my wings", and belong up in the air.
But it's expensive, especially with gas prices having increased quite a bit in the last few years. The Piper Warrior I trained can burn 10-11 gallons of avgas per hour, and avgas is consistently at least a dollar more per gallon than a gallon of regular car gas. If you're renting a plane, you can easily pay over $100/hr to fly. That's $1000 for 10 hours of flying.
I sort of feel I can only get really good at flying if I do it a lot, and at $100/hr, that's not much of an option.
An alternative to straight-out renting is to join a flying club. This is actually a very attractive option--you buy a "share" in the club (usually between $3000 and $5000 in MN), then you pay monthly dues (between $50 - $150). For this you have access to a professionally maintained plane or group of planes. You still rent the planes, but for a reduced rate (say $60/hr instead of $100). This is a tempting option--but I sort of don't like the idea of being locked into those dues. Plus, within a few years of joining the club you'll have spent enough on the initial buy-in, plus the dues (not to mention actual plane rental) to pay for all of the materials to build one homebuilt plane. And I imagine the dues go up from time to time.
One could also buy a certificated aircraft. There's lots of Cessnas, Pipers, and everything else out there, and you can get a (theoretically) fully-functioning airplane for anywhere upwards of $14,000. But that's not the end of the story. Every year, you are required to have an Annual Inspection done by a certified Airframe & Powerplant mechanic. This tends to run you at least $1000. Also, by law there are only certain kinds of maintenance you can do on your plane if you're not an A&P. This means repairs on your "used vehicle" will be mighty spendy. And then there's the Airworthiness Directives which are issued by the FAA from time to time for certain airplanes, which again often require the expensive time of a certified A&P mechanic.
And if you're buying used (which is the only option if you're not pretty wealthy), you'll likely be getting an engine with half (or more) of it's useful life already used up. When the engine reaches a preset number of hours, you'll have to get it overhauled. This will run upwards of $5000.
Is this getting too long? So be it.
Option 4: Ultralight
Thought about it, still think about it--this might be a way to get some of my flight fix in over the years, but I still want to fly a full-fledged airplane (that I can operate under the priveleges of the pilot license).
Option 5: Homebuilt aircraft
While "homebuilt" might sound a little scary when you're talking about something that you fly through the air, there is a lot of very serious engineering know-how that goes into a lot of homebuilt plans. The Sonex, which I've chosen to build, is known for being a very well-designed/engineered plane, and very safe if built to plans specifications.
Building an aircraft from scratch has these disadvantages:
1. Takes a really really really long time.
2. Though they may cost less than a good certificated used plane, they're still not cheap.
3. They're really cool. (oops, that's an advantage. I'm getting ahead of myself.)
4. Can be hard to insure. (Although proven designs with a good safety record have pretty good luck, from what I've read.)
Building an aircraft from scratch includes these advantages:
1. You know your aircraft inside and out. You have a much greater understanding of what you're flying than if you just bought your plane "off the shelf".
2. You can obtain a "repairman's certificate" which allows you to do most, if not all, of the maintenance and repair of your aircraft. This could be a big money saver over time. It also means a lot of responsibility on the builder/flyer's part.
3. You can build a plane that matches the way you want to fly. Cessnas and Pipers are "all things to all people"--they carry a decent payload, they go a decent speed, they maneuver ok, they burn quite a bit of fuel. As has been noted in countless places besides here, General Aviation light aircraft like Cessna's and Pipers are design compromises. They're excellent planes, solidly built, but they're designed for everybody, so they do nothing spectacularly. With a homebuilt you have "rich people choices". You can pick from lots of designs that do all sorts of different things well. You can't have *everything* (like a 300 knot cruise and a 40 mph stall speed), but if you know the kind of flying you are likely to do most often, you can find a kit or set of plans that fit what flying means for you.
4. This might sound kind of weird, but I feel like someone who has built their own airplane has earned their spot in the sky, and has a connection with the pioneers and innovators of aviation that you just can't get by renting or even buying.
5. I work in the theater business. It's both my job and something I love. I have a feeling that building my own plane will give me a perspective on the technical side of theater that not many have, and allow me to come up with some innovative solutions to theater problems.
So I've spent the last two years since I got my license looking at the various options: dozens of hours on Barnstormers.com (used airplanes for sale, including homebuilts), dozens of hours learning about the various homebuilts avaiable in kit and plan form--even taking the time to fly now and then. By summer 2005 I was leaning heavily toward the Sonex, designed by John Monett of Sonex Aircraft, Ltd. (a 35+ year veteran of the homebuilt movement). I drove out to Oshkosh, WI to their headquarters and got a tour, and had a chance to ask questions, and see the real completed plane up close. I finally decided to take the $600 plunge and buy the plans for the Sonex near the end of October, 2006. This website will chronicle my journey from plans to completion to first flight.
--Bill