Building your own aircraft
What on earth drives a person to build his own airplane? Is it safe? Why would you do that? Well the answer is simple and at the same time it isn’t. Different people have different motivations. Most people love to fly. Some of us have a natural itch to tinker and build, others see it as a cheaper way to obtain an own airplane but many will build an airplane because it fills a need.
Just as with many people I learned to fly in a Cessna 152 and moved up to the 172 and 177 at a later stage. Those were fun but at a certain stage there is a wish to challenge yourself, fly something more exciting, fly historic aircraft, tail draggers, or have a go at aerobatics. The number of aero clubs that offer those aircraft for rent is limited and if they do, the minimum experience level is high and the hourly rental cost in many cases is astronomical.
In such cases there are many options. Fractional ownership is an option, building your own aircraft another. In my area there were very few options for fractional ownership of a Yak52 or an SF260 and the Yak isn’t a great travelling aircraft either. That brings you back to the mission. What do you want this aircraft to do? Do you like to go for that 100$ hamburger? Do you like to take the family out on trips? Or do you like to make the horizon spin? This is a question where the answers are individual and the outcome gives a good idea of what type of aircraft you need to look for.
In my personal case I’d love an airplane that I can use to discover new places, not just make circles around the patch, but at the same time I like gentle aerobatics, loops, rolls, hammerheads etc… I’m not the person that is looking to make snap rolls or check how many negative G’s I can tolerate. Because of that type of flying I also have a natural tendency and preference towards tandem seating vs. the classical side-by-side seating. Unfortunately the production aircraft that would suit those bills are typically the military trainers which have a quite hefty sticker price. Totally out of my league.
I ended up with the RV series of aircraft. Why? Because they’ve been in the business for a long time, have a high finishing rate, have a huge community of builders and in the end… it seems something I could do. At the same time, RV’s are known not because they are the fastest or the most nimble but because they do many things well and are not so exotic that it takes an experimental text pilot to fly one.
Do I know how to build aircraft? Nope. Have I built aircraft before? No. (I’ve worked on some restorations but not built an aircraft). I’m confident that I will learn as I go and I believe that all the skills required to build this aircraft will be learned in the process from instructions, other builders, forums etc…
If you love flying and are considering building yourself, do check out publications like Kitplanes Magazine, become a member of the Experimental Aircraft Association (US) or Light Aircraft Association (UK). For people considering Van’s Aircraft RV Series of aircraft there is only one place to go… Vansairforce.net This is a community set up by RV-6 builder Doug Reeves and it has become the go-to place for all RV Builders.
Some other great kitplane manufacturers:
