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Budget built MiniMax 1100 Ultralight

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Joined
Jan 3, 2014
Messages
6,143
Location
Wisconsin
Cancelled work today and stayed home with my son who is pretty sick. He took a nap so I decided to rummage through all my airplane plans and organize them.

Came upon these MiniMax plans. Pretty fun to page through these. It's amazing how simple something like this is. Why is it people aren't building this in droves?

So you know, a guy starts thinking.

Most here who have followed my Cassutt thread have seen my shop in the background of the photos as well as some of my tools. You wouldn't believe how many people make comments to me about how they can't build because they don't have a shop like that and a few other excuses. I'm very greatful for my shop but the photos don't show just how small and simple it really is. Still, the excuses come in droves. A shop for most builders is pretty rare, it's just not a big requirement. Many seem to forget that a great deal of successful builders didn't spend thousands of dollars and months of labor to build a shop. I'm guilty of doing this but it's not required. A kitchen table, a cheap bench and a $5 light is really all anyone needs.

Cost. I'm sure most of you have heard from people about the constant bickering on affordable aviation. It's as if everyone has to have a $80,000 airplane or they refuse to participate. Looking at these plans is there really anything wrong with a simple wood 2 stroke powered ultralight? Again, paging through these plans I can't imagine why people don't just build this little guy and go have fun.

So you know, I did some more thinking.

Airventure is 20 weeks away. I have about 800' of 1/4" capstrip and a sheet of 1/16" mahogany in my basement. Definitely have nails. I have a few spars. I have a Spruce/Doug fir company 30 minutes from me. Airventure is a hundred miles away. My Cassutt gets worked on only when at I'm at my shop, which is not at my house it requires a trip. So none of this really intrudes on my Cassutt time. I have no shop at all left in my home, it's all moved out and in my shop. The only tools I have are in my service truck. Pretty sure I can build this at home with the bare minimum of tooling.

I'm thinking I could build 2 airplanes at once. The Cassutt in my shop and a Minimax 1100 Ultralight at home at night when my wife is working out. Cassutt is a long term project for fun.

So today I decided to rapidly build a MiniMax 1100. Here's a thread about building a simple airplane with minimal tools, minimal money, and for people who can't afford a pilots liscense......it's an ultralight. There's no excuse for anyone! And for those who don't want to wait a few years like my Cassutt or a lot of other airplanes will take well, I plan on flying this before summer is over. I don't think I can build it in time for Airventure because 20 weeks just doesn't seem possible does it? I've never built a wood airplane so let's just say I have no experience at all. Everyone knows my passion is metal and welding, so I'm completely out of my realm here. I still think I can build this and fly it in under 7 months. I could be wrong, but I think I could do this.

As a recap, this is a fun low stress thread about building a little open cockpit airplane made of wood on a budget and in a short period of time in a small space starting on a kitchen table. There's no excuse not to fly and I'm gonna show that on this thread.

I'm off to find a board for a wing jig. In order for me to get this done in a few months I'll need to not only build my rib jig this weekend but actually build a rib by Sunday so I can do ribs next week.

Because I have a project thread already I decided I'm going to make automatic monthly donations here to the forum to pay for the extra photos. It's the responsible thing to do.


If anyone wants to participate here's how you can help.

1.) If anyone has ever built or is building a MiniMax please post some helpful tips to expedite the build process.

2.) If anyone here has built one or has just studied the Ultralight MiniMax any advice on budget wheels, fuel tank or parts etc is welcomed. This will save me some research time which is greatly needed.

3.) I need to find a little Rotax and do it on a budget so we can say "here's how you can do it on a budget". Any advice or tips here is greatly appreciated!

4.) Please keep comments fun, exciting and encouraging because this thread is for those who say aviation isn't for the average person. Let's prove them wrong.

Time to get busy, summer will be here before we know it.

Scrap.

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