Flight Lessons

UncleJoseph · Post by **UncleJoseph** » Sat Jun 12, 2004 7:48 pm

Okay gang, so now that the firebird is gone, I'll be starting my flight lessons soon. I'm an avid experimental aviation enthusiast, so I thought I'd give you a look at what my trade-off was.

This is the airplane I'll be getting my lessons in. It is a Piper Cherokee 140. Cost: Variable, but probably around $4,000.

Once that is complete, this is the airplane I'll be building from a kit. It is a Zodiac 601XL, designed by a guy who worked on the Concorde. Several hundred of these planes are currently flying. It has been the winner of several EAA awards for design, safety and overall crafstmanship. The basic design has been in production since the early 1980's. Cost: About $20,000, and 400-500 hours build time.

And this is the engine that I will be converting from the GM Corvair Automobile engine (100 HP). This is one of the most reliable and well-suited automobile engine conversions for aircraft. It is a horizontally opposed six-cylinder air-cooled engine. Cost: About $3,000 to purchase and rebuild for flight application.

And before any of you say, "Oh yeah, build your own airplane...right," I am a long time member of the Experimental Aviation Association. And 32 or Serious Paul can tell you that when I build something, it's well made.

Serious Paul · Post by **Serious Paul** » Sat Jun 12, 2004 7:52 pm

Dude thats sweet.

I've got dibs on Shotgun!

UncleJoseph · Post by **UncleJoseph** » Sat Jun 12, 2004 7:54 pm

Actually, I'm thinking of putting machine guns in the wings...you could be my gunner...

Oh wait, I have a better idea, I could mount paintball machine guns in the wings, and we could do strafing runs at the Bulldrek paintball outings!!!

Chopper · Post by **Chopper** » Sun Jun 13, 2004 1:14 am

Place me inside a giant ballon filled with paint and drop me into a croud of bulldreckers. Wee!

FlakJacket · Post by **FlakJacket** » Sun Jun 13, 2004 2:11 am

Not bad. Although the DIY plane does look a little on the diddy side.

Sock_Monkey · Post by **Sock_Monkey** » Sun Jun 13, 2004 4:50 pm

The Cherokee 140 is a fine ship to train in, I prefer the Cessna myself, but that would be like getting into an arguement over Ford and Chev.

Word of caution, Even if you're building your own aircraft make sure you get good training in it before you take it up yourself. Be patient in that regard, I've seen too many twits who have this retarded urge to get into the air asap roll them into balls at the end of the runway. The thing a lot of people forget is that your basic trainers like the Cherokee and the Skyhawk are very forgiving airplanes, not only in terms of their handling, but also in terms of their CoG envelope and ability to take abuse. Coverting to a taildragge also takes a bit of time.

Fly safe!

UncleJoseph · Post by **UncleJoseph** » Sun Jun 13, 2004 5:54 pm

Yeah, I've got all that already worked out. During construction, I have an EAA Technical Advisor to assist. I also have a guy who's built one to do the test flights, and to give me a check ride.

As far as the airplane itself, it is a very easy and forgiving airplane to fly. The CoG envelope is pretty wide, although it'll be slightly smaller because of my engine choice. I'll be going to the factory construction workshop before I start building it, which will introduce me to the construction of it. Like I said before, there are tons of these planes flying. They're easier and simpler to fly than most certificated aircraft.