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Aircraft located at KDEW just north of Spokane WA. The BD-10 was a short-lived homebuilt jet powered by a single GE J85 turbojet engine. The sleek homebuilt jet would be the first supersonic homebuilt, or so claimed its designer. Both options offer safe, reliable and fully-insured transport services to Sonex Aircraft Quick Build customers including residential delivery at no additional charge.
One advantage for the bottom line is that builders don’t need quite as extensive a tool set. Engines from the Lycoming O-290 up to the O-360 can be accommodated, and an S-18 with a 180-hp engine and constant-speed prop is said to go 180 mph in cruise and climb at a strong 1500 fpm. Currently, the full kit runs just over $20,000 for the two-seat taildragger.
Pietenpol Air Camper
I started sketching delta-winged light-plane concepts and used my newly acquired engineering knowledge to analyze their performance. Within a year, I set building such an airplane for myself as a life goal. People don’t say that the RV-3B is a thinking man’s airplane, which it most certainly is, at least during the construction.
The Beachner Special, the Durand biplane and the Polliwagen. I think a total of seven or eight of those airplanes—combined—were ever finished. I grew up building surfboards and had helped a friend rebuild a few VW engines, so when the Q2 came along, I was all over that.
Stroke Aircraft Engines
I ought to know because I decided to build one, mostly to have a fulfilling project, and it has been that and more for sure. My kits were delivered in 2012, and I’ve been at it since. And yes, it’ll have a full-time big engine, and it’ll make those loud engine sounds that I no longer enjoy.
This, I should add, is very similar to Brain Carpenter’s Rainbow Aviation LSA repairman/inspection class, except their focus is Rotax engines. In both cases I came away more knowledgeable and with a healthy respect for the factory guidelines. Back in about 1987, I was 36 years old, with very little money and a logbook with about 180 hours in it. The preceding three years had contained one wrenching experience after another, and I was ready to do something, anything, positive.
Coming Soon: JSX-2T Two-Place Jet
Building economically can be done, but you’re going to be part of the cost savings. Kitplanes.com and the Kitplanes logo are protected properties under international copyright law. There’s a mystique about WW-I planes that will live forever. We all built trailers to get our planes to the shows and back home. In between those years, time was spent getting a degree, starting a career, marrying the girl of my dreams , restoring a 1946 C-120, and learning to fly the C-120.
We’ll guide you step by step on the journey of building one of the most versatile, safe and quality aircraft on the market. Our kit aircraft are built in a factory that maintains Part 23 standards. Craftsman quality exists in every part that Kitfox manufactures. AUSTIN, TEXAS, MAY 17, 2021 – Bearhawk Aircraft announced today the first flight of a Bearhawk Companion, side-by-side two-place aircraft. The Companion is a utility aircraft with backcountry flying...
Until I stood next to one and realized I’d never fit in an airplane I could step over. With over 30 years of development and testing and over a million accumulated flight hours, it’s no wonder the Kitfox has the safest record in the industry. Below are some images of the testing that the Kitfox has gone through in conjunction with solid engineering and flight testing. A light sport airplane that delivers comfort and performance. When it comes to support, it's hard to beat the Van's experience.
I roll and pitch aggressively on nearly all flights but don’t need tiddlywink aerobatics. Zooming up and over the clouds on sunset flights is glorious, and the big engine means you don’t have to look at your watch to see if anything is happening when you lay on the loud lever. Cross-country stability is excellent, and the world looks great framed by those two wings and crossing stainless steel wires. These modifications are not ones I would recommend to a first-time builder, at least not the flap change, because such changes tend to complicate and extend the building process. My previous planes were all built according to the plans, although I did later switch my first GlaStar to conventional gear from its original tricycle configuration. It is only now, on my fourth project, that I am customizing things from the beginning.
Mike Van Wagenen, a Vietnam-era fighter pilot and Bede’s primary business partner and inspiration for the BD-10, took the reins of the entire project and pressed ahead. The biggest red flag for the project was when wrinkling appeared on the aircraft’s vertical tail after performing demo flights at the 1994 Reno Air Races. The tail was beefed up, and the next prototype, dubbed the PJ-1, was quickly built based on the redesign, and Van Wagenen’s new company, Peregrine Flight International, was born.
For some builders, the desire to move toward the most sophisticated, capable end of the spectrum piles on cost, complexity and build time. Instead, at this price level for a new kitbuilt, we’re talking basic, fun airplanes meant for good-weather flying. But, if you think about it, that’s where many of us started, making a light, simple airplane a welcome bit of homecoming for experienced pilots. The key here is to keep the endpoint of the project in mind—what does the design want to be?
I’d spent a lot of time at Oshkosh watching airplanes go by. Some looked OK, some looked…well, not so OK, most were just blah…and a few caught my eye as just looking right. One guy who seemed to get it right was Bob Barrows, designer of the four-seat Bearhawk. I liked his tandem Patrol even better, and when he came out with the LSA version, I liked it best of all. The Violinist surprised me with a set of plans for Christmas. I convinced a couple of airpark neighbors to join me, and in 2013 we formed the Pudding River Bearhawk LLC. The resulting airplane, now known as the ForeverHawk, should fly in 2019.
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