www.ruttlermills.com
jim@ruttlermills.com
We've previously discussed the requirement to have an
experimental airframe in order to take advantage of the technology available in
general aviation. And, we've briefly
discussed some of this technology which makes it all worthwhile. The question then becomes how do you actually
obtain an experimental airframe. There
are three ways you can get one of these precious commodities: buy one finished,
buy one partially finished, and build one yourself.
Finished experimental aircraft are your fast track to an
experimental airframe because somebody else has completed all the work of
assembly. This is obvious, but there are
some less obvious downsides to purchasing a finished aircraft. The first is - actually obvious too - you don't
know how good the build job was if you don't know what to look for. The second is - this is the one that is less
obvious - that you are inherit a lot of personalized finish work, paint, and
avionics. The avionics themselves may also
be outdated. These items require
significant amount of resources to change and upgrade, so it is in my opinion easier
to start with a clean slate.
Partially finished experimental aircraft are those that are
at some stage in the building process and incomplete. There might be a tail completed or even a
wing. I've seen entirely finished
airframes that were lacking only in engine and avionics. Obviously, you are a little further ahead
with these projects, but the problem for me is that you won't know where to
start or how to finish the assembly since you are jumping in without prior
experience.
For me, the only way to go is to start and complete your own
airframe and utilize the lessons I'll impart to make that experience more efficient
and timely. This way, you have a plane
that you know backwards and forwards and you can customize it as you wish.
The assembly process varies by RV by a thousand hours to two
thousand hours for the normal slow route, depending on the airframe selected. The normal slow route is where you assemble the
entire aircraft yourself, including the airframe parts, avionics, and engine. And you would have to be retired or glutton for
punishment to try and do a slow build.
The good news is that there are a few quickbuild options making
it quicker to assemble panels. This is
all part of the 50 percent rule previously discussed. Remember that so long as you assemble more
than 50 percent, your aircraft is experimental and can have the advanced
avionics and technology. These quickbuild
options include the wings and the fuselage and avionics and the engine and the interior.
The airframe quickbuild options from Vans include the wings
and the fuselage. These parts can be
completed by Vans and shipped to you, leaving you with only the tail section and
the finishing kit. I was foolish enough
to do the wings myself, but I learned my lesson and spent the extra money to
have the fueslage quickbuilt by Vans. The
fuselage saved me hundreds of hours and the wings would probably have been the
same. The added expense of these quickbuild
components are around $5-$7.5k each. Here I am with my kids getting ready for a first flight.
The panel quickbuild option is new and offered
by Advanced Flight Avionics. This
includes either the visual flight rules panel or the instrument flight rules panel,
both with the choice between Dynon Avionics components or Advanced Flight
components. These panels include the
physical panel, which is powder coated and silk screened, the screens, radios,
switches, sensors, and antennas. They do
save hundreds of hours because you don't have to figure out how to mount everything
or wire components together. Plus, the
appearance is professional, which would be difficult to achieve as a
novice. The panels are quick, but they
aren't instant. There are components in
your plane that requiring wiring, such as laying wires for the wing lights and
antennas. These components must have
wires that are brought up to the panel area, so that takes some time. Also, you've got to insert those wires into some
d-sub computer pins and connect them to the existing quickpanel system.
The engine is something that scares a lot of people, but it
shouldn't since it is also available as a quickbuild option. If you purchase a Lycoming engine
from Vans with the matching propeller, you can use the Van's firewall forward
kit for the installation. The engine
arrives completely assembled with the exception of hanging it, hooking up the
fuel lines, hooking up sensors, and connecting the exhaust pipes and these
components all come with the firewall forward kit.
The last item that is also a quickbuild option is the
interior. Many reputable companies are
available to assist you with decking out your interior. Some of them include Flightline Interiors,
Oregon Aero, and AeroSport. These
companies will do anything from upholstery to paneling. There are overhead panels, cup holders, arm-rests,
and baggage doors specially made for various Vans models. Here is one example interior completed by Aerosport.
Together, the quickbuild options for the wings, fueslage,
avionics, and engine dramatically cut your build time by hundreds of hours. Nobody wants to talk about the exact numbers
because that could put you at risk of busting the 50% rule, but it is certainly
much more efficient to use the quickbuild options. So the overall process looks something like
this:
Tail:
You
Wings:
Quickbuild Option
Fuselage:
Quickbuild Option
Finishing
(putting parts together): You
Avonics:
Quickbuild Option
Engine:
Quickbuild Option
Interior: Quickbuild Option
In essence, you are part builder and part general contractor. You've got to do some of the components yourself
and then others you farm out to others with your oversight. With these options, you can significantly reduce the 1000-2000 hour official estimation of the project time.
I will talk next about expenses and financing
options available for these aircraft and components.
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