Building a Vans Aircraft 9a
I'm building a Vans Aircraft model 9a experimental kit airplane (http://vansaircraft.com). The plane is an aluminum skinned airplane most similar to Pipers that are currently flown today.
One of the advantages of building an experimental airplane is that you get to put all kinds of fun stuff in the airplane, like glass cockpits (http://www.grtavionics.com) and alternative power plants (http://www.eggenfellneraircraft.com). I also get the luxury of maintaining my experimental aircraft.
The Vans 9a (http://www.vansaircraft.com/public/rv-9int.htm) fits my mission of providing a fast, efficient, cross country 2 seat tandem airplane for a reasonable price with reasonable maintenance expenses. I found to date Vans Aircraft to be an excellent company with high quality production parts and fantastic 'down home' customer service. The product is probably as clearly documented and well thought out as could reasonably be expected for a kit with thousands of rivets and hundreds of discrete parts.
Similar to building a piece of handmade furniture, constructing a Vans kit has an element of personal 'style' how you build your airplane. My style and approach may be very different than others with no appreciable difference in final quantitative performance results.
I hope you enjoy the process as much as I hope to...
-JC McDowell
n.b. This website is to document for the FAA my progress on building an experimental aircraft. It is intented for entertainment purposed only- do as I say, not as I do!
One of the advantages of building an experimental airplane is that you get to put all kinds of fun stuff in the airplane, like glass cockpits (http://www.grtavionics.com) and alternative power plants (http://www.eggenfellneraircraft.com). I also get the luxury of maintaining my experimental aircraft.
The Vans 9a (http://www.vansaircraft.com/public/rv-9int.htm) fits my mission of providing a fast, efficient, cross country 2 seat tandem airplane for a reasonable price with reasonable maintenance expenses. I found to date Vans Aircraft to be an excellent company with high quality production parts and fantastic 'down home' customer service. The product is probably as clearly documented and well thought out as could reasonably be expected for a kit with thousands of rivets and hundreds of discrete parts.
Similar to building a piece of handmade furniture, constructing a Vans kit has an element of personal 'style' how you build your airplane. My style and approach may be very different than others with no appreciable difference in final quantitative performance results.
I hope you enjoy the process as much as I hope to...
-JC McDowell
n.b. This website is to document for the FAA my progress on building an experimental aircraft. It is intented for entertainment purposed only- do as I say, not as I do!
