The planes, the plans...and the plan!

A couple of years ago, when I first really started looking into building my own airplane, I ran across some home built web sites. They had a lot of designs <$3000 and met some of my other requirements.

- Must be expiremental one seater (does not require license to fly)
- Small and light
- Easy to tow or transport
- Should not require and special skills to build (welding, milling, etc.)

The plan is to build an airplane, piece by piece in my garage over the winter and spring months. Then in the summer, take it out to an area around Burns, Oregon for some test flights.

I had wanted to design my own plane...maybe build the wings using a foam core design. Then I started to think...do I really want to strap myself into a plane that was designed and built by someone that knows nothing about aerodynamics and ariframe design? Nope...I don't think I'm up for that risk or the time it takes to learn and test a design. I want to build and fly!

There are two paths I am looking at going down.

1. Glider
Mike Sandlin is the expert on inexpensive home build gliders.
Basic Ultralight Glider




2. Powered Flight
I bought the plans for the Affordaplane a couple of years ago. Simple construction!
Affordaplane



In the next couple of weeks I am going to do some more research and then decide on what design I want to go with.