Cheap DIY Jet

[nittany03]

experimental airplane... a safe full of guns...who knows where this will go.

And there's the rub. I think I'm going to just resign myself to the airplane being a decade-long project and salt away as much tax-free as I can, assuming there's even still a war on by the time I deploy. Need to spend money on an instrument rating too, since I dithered my shot at mil proficiency away. Who knows what I'll jump at; all this Lancair stuff is interesting, but I cant throw tens of G's around like water, sad to say. Sadly, much of the GA market caters to those who can.

 

[HAL Pilot]

Need to spend money on an instrument rating too, since I dithered my shot at mil proficiency away.

Don't be too quick to spend that money. i THINK it's based on recency in airplanes (go fly at the local flying club) and I've also heard that the time requirement has gone away. Check it out first, but I believe if you go jump in a S.E. and a M.E. plane you can take the test and get both comm/inst.

 

[Schnugg]

Nice burner on start.

 

[Pepe]

I don't remember reading anything stating Sonex was a strong homebuilt BEFORE they added the jet engine. Long-ez's and Berkuts still get my vote.

 

[scoolbubba]

I just started looking into some of this stuff. The EZ's look pretty damn legit. 5.1 GPH at 160KTAS cruise. Can't do that in a car.

 

[PropAddict]

But on a motorcycle. . .

 

[BACONATOR]

I'll be interested to see what the range is, and whether that price tag includes avionics, which aren't cheap. I'm seriously considering putting money away for a homebuilt, and the nearest thing I can think of is the Harmon Rocket III, which trues out at around 310 with a six-cylinder Lycoming IIRC. RVs and canards can get you and a passenger halfway across the US on a tank of gas, too. I wonder what the fuel burn is on that little jet? How much of that little airframe is full of fuel, and how much baggage can you take along?

At any rate, fully kitted out for IFR, you're looking at quite a bit more than $60,000 for a Rocket, Long-EZ or RV. New Lycomings alone go for north of $35K.

And IMO, spending big-time bucks on a VFR-only machine is foolish. Bottom line, it looks fun, but I'd want to read the POH before I jumped.

For shits and giggles, I priced out an RV 7 and to make it fully IFR, after all was said and done, it would be like 100-120K. Not too bad for a plane that you'd fly for decades.

 

[Gatordev]

I just started looking into some of this stuff. The EZ's look pretty damn legit. 5.1 GPH at 160KTAS cruise. Can't do that in a car.

Actually, I did that the other day driving back home. In an inline 6, no less. Okay, it was miles per hour not knots, but still, that's only about 4-ish MPG difference.

 

[Rocketman]

For shits and giggles, I priced out an RV 7 and to make it fully IFR, after all was said and done, it would be like 100-120K. Not too bad for a plane that you'd fly for decades.

I have a buddy that has an RV-6. He he bought it pre-built and has been flying it for a number of years. It's one hell of an airplane.

 

[yak52driver]

I have a buddy that has an RV-6. He he bought it pre-built and has been flying it for a number of years. It's one hell of an airplane.

I'm teaching aerobatics to pilots that own an RV-7 and RV-8. I like the RV designs. They are reasonably fast, don't burn a lot of fuel and are fun aerobatic machines. The RV-7 is a little more comfortable for two pilots being side-by-side. Sitting in the back of the RV-8 is more cramped. (And I'm not too big at about 6' and 165 lbs). The workmanship on both planes is pretty amazing, I have a lot of respect for the builders.

 

[nittany03]

Don't be too quick to spend that money. i THINK it's based on recency in airplanes (go fly at the local flying club) and I've also heard that the time requirement has gone away. Check it out first, but I believe if you go jump in a S.E. and a M.E. plane you can take the test and get both comm/inst.

I'm going to call the FSDO when I get settled and try to get it sorted out.

 

[Jim123]

I just started looking into some of this stuff. The EZ's look pretty damn legit. 5.1 GPH at 160KTAS cruise. Can't do that in a car.

Promise yourself you'll take your time before spending any money! Don't just read printed and online stuff (although there are some really great magazines, websites, and bulletin boards). Go out to the local EAA chapter meeting for at least a few months, or better yet go to more than one chapter if there is another or a third nearby. Take EVERYTHING you learn with a grain of salt. Then, go for it. To paraphrase an old saying, dumber and lazier people than you have successfully built and flown their own airplanes

This is one of those "if I knew then what I know now" things. I'm a few years into building my own plane and I'll say that I'm pretty happy with a lot of the choices I made along the way... BUT... while my gut instincts were right on a lot of things up front it turns out that looking back I was pretty far off on other stuff.

 

[Scoob]

while my gut instincts were right on a lot of things up front it turns out that looking back I was pretty far off on other stuff.

Like what? (This thread is really piquing my interest.)

 

[Rocketman]

I'm teaching aerobatics to pilots that own an RV-7 and RV-8. I like the RV designs. They are reasonably fast, don't burn a lot of fuel and are fun aerobatic machines. The RV-7 is a little more comfortable for two pilots being side-by-side. Sitting in the back of the RV-8 is more cramped. (And I'm not too big at about 6' and 165 lbs). The workmanship on both planes is pretty amazing, I have a lot of respect for the builders.

If I was into motors I think the RV-8 would be my perfect toy.

http://www.vansaircraft.com/public/rv-8int.htm

Check out this cockpit from an RV-8 that was for sale. Sweet.
http://www.lareata.org/Gallery.asp

 

[scoolbubba]

Promise yourself you'll take your time before spending any money! Don't just read printed and online stuff (although there are some really great magazines, websites, and bulletin boards). Go out to the local EAA chapter meeting for at least a few months, or better yet go to more than one chapter if there is another or a third nearby. Take EVERYTHING you learn with a grain of salt. Then, go for it. To paraphrase an old saying, dumber and lazier people than you have successfully built and flown their own airplanes

I've got nothing but time on this goal...it's very long term.