Homebuilt Experimental Aircraft, V

Building your own homebuilt, experimental aircraft means dedicating a huge amount of time, perseverance and resources into your aircraft project. Do not think that this can be done without too much trouble, it will not. It will take a lot of effort, time and dedication to finish.

But when your aircraft is finished and knowing that you are the one that has built this with your own two hands, the smoking start of the engine running for the first time, initial taxi and test runs and then the exiting first flight before flying off between the clouds into the sunset...makes it really all worth your while!

Because you made it, you can maintain it. Its just that simple and this will save a lot of money in maintenance cost department.

Aircraft Registration, Safety and Maintenance

The registration you will find on an aircraft is a combination of a country code and a country registration number (or letters). The country codes are assigned by the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), this is because they are also used as radio call signs and that part is governed by the ITU. The aircraft nationality marks are requested at the ITU from a list assigned to that state and then reported to ICAO, and we have a copy of the latest list here sorted in alphabetical and numerical order.

Aircraft Maintenance

Having constructed your own aircraft entitles you to do your own maintenance, obviously. Because you are the only person that has seen the aircraft from the inside and out and all the way back. Now it pays to have that knowledge and this saves a lot of money in maintenance department. But even in this situation specialized maintenance such as engine rebuilds or top-end overhauls and more must be done by specialized companies. These things are best done by professionals. Those of you with an aviation maintenance school background will benefit from that education.

Safety

Some people are concerned with the safety of homebuilt aircraft. Even the authorities made us install a placard in the aircraft that it is NOT built to standards. Well, that is correct. Aircraft homebuilders usually have much higher standards and they build their aircraft with love and dedication and not so much for a paying daytime job. Anyway, the safety records show that homebuilt are not unsafer than regular factory build airplanes.

Materials used

Homebuilt aircraft are built from materials in these categories: rag and tube, metal, wood, or composite materials (fiberglass, carbon fiber, etc.). The first category is where the structure of the aircraft is built using steel (chrome-moly 4130) or bolted aluminum tubes covered with Dacron fabric (some Rans Aircraft). This fabric can be painted to stiffen and protect it from UV light. The metal category is common for all aluminum aircraft like your everyday Cessna, Murphy or Zenair, although some parts will be made of composites (wheel pants, wingtips and fairings). Finally, the most recent addition to the aviation fleet is made from composites, either glass or carbon fiber. This category is notable for its designs employing smooth and flowing body curvature and light weight which would not always be possible with the other materials. For example: the DynAero MCR-01 and MCR-04S are very nice looking and very fast flying carbon composite aircraft.

And other manufacturers use a combination of the above materials. For example: the Falco from Sequoia Aircraft. This aircraft is mainly build from wood with composite layers on the wing.

Tools and workspace

Most of the tools used to construct an aircraft are quite common: electric and/or pneumatic drill plus drill bits of various sizes and lengths. Lots of cleco's (in 2/32", 1/8" and 3/16" inch) and a special plier to install/remove these cleco's (some of us have used these cleco's to install wallpaper in their house ;-). Drill stops are also very handy in preventing drilling too deep and keeping the drill from hitting the object in which the hole is drilled.

An expandable hole spacer can come in handy when a row of holes must be layed out in even distances, deburring tool (or drill bit), fluting pliers and safety wire pliers. In some cases you will need a metal shrinker/stretcher to create nice curves (as with building floats). A number of aircraft tool supply companies provide special aircraft tool kits, if you are a new builder these tools would be a good investment.

Your workspace must be well lighted, heated and ventilated. But this goes without saying. Most aircraft kit manufacturers recommend a certain size of workbench. Usually 4 to 5 meters long. Just follow those guidelines and you will do just fine.

Paint job

Painting your aircraft serves a couple of functions. The underlying surface is against corrosion protected and it really makes the airplane look great. The last statement is not always true. There are some very beautifully build airplanes which are not painted and they look super flash when polished. A shiny aluminum look for an aircraft like a DC-3 is really perfect.

Preparing for a good paint job is best done when starting your project. You will need to make a decision on the type pf primer/sealer that you are going to use and if it will be compatible with the topcoat you have in mind. The primer is usually used when building the aircraft from day one as it will be applied on the inside on some parts of the aircraft; think of aileron, flaps, wing etc etc. These parts will need inside protection by a primer/sealer when the aircraft is going to be parked anywhere near an ocean. I have seen the effects of saltwater on aluminum and it wasn't pretty...