Homebuilt, What does it take?!

[Henning]

Seems like the composites tend to be very expensive time consuming to build. Which is why I have my eye on a used glasair or lancair.


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It depends, if you get a kit with premolded laid up sections, the airframe goes rather quickly if the molds were good. If not there is a decent bit of time to spend fairing, but if you know what you're doing and use the right materials, you can fair the entire airframe in a couple of days. Either way, lots less time and effort than riveting together a similar sized airframe.

 

[Jimmy cooper]

You should also consider......how clever are you with tools? Built anything like it before? The reason so many projects are for sale is that time, money and inexperience wear the person down. Some people would rather build one than fly one. Some builders are very clever and very adept at this and others are not . Go to the rans clan site and look at their various builds. Several people on that site, having a mechanical background, can knock one out pretty quickly. For others it's song without end. Rans has excellent support and reputation. I hunted for a rans courier for a long time.

 

[yakdriver]

It depends, if you get a kit with premolded laid up sections, the airframe goes rather quickly if the molds were good. If not there is a decent bit of time to spend fairing, but if you know what you're doing and use the right materials, you can fair the entire airframe in a couple of days. Either way, lots less time and effort than riveting together a similar sized airframe.

It takes way more than a couple of days to do composite work. Even a Lancair quickbuild has a lot of parts you have to build and tons of sanding to do. I got a Lancair 360 airframe about 80% finished before I developed a severe alergy to the epoxy. I had around 1200 hrs in it at that point. I did my RV7 quickbuild in 1400hrs total ready to fly. About 1400 hrs also building the Backcountry SuperCub kit. I love building and always have a project to work on. Don

 

[Henning]

It takes way more than a couple of days to do composite work. Even a Lancair quickbuild has a lot of parts you have to build and tons of sanding to do. I got a Lancair 360 airframe about 80% finished before I developed a severe alergy to the epoxy. I had around 1200 hrs in it at that point. I did my RV7 quickbuild in 1400hrs total ready to fly. About 1400 hrs also building the Backcountry SuperCub kit. I love building and always have a project to work on. Don

Did you have much prior experience dealing with composites? Epoxy allergies suck, but are not uncommon.

 

[Geico266]

You should also consider......how clever are you with tools? Built anything like it before? The reason so many projects are for sale is that time, money and inexperience wear the person down. Some people would rather build one than fly one. Some builders are very clever and very adept at this and others are not . Go to the rans clan site and look at their various builds. Several people on that site, having a mechanical background, can knock one out pretty quickly. For others it's song without end. Rans has excellent support and reputation. I hunted for a rans courier for a long time.

I've own 3 or 4 Rans S-12 aircraft. Great planes and great support. Lots of fun also.


A person with reasonable hand tool skills can learn the additional skills to build an airplane. It is determination that is usually lacking.

 

[yakdriver]

Did you have much prior experience dealing with composites? Epoxy allergies suck, but are not uncommon.

Yes, I have used composites since I was 12 building surfboards, then model airplanes, Corvettes etc. So over 60 years. It does have a cumulative effect and I wasn't great at protecting myself early on. I can still work with several different types of resins but I have to be careful. Don

 

[coma24]

Fill in the blank: "I'd rather build this plane from scratch, spending years in the process and more money than buying a pre-built version because _____________________"

If you love the idea of building, great. If you're doing it as a means to an end, it doesn't seem like a good use of time. You could do a LOT of flying during the time that you're spending on the build.

I'm not saying you shouldn't build...but if you're going to build, you really should have a solid reason for doing it.

 

[Dan Thomas]

Yes, I have used composites since I was 12 building surfboards, then model airplanes, Corvettes etc. So over 60 years. It does have a cumulative effect and I wasn't great at protecting myself early on. I can still work with several different types of resins but I have to be careful. Don

In the '70s I got myself sick using epoxies and had allergies for many years and still fight them. You can get allergic to the resins, like I did, but also develop allergies to other stuff, like I did to dairy products. The chemicals in epoxy mess up your immune system and make it react to stuff it shouldn't.

Dan

 

[AdamZ]

This is true. Build if you have time and a burning desire to build for the sake of building.

Another consideration is that there is less support for an older generation model lancair builder than for say any of the RV's.

If you look, there are 235/320/360 completed planes available for DIRT CHEAP. You might consider buying one that needs work or has mods you would wish to do rather than starting from scratch.

Really? What do you consider Dirt Cheap?

I think the Lancair 235/320/360 are awesome planes but I wouldn't say what I've seen are dirt cheap.


Now as for the build thing. I'm currently involved in an RV12 build with some other people. There is a bigger learning curve for some and others not. When I started I didn't understand what a cleco was and I"m pretty handy. A lot of the build is super detail oriented and there is lot of minutia to deal with. Sometimes I'm reading the plans and I scratching my head thinking What the.......? There is an extra hole in this piece that's not on the plans. I never knew how many different types of rivets there are. Sometimes we can work for a very long time and make very little progress. I don't think if I weren't doing it with others that I would get involved in a build I have too much other stuff going on in my life.

All in all I'd like participating in this build but think at some point I'd really like to purchase an exp that is already built. The idea of building is very romantic but you really need to be able to commit yourself otherwise you will be selling your partially built kit to another would be builder.

 

[gjslutz]

FWIW, I have owned an Eagle II, Glasair III, Wagaero, Ultimate 10-200, and now an RV-4 W/ Pumped up 0-360 and CS prop. I have done many mods to my A/C, but never built one. I saw too many people start projects then sell prior to finish. All of those I purchased at below construction cost. All were great examples of the make. During the same time I had over 20 certified A/C. I like the EXP. much better of cost of ownership. I would never build an retractable EXP A/C as you are part of the R&D program. I'm not a craftsman either, I would hate the years building.

 

[N801BH]

FWIW, I have owned an Eagle II, Glasair III, Wagaero, Ultimate 10-200, and now an RV-4 W/ Pumped up 0-360 and CS prop. I have done many mods to my A/C, but never built one. I saw too many people start projects then sell prior to finish. All of those I purchased at below construction cost. All were great examples of the make. During the same time I had over 20 certified A/C. I like the EXP. much better of cost of ownership. I would never build an retractable EXP A/C as you are part of the R&D program. I'm not a craftsman either, I would hate the years building.[/QUOTE]

It is not the destination........... it is the journey....:wink2: