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He's flying a modified VariEze, one of a series of planes designed by Burt Rutan (who, among other many other things, designed SpaceShipOne). The VariEze was s

He's flying a modified VariEze, one of a series of planes designed by Burt Rutan (who, among other many other things, designed SpaceShipOne). The VariEze was sold as a set of plans; buying a set gave you the right to spend an enormous amount of time in your garage with fiberglass and foam, emerging a couple of years later with a fully functional two-seater airplane. The original design was targeted as efficient, long distance flying, at the expense of capabilities like aerobatics; according to the article, this guy has stepped up his with a re-designed engine an ignition system. Very cool, especially when you remember that this is very likely a plane he built himself in the first place. I find home-built experimental aircraft are fascinating; I'm plotting one of my own for next year. (There are a number of composite fiberglass designs in the VariEze family that are just beautiful, but they take much more effort to build than the more traditional aluminum, so I'm looking right now at the Van's RV Aircraft family.)

towndrunk 17y ago
I built a RV-8 from Van's. The kits are very well done and you will love the way it flies. Sorry for being some what off topic.
- run4yourlives 17y ago
  What about the noise in certain circles regarding safety? I've heard the wings tend to snap off if you pull higher G's... your thoughts? I've always thought the Falco's were pretty nifty.
  - towndrunk 17y ago
    As long as you stay within the design limits you will be fine. I built mine light as Van intended. My empty weight was 1029 lbs. More and more builders are putting a ton of "goodies" in the panel that I believe distract from the true sport nature of the Van's design. I never felt unsafe in mine doing sport aerobatics. Falco's are very nice but will take forever to build. There is a reason Van's has a huge number of completions.
proee 17y ago
I've heard that the completion rate for kit planes is less than 20%. May the force be with you.

towndrunk 17y ago

I built a RV-8 from Van's. The kits are very well done and you will love the way it flies. Sorry for being some what off topic.

run4yourlives 17y ago
What about the noise in certain circles regarding safety? I've heard the wings tend to snap off if you pull higher G's... your thoughts? I've always thought the Falco's were pretty nifty.
- towndrunk 17y ago
  As long as you stay within the design limits you will be fine. I built mine light as Van intended. My empty weight was 1029 lbs. More and more builders are putting a ton of "goodies" in the panel that I believe distract from the true sport nature of the Van's design. I never felt unsafe in mine doing sport aerobatics. Falco's are very nice but will take forever to build. There is a reason Van's has a huge number of completions.

proee 17y ago

I've heard that the completion rate for kit planes is less than 20%. May the force be with you.