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Tossing my two cents in on this issue....
I researched kitplanes for about 15 years before I bought a Lancair. Why so
much research? I couldn't afford to buy a kit -- what else could I do but
hope and dream and wait until my income rose to the levels necessary to
afford a kit?
I tell people who are contemplating buying a kit (and I know there's several
out there reading this) that there's three things they need to decide:
1) Do you want to build or fly? By this I mean is your primary motivation
to build an airplane or own a flying homebuilt? If you're not enthralled by
the building process, buy a finished plane -- whether it comes from Wichita
or someone's garage.
2) What is the mission of the airplane? Do you want to do serious akro,
just bore holes in the sky, or do high-speed long cross-countries? How many
seats do you need? How fast must you go? Is 150 mph okay or do you need 200
plus? How much can you afford? This is the process in which research is
helpful.
3) What medium do you want to work in? Metal, wood, tube-and-fabric or
composite? This is one of the major factors in determining whether you enjoy
the building process or hate it. Most people don't experience composite
manufacture in everyday life, though we've all seen woodworking, understand
metal working, and have a reasonable understanding of tube-and-fabric.
Taking one of those weekend builder workshop classes is a fantastic idea
here. You might also consider the Rutan book ($14 from AC Spruce) and
practice materials kit where you build a bookend, if you live in a part of
the country where the classes aren't held. One reason I like fiberglass is
because I can usually make it pretty after cure with sandpaper or a Dremel
tool. Try that with a sheet metal airplane!
Once you've gone through the above steps, you've narrowed the field down to a
small handful of airplanes. For example, composite high-speed cross-country
airplanes gives us Glasairs, Lancairs, and the Long-EZ clones, but not much
else. Maybe a Europa. Now you can buy the information packs for the
individual kits and compare them. Also compare the companies themselves,
though that's a little harder.
My comments on the Lancair 320/360 plans, parts and support? I have a
fast-build kit and the composite parts are pretty good. The factory
workmanship on the fast-built stuff is superb. I wish my layups were
consistently as pretty. On the parts that I have to assemble, some fitting
between composite parts is usually required but they leave you with enough
material to trim off -- you rarely have to add more. There is an exception
here with the saddles on the 320/360 for the vertical tail, which requires
significant rework but, like much of the building process, seems like it will
be harder than it actually turns out to be.
The metal parts generally fit together well, though occasionally I have to
run a drill through a hole to clean it up (particularly the holes that have
been anodized) and sometimes have to drag out my file. But in general, the
metal parts are very good.
The manual is less than perfect -- but I have not seen a better manual on any
kitplane. It's easy to follow but doesn't always answer all your questions.
Fortunately there are folks up there in Redmond who will. The factory
support is superb, both for builder questions and parts and material supply.
The factory is not quick to point out problems with their kits, so you will
sometimes encounter a difficulty that has been solved by everyone who has
gone before you, and wonder why nobody's updated the manual, but when you
call you'll get the recommended fix immediately. And there's this e-mail
forum, which helps a lot. So in total, you can get all the help you need
between the manual, the factory, and other builders.
Summarizing, the Lancairs are great kits -- if you need to go fast, don't
insist on serious akro, like working with fiberglass, and can afford it.
- Rob Wolf
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LML website: http://www.olsusa.com/Users/Mkaye/maillist.html
LML Builders' Bookstore: http://www.buildersbooks.com/lancair
Please send your photos and drawings to marvkaye@olsusa.com.
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