4 ms·

Building a plane in my garage. You'd be surprised how minimal yet how strong a lot of these structures are. The vast majority of the material I use is thinner

Building a plane in my garage. You'd be surprised how minimal yet how strong a lot of these structures are. The vast majority of the material I use is thinner than a credit card.

bacondude3 6y ago
I want to hear more about building a plane in one's garage. Are you using a kit? How hard is it? Cost? How will you transport it to an airport once it's finished? It sounds like it would be a great project. Thanks.
- AWildC182 6y ago
  Kit: Yes, in my case it's an RV-8 by https://www.vansaircraft.com/ https://www.vansaircraft.com/ they're probably the biggest name in town by volume and they make mid-cost kits. There are some more and less expensive options however. Hard: I took a class from a licensed A&P mechanic and while not mandatory, gave me a pretty good idea of what I'd be up against. It is extremely challenging even with a kit however. Lots of learning, lots of redoing stuff because of mistakes, many many hours. Cost: whatever you want it to be really. You can do safe builds probably from around 40-50k for something like a Sonex or Kitfox to several hundred thousand for a Velocity twin or even something turbine powered. Transport: most people build in their garage and leave the wings off then stick it in a trailer or U-Haul to complete final assembly at a hangar. It's mostly a non-issue.
- hindsightbias 6y ago
  Kits have become progressively simpler to build. The example like the RV below would conservatively take over 1500 hours. A newer Vans RV-12, much less. A Rans S-21, possibly 600 hours. Looking at their wing build: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iPJgm7qP3FY https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iPJgm7qP3FY dramatically simpler than an RV-8. My -8A flying cost was about $75K a decade ago, it would probably take at least $90K today. An S-21 would probably be more. Some kits come with a folding wing option, so they can be trailered. The primary decider in the difficulty/time factor is community and your Technical Counseler [1] (usually a multi-kit builder and FAA approved). If you’re able to build near a very active community (Livermore has a lot of RVs), these people will show up at your house/hangar and get/keep you going. Amazing people who can teach you a lot. 1. https://www.eaa.org/eaa/aircraft-building/volunteer-assistance/eaa-technical-counselors https://www.eaa.org/eaa/aircraft-building/volunteer-assistan...

Building a plane in my garage. You'd be surprised how minimal yet how strong a lot of these structures are. The vast majority of the material I use is thinner than a credit card.

bacondude3 6y ago

I want to hear more about building a plane in one's garage. Are you using a kit? How hard is it? Cost? How will you transport it to an airport once it's finished? It sounds like it would be a great project. Thanks.

AWildC182 6y ago
Kit: Yes, in my case it's an RV-8 by https://www.vansaircraft.com/ https://www.vansaircraft.com/ they're probably the biggest name in town by volume and they make mid-cost kits. There are some more and less expensive options however. Hard: I took a class from a licensed A&P mechanic and while not mandatory, gave me a pretty good idea of what I'd be up against. It is extremely challenging even with a kit however. Lots of learning, lots of redoing stuff because of mistakes, many many hours. Cost: whatever you want it to be really. You can do safe builds probably from around 40-50k for something like a Sonex or Kitfox to several hundred thousand for a Velocity twin or even something turbine powered. Transport: most people build in their garage and leave the wings off then stick it in a trailer or U-Haul to complete final assembly at a hangar. It's mostly a non-issue.
hindsightbias 6y ago
Kits have become progressively simpler to build. The example like the RV below would conservatively take over 1500 hours. A newer Vans RV-12, much less. A Rans S-21, possibly 600 hours. Looking at their wing build: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iPJgm7qP3FY https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iPJgm7qP3FY dramatically simpler than an RV-8. My -8A flying cost was about $75K a decade ago, it would probably take at least $90K today. An S-21 would probably be more. Some kits come with a folding wing option, so they can be trailered. The primary decider in the difficulty/time factor is community and your Technical Counseler [1] (usually a multi-kit builder and FAA approved). If you’re able to build near a very active community (Livermore has a lot of RVs), these people will show up at your house/hangar and get/keep you going. Amazing people who can teach you a lot. 1. https://www.eaa.org/eaa/aircraft-building/volunteer-assistance/eaa-technical-counselors https://www.eaa.org/eaa/aircraft-building/volunteer-assistan...