Why, What, and How
Why?
So we’ve decided to build an airplane. This decision comes from over ten years of off and on flying rental aircraft. I never have been very happy with the quality of aircraft available to fly, the cost of renting, or the aggravation involved in having to deal with the flight schedule of many other people that want to fly the same rental plane. On top of this, I love to tinker. I’ve always been a nut for fabrication, creation, and the great feeling of having created something with your own hands. One of the best parts of this whole project is that when the aircraft is complete, I will also qualify for a “repairman’s certificate” from the FAA that will allow me to do all maintenance and repair work, including required inspections, of this plane. This is a big plus when you consider the cost of certified aircraft maintenance.
What?
This project is technically a kit built airplane that will have an airworthiness certificate from the FAA. The FAA issues a special airworthiness certificate in the “experimental” category for such aircraft. Some of the important components of this certificate include:
- The builder must have been responsible for the construction of at least 51% of the finished aircraft.
- The construction project must have been undertaken only for the education and recreation of the builder.
The aircraft kit the we are building is a Vans RV9A.
How?
The construction hangar is our simple two car garage. The airframe is mostly constructed by traditional methods of an aluminum skeleton with an aluminum skin. Most of the fasteners in the airframe are solid aluminum rivets (there are many thousands of them). The major airframe components will be constructed as sub-assemblies. First the empennage (tail components), then each wing, and finally the fuselage. After all of the parts are complete, we’ll move the whole project to a hangar for final assembly which is when the wings and tail will be attached. After completion, an FAA representative carefully inspects the plane and construction records before issuing the all important airworthiness certificate. Once a certificate has been issued, we begin a systematic flight test program that usually encompasses at least the first 25 hours of flight.
- How long will it take? We expect that it will take us about 2 years and about 2000 person-hours
- How much will it cost? We expect we will have spent in the neighborhood of $90K by the time we are done.
This site will serve as the official build log / construction documentation. Expect to see consistent updates as we progress.
I (Scott Card) can be reached via jcard at card dash net dot org.
