Comment

Comment by Jon L Bateman on July 28, 2010 at 11:54pm

Casey I agree with Chris. You will need to have access to machinery. I have over 1500 hours to date into my plans built 601XL-B. Like Chris I am a machinist by trade working in a large manufacturing plant with all the toys including lasers, and I have used them all at one time or another. I love the building of the plane. The $ savings depends on how good of a fabricator you are. You will need to be on top of your game no matter which way you. As far as the eaiser parts I'll let you know the minute I come across one.

Comment by Casey Zechmann on July 28, 2010 at 1:13pm

Thanks for the input. The build time on the component kits is low and it is appealing that all parts are prefab; however, on the easier parts like ribs and simple bend pieces, it seams like it would make more sense to build those and save money. Do you think the small amount of savings would be worth the hassle?

Comment by Chris Aysen on July 28, 2010 at 7:05am

Casey - I forgot about the powerplant. My recommendation in order of choice as follows: Rotax 912, 912ULS, Jabiru 2200, VW with reduction unit, no other recommendations.

Comment by Chris Aysen on July 28, 2010 at 6:59am

Casey - I finished a scratch built 701 about a year ago. I enjoyed building it and its flying great. I contemplating building another aircraft from scratch. But make no mistake; it is a HUGE undertaking. You must have access to some specialized equipment like a large bending brake. I own a machine shop and teach machine work at a community college so I also had access to CNC equipment. I bought the channel at the top of the cabin and the nose wheel forks from Zenith. .....IT MUST BE YOUR SOLE INTEREST. It took me 5years and 3 months of part time work. If money is not a problem I recommend the component kits.

Comment by Casey Zechmann on July 27, 2010 at 9:17pm

Sorry, I should have stated that. I am building the 701.

Comment by Jim Belcher on July 27, 2010 at 8:57am

Casey, which aircraft are you building?