Preparing to build a TBD

[BJC]

Thanks for all the good leads.
I insist on building my own plane. If I buy a plane, it will be a Cessna 150/152 or similar. I can't see myself paying the same amount of money for an experimental that only the builder knows well enough to inspect and maintain.

Nothing wrong with the Cessnas - I owned a Cessna A152 and thoroughly enjoyed it. The reason that I bought a TC’ed airplane was so my son-in-law would have something to learn to fly in. Finding a qualified instructor for an E-AB where he was would have been difficult.

But don’t automatically eliminate buying an E-AB. Doing so would be to exclude lots of perfectly good homebuilts, especially the more common ones such as the RVs, Rans, Zenith, and others. Unless you are in a remote location, aviation wise, there are plenty of A&Ps fully qualified to perform inspections and maintenance.

BJC

 

[Dana]

Unless you are in a remote location, aviation wise, there are plenty of A&Ps fully qualified to perform inspections and maintenance.

Or unless you have something weird, but many (most?) homebuilts are conventional enough that any A&P should be able to work on it.

 

[thjakits]

Hi all,

unless you buy a kit I have my doubts you would be able to finish your project in 24 months - even 24/365...

So - let's see - single seat - I know, no used experimentals - I list them anyway...
(maybe you want to consider something like a partially built Ez/e - you can inspect the fuselage and build the wings yourself...)

If you don't like to be a leaf in the wind - you might want something with a little bit of wingloading....

- Vari/Long Ez/e
- Midget Mustang
- RV-3
- Anything Sonex
- BD-4

- How about an Auto-gyro??

thjakits

 

[TarDevil]

Corby Starlet

CORBY STARLET CJ-1 | Aircraft Spruce

 

[Little Scrapper]

Wittman Buttercup. 0-200, dead simple, proven and quite awesome by most accounts .

 

[Geraldc]

what does tbd stand for? siri and google are confused

 

[Wanttaja]

what does tbd stand for? siri and google are confused

To Be Determined.

Ron Wanttaja

 

[Geraldc]

Thanks.

 

[thjakits]

Actually - Buttercup and whatever other tube&rag you fancy (Tailwind) - if you REALLY must have a single seater - you could just slice a 1.5 ft of the width - or narrow the firwall to the bare minimum - and go from there...

Imagine a Buttercup or Tailwind narrowed - less MGW - shorter wings - "Rocket!"

Though you have to weld the frame - which you seem trying to avoid...

I think older de Havilland planes are mostly wood - if you are into single seat speed - you might want to find a set of plans for this: Percival Mew Gull - Wikipedia

thjakits

 

[Toobuilder]

Is the single seat deal a hard requirement, or is it something you think will save money?

In any case, there are a bunch of formerly flying Tailwinds out there, and that represents about the best value in "quick build kits" out there. Taking a steel tube fuselage down to bare metal allows essentially 100% confidence in the quality of construction and in most cases all it will take after that is new paint. Same with the wing - strip the old fabric off, inspect/repair as required and build on. The resulting airplane is as good as any of the current generation "kits" (Rans, Bearhawk, Carbon Cub, etc), but at a FRACTION of the price. And since a Tailwind has the stick in the middle anyway, just sit there with the stick between your legs and boom - a roomy single seater!

 

[Victor Bravo]

There's a basket case Tailwind rotting for many years on the ramp at my home airport. Toobuilder if you know anyone in the Tailwind community that wants to save an airplane using a night-time special ops mission, I'll accidentally leave my airport gate card under a rock.

I think it's a W-8 with an O-290G if I recall, but it's been a lot of years. It's right next to the runway, about 1/3 of the way down a normal Rwy 12 takeoff, faded white. You could do a flyby and snap a photo without even leaving tire marks on the runway.

 

[Toobuilder]

Ok, I see it on Google Maps. Unfortunately, there are already TWO Tailwinds on my home airport.

Which just goes to show that these things are EVERYWHERE. Dirt cheap, high performance flying is right under our noses, just like I've been saying for years.

 

[proppastie]

never got your flight experience or missed it....

Sorry to be a wet blanket but many of the aircraft mentioned here are not suitable for low-time pilots because they are very sensitive, and have high stall speeds....A used homebuilt could be slightly warped from construction errors or rough treatment, adding that to the extreme sensitivity is a large potential safety problem....

 

[Toobuilder]

I can't see anything listed in this thread that would be considered too hot for even a student pilot - so long as the proper training was given. Certainly not a Tailwind or Buttercup.

 

[SVSUSteve]

Dern. I thought he was thinking of building a Douglas TBD "Devastator" replica.....

Ron Wanttaja

Glad I am not the only one disappointed to learn that he isn't.

 

[SVSUSteve]

no ADS-B or transponder required.

Into and out of Class C? This isn't Old Mudsuck International in the 1950s.

Let's not discourage people from basic safety equipment that allows one to see and, more importantly, be seen by other traffic.

 

[mcrae0104]

Let's not discourage people from basic safety equipment that allows one to see and, more importantly, be seen by other traffic.

Meh, this depends heavily where you fly. Otherwise ADS-B would be required everywhere. I wouldn't describe it as basic safety equipment. YMMV depending on location.

 

[TFF]

I find that people stare at the ADSB instead of looking out. Almost hit by a Barron. Center was talking to both of us. He claimed he did not see us. We volunteered to drop 1000 ft because we could see him coming. Whatever we did he would turn toward us. I believe people just got stupider with that box.

 

[proppastie]

so long as the proper training was given

yes...check out in a 2 place Pitts and you probably will be ok.....how many hours would a 100 hr. C150 student need?
My friend has a Citabria (not a hot homebuilt), he is very experienced (2000 hr.) with his aircraft.....He will not fly in a 90 degree crosswind of over 12.

 

[BJC]

Not all homebuilts are more difficult to fly, but many are different, primarily in control effectiveness, ground visibility, and much lower stick force per g. A W8, per the original design with a C-85, should present no problem at all for a 100 hour C150 driver after a brief checkout.

That same C150 driver might also transition into a Pitts in a few hours. I’m not supposed to tell people, but you don’t need to be a superior pilot fo fly a Pitts. The S-1S is the best handling sport airplane in existence. It does exactly what the pilot tells it to do, with great control harmony. While not fun, 35 knot direct crosswinds are manageable. Some people are intimidated, and never get comfortable with it, regardless of hours spent cruising on AP in the flight levels.

Anyone contemplating the purchase of a HBA should first fly in that HBA, or a similar enough design, to know how it will fly.


BJC