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I finished that airplane and made the first flight on December 26, 1993. Over the next couple of decades, I partnered with Ken Krueger to build an airplane he designed, a small VW-powered single-seater we called the KK-1. It was a five-year project, but the result flew very well. I enjoyed flying the company airplane and needed some way to occupy my hands and mind, so I spent 18 months building one. Kitfox provides one of the safest & easy to build kits in the kitplane market. There are over 4000 completed Kitox aircraft flying today and there has never been a reported in-flight structural failure.
Avoiding mission creep is the only way to stay within a modest budget. Paul Dye, KITPLANES® Editor at Large, retired as a Lead Flight Director for NASA’s Human Space Flight program, with 40 years of aerospace experience on everything from Cubs to the Space Shuttle. An avid homebuilder, he began flying and working on airplanes as a teen, and has experience with a wide range of construction techniques and materials. He flies an RV-8 that he built, an RV-3 that he built with his pilot wife, as well as a Dream Tundra they completed.
Landing Gear
With more builders demanding quickbuild options and willing to pay for them, you can hardly blame them. After two and a half years and 500 hours of flying, I still marvel at the fact that it was built at home. If I were to do it again, I would use 10-inch displays rather than 7-inch ones that are a challenge with older eyes. I would not bother with an IFR GPS, given the amount of actual IFR I do. I would not bother with the aftermarket tip tanks; it can do around 1000 nautical miles on just the mains.
And speaking of wings, the Dakota Hawk has the option of folding feathers. The airplane is primarily wood but comes with Dacron fabric and Stewart adhesives in base form. Byron Poppenhagen’s Baby Ace with an O-200.The Baby Ace, a long-distance cousin of the original Corben designs of the late 1920s, is in many ways the quintessential early homebuilt. This parasol-wing, open-cockpit “flivver” mounts a Continental C-85 up front, though several variants of Continental’s popular flat-four up to 120 hp will go, and provides a breezy 100-mph cruise. Top speed is just 10 mph greater, but it probably feels like a lot more with the wind rushing by your ears. With a gross weight of just 950 pounds, the Baby Ace is LSA legal.
Sonex
As a result, the Federal Trade Commission banned Bede from accepting aircraft kit investments for a period of 10 years. These Quick Build upgrade options drastically reduce build time and reduce the level of skill required to complete the aircraft. Quick Build Sonex Aircraft kits offer the fastest build possible within the bounds of Experimental/Amateur-Built homebuilding regulations . Getting your kit components under $25,000 for a one- or two-place airplane is a challenge enough, but getting something with four seats that starts in the budget basement is fairly impressive. It’s not a new design by any means, but a reproduction of Piper’s PA-14 Family Cruiser aircraft.
Standard fuel is 39 gallons, generous with an O-320 up front. Handling is straightforward and very Piper-like. How Sonex does this is really through simplicity of design.
Airdrome Aeroplanes Sopwith Camel
Among her inputs, Kelli gave me two key “requests” (which I dutifully understood were actually “requirements”). As far as spare parts and support, Otterback added, “Arion has bought all inventory that Jabiru North America had. We continue to maintain a very good stock of parts, and we order new stock every Friday from Australia to keep the shelves full. N207KS was the 207th RV-6 kit sold out of more than 6000. It first flew on December 26, 1993, and Ken still owns it.
During my time at Cornell, I started building a KR-2 with my father, who suggested a plansbuilt project as a learning exercise before we started on the original-design delta. I now understand that my dad saw my still-developing engineering skills were not yet to the point where I could design a safe airplane. The KR-2 project was his way of supporting my long-term dream while postponing the delta project until I had the ability to do it right. But after spending the majority of my adult life building and flying experimental airplanes, my advice is that if you want to build an airplane, buy a kit. There’s a world of satisfaction and pleasure in building a kit aircraft, without the grinding grunt work.
Cruise speeds run from less than 70 mph with the 503 up to 80 with the 912. Truth is, that much wing is great for lift but you can’t really outrun induced drag. Many other designs at or near this price point don’t include any interior at all. Of course, Just offers a long list of options to add to your bottom line, but you can start with a fairly complete base kit and go austere from there. We chose the Sopwith Camel for this exercise but most of Airdrome’s replicas could meet our under-$25K kit cost criteria.
Call it serendipity, or fluke, or whatever you want, you have to admit they were smart to do a simple reconfiguration rather than a complete redesign for entry into the LSA market. Find out about new products, maintenance and inspection information as well as events where you can meet our team and see aircraft in person. If you have general questions about Experimental Aviation or are new to homebuilts and have questions about how to get started - this is the place. For more Technical questions please go to the appropriate forum below.
I mean, a decades-old itch constantly reminded me that I would build an aircraft someday, and that I would name that aircraft Kelli Girl after my beautiful wife. One thing Jabiru in North America is known for is hosting engine seminars. This is something every engine manufacturer should do. The seminar I attended in 2015 covered everything from tuning to cooling, as well as complete teardown and assembly. One of the most interesting topics was the revision history and design philosophy of Jabiru. In particular, engine failure analysis was a big part of the discussion.
Tom flies his Starduster Too over north San Diego County, California. With its O-540 Lycoming, it climbs at 2500 fpm, cruises at 150 mph, and has a 350-foot takeoff roll. “Sid, you flew over 2000 hours in the back seat of F-4 Phantoms.
Mike Van Wagenen, a Vietnam-era fighter pilot and Bede’s primary business partner and inspiration for the BD-10, took the reins of the entire project and pressed ahead. The biggest red flag for the project was when wrinkling appeared on the aircraft’s vertical tail after performing demo flights at the 1994 Reno Air Races. The tail was beefed up, and the next prototype, dubbed the PJ-1, was quickly built based on the redesign, and Van Wagenen’s new company, Peregrine Flight International, was born.
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