First plane to purchase?

Heres my question.. What do you guys think is the most economical homebuilt when it comes to miles per gallon.. or I guess I should ask which airplanes has the best airspeed to gph... we are considering what to build next and I would like to build a bird that could do some very serious long distance while burning the least amount of gas as possible.. i would like to attempt a few distance records if possible.. i would guess it would be a rutan design but does anyone have a good idea?
 
KSCessnaDriver said:
If you build an experimental bird, AND apply for the repairman's certificate for that specific airframe, you may sign off the yearly condition inspection. That said, if I built a bird, I think I'd still want an A&P to take a gander at it once a year, just to make sure I didn't do something dumb that I missed.
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True enough, and your logic is indeed sound. But as someone who has not yet built an airplane and at the risk of eating my words later, I will say the following. If you ever get to the point of building a plane to completion yourself, chances are better than not that you will A) Feel completely confident in signing off nearly everything yourself (you really do learn that much from the process) and B) Get friendly with enough A&P's and/or AI's to have a good support network available to give you advice with anything you don't feel completely comfortable about.

Some builders eventually become mechanics. Some mechanics eventually become builders. Either way builders and sympathetic mechanics always seem to have a way of finding each other. So based on what I have seen, I have complete confidence that when (not if) I finally build whatever it is I end up building, I will have a good network of knowledgeable experience from both A&P's and other builders available to assist me with whatever questions I end up having. IOW, even though I'll probably sign off on all the inspections myself, I won't be acting alone. It takes a village as they say and as a builder, a village is what you always seem to find.
 
Jbroz04 said:
Heres my question.. What do you guys think is the most economical homebuilt when it comes to miles per gallon.. or I guess I should ask which airplanes has the best airspeed to gph... we are considering what to build next and I would like to build a bird that could do some very serious long distance while burning the least amount of gas as possible.. i would like to attempt a few distance records if possible.. i would guess it would be a rutan design but does anyone have a good idea?
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If I had to guess I'd say it was one of the Rutan designs. But while the Glassairs are probably more expensive to build or buy, they're still pretty darned fast for the horsepower. And the RV's are nothing to sneeze at in terms of total cost to build, ease of build, and speed/performance per horsepower.

The older I get though, the more I realize there's more to the equation than just pure speed. And that makes the Glassair Sportsman 2+2 my homebuilt of choice these days. Better speed per horsepower than most production models, good ease of build, great cabin space/comfort and great useful load make it a winning combination for me these days.
 
First plane.....Velocity....no....Mark IV.....yes. Cheap, fast, inexpensive maintenance, good range, true 4 seater....'nuff said
 
jrh said:
Without knowing your exact budget, here's what I think might work well for you: A nice, clean, IFR-certified Cherokee Warrior of some kind (-151, -161, or -181).
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Don't overlook a Cherokee 140. It might be all the airplane you need until you kid gets too big for the back seat. It will be cheaper to buy and fly than the Warriors. You'll at least want to consider looking at it so you have a good comparison.
 
motoboy said:
How did you like your Yankee? I've always thought they were cool planes but you dont see them around that often, the price take makes them more attractive.
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I LOVED IT!! I'd still have it today if I hadn't been invited to move to Japan. It fit my mission perfectly: IFR, Me & the hot blonde and 80lbs of baggage. We normally took weekend trips in it, and it fit that role perfectly. When I'd pack for a week of camping at Oshkosh I had to be careful by the time I got a tent, sleeping bags and clothes for a week, but I flew it there 3 times and once to SNF. It was a joy to fly, and should have been called a sport tourer like the Liberty XL2.

http://www.airport-data.com/aircraft/photo/047950L.html
 
Jbroz04 said:
Heres my question.. What do you guys think is the most economical homebuilt when it comes to miles per gallon.. or I guess I should ask which airplanes has the best airspeed to gph... we are considering what to build next and I would like to build a bird that could do some very serious long distance while burning the least amount of gas as possible.. i would like to attempt a few distance records if possible.. i would guess it would be a rutan design but does anyone have a good idea?
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http://cassutt.lornet.com/
 
Jbroz04 said:
Heres my question.. What do you guys think is the most economical homebuilt when it comes to miles per gallon.. or I guess I should ask which airplanes has the best airspeed to gph... we are considering what to build next and I would like to build a bird that could do some very serious long distance while burning the least amount of gas as possible.. i would like to attempt a few distance records if possible.. i would guess it would be a rutan design but does anyone have a good idea?
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Have you looked at the Xenos? Kinda like an ugly duckling, but pretty impressive and cheap.

http://www.sonexaircraft.com/aircraft/xenos.html
 
Nihon_Ni said:
Don't overlook a Cherokee 140. It might be all the airplane you need until you kid gets too big for the back seat. It will be cheaper to buy and fly than the Warriors. You'll at least want to consider looking at it so you have a good comparison.
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I was going to mention this. I just passed the one year anniversary of buying my '73 Cherokee 140. It was pretty cheap to aquire (and could get one even cheaper now) and has been very reasonable in the maintenance department. I have flown about 120 hours in the previous 12 months and have had to replace the alternator, a fuel tank float and...well, that's it. I have also done the oil myself every 25 hours. Grand cost of maintenace...$600. If I figure all my fixed and variable costs for that period of time, it cost me about $50 an hour to operate. Much cheaper than all the rentals in this area.

I have it torn apart right now for the annual and while it's down, I am going to replace the hoses, install new brakes and tires and replace a DG that has been intermittently inop. I will do all this under A&P 'supervision' as well as doing the 'owner assisted annual'. This will be a fairly pricey deal, but all of it (so far) is preventitive in nature. It will probably drive up the "hourly cost to operate" this year, but hell, I might fly 200 hours and drive that cost down.

I am just about ready to get my A&P, just haven't had the time to get it done and for me, the IR has priority right now.

The airplane will cruise for about 4 hours at a good 120 KTS and I can throw the wife, the dogs and about 60 LBS of bags on board and get going. It's comfortable (for about 3.5 hours) and VERY easy to fly. Trims right up and if balance the fuel right, you can leave your hands off the yoke for 20 minutes at a time. I have been VERY happy with my purchase of my first aerospace vehicle. If I am able to trade up in the future, it'll be another PA28...perhaps a Cherokee 6.
 
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