Last month in KITPLANES®, we took our annual look at the airplane kits currently available on the market. What many people don’t realize is that, even though our name is KITPLANES®, we are really here to serve the entire homebuilt market. The roots of homebuilding go back many years before the first successful kits came out—first with scratch built airplanes, then moving on to the plans industry. For many years, those dreaming of building an airplane started with the pages in the front of the Aircraft Spruce and Specialty catalog—the place where you could buy plans and “materials kits”—carefully chosen raw materials to help a person get started on an airframe. Note that “airframe” didn’t encompass anything but the basic structure; the builder still needed to determine for themselves what was needed for systems, electrical, firewall forward, and all of the hundreds and thousands of little pieces that make a structure into an airplane.
To the surprise of many, plans building is still popular because many of the aircraft designed up through the 1980s—and into the ’90s—are not available as kits. This includes most of the composite canard designs by Burt Rutan and other designers from that era. Moldless fiberglass construction lends itself to materials kits and plans building because the builder starts with nothing but blocks of foam and spools of cloth. Kits for composite aircraft became popular once the fuselage and wings were being produced using molds—then the builder would receive large chunks that already looked like airframe components, rather than packing materials.
An interesting category of Experimental aircraft that has grown somewhat organically out of the plans and kit industry are those types that can be built either way. Many of the aircraft listed in our online directory can be built from complete kits—or you can purchase the plans and start from scratch—or purchase as many piece-parts as you wish from the kit manufacturer. Zenith aircraft are a good example of this slice of the industry. For someone who likes to find bargains and has access to the necessary tools (and time) to fabricate components from raw stock, this is a fun and rewarding way to build. This route also allows a builder to change their mind in the middle of the project if they wish to speed things up and get to the finish line faster.
Bearhawk Patrol
Why Plans?
While kit-building dominates the homebuilt market today, there are still many people who prefer to build from plans for a variety of reasons. It is hard to rate which of these reasons is most—or even more—important, because everyone’s motivations are different, and choosing an aircraft to build is a very personal decision. But we can list a few of the considerations that drive someone to the road less traveled:
Availability—Many people simply fall in love with a particular aircraft design, and their reason for building is to have “one of those.” Whether it is a classic biplane, such as a Starduster or Acrosport, or the potential builder just simply has to have a sexy-looking Long-EZ, it makes no difference to them what route they have to take to get one. And if starting with a plans set is the only way to go, so be it. There is no doubt that builders are dreamers, and many dreams began early. If your childhood room had posters of Pietenpols or Hyperbipes in your formative years—and you still have those posters carefully stored away or on your office wall today—you might have no choice but to go with plans.
Challenge—For many, they simply haven’t built an airplane unless they truly fabricated all of the components. We hear good-natured ribbing at airshows and fly-ins about kit-builders simply being “assemblers,” while the guys who started from scratch are “builders.” The truth, of course, is that unless you planted the seedling for the spruce tree, watered it, watched it grow—then cut it down and milled the wood for your spar—you still jumped into the process at some point along the continuum. Starting with raw aluminum, fiberglass, or wood stock and a set of plans is generally considered good enough to put you in the “I built it without a kit” crowd—and that is quite a challenge.
Zenith Zodiac CH601UL
A Unique Design—A few builders have had their own design in mind for many years, but going from a blank sheet of paper to a finished airplane is more daunting than most can imagine. Oftentimes, a builder will see an airplane design that is close to what they want, but will require a great deal of modification in key areas. One example is when they want to change the size of the cockpit to accommodate themselves (either making it bigger or smaller), or in changing some other aspect of the airframe that will significantly alter most of the major components. In this case, starting with a kit would be wasteful; but starting with a set of plans and stretching a little here, reshaping a bulkhead there—that makes sense.
Fiscal Realities—Many people want to build an airplane today for the same reasons that many homebuilders got started in the 1950s—they want an airplane, but simply don’t have a lot of money. They can’t afford to purchase a kit, or even the sub kits for an airplane, but they can afford a few hundred dollars now and again for raw materials. They may not have money, but they have the time, and sweat equity (along with a nice set of plans) is a great way to get into the air. It can take a lot longer, but for many, that doesn’t matter. If you have airplane parts in your workshop, you’re a builder.
Sources
I bet that most builders come to the plansbuilt world with an airplane already in mind—something that they saw at a fly-in, in a calendar shot, or that they have been thinking about for years. You can find a lot of information and pictures in the front of the Aircraft Spruce catalog, and many dreams have been started with that big book—but builders come to their design in many different ways.
Wander the ramp at your local field or visit an EAA chapter close to you. In fact, one great way to see interesting airplane ideas and meet new builders is to visit EAA chapters far away—when on an overnight business trip or a vacation for instance. Take time to find the airplane that is right for you; the truth is, the build will become a huge part of your life.
Finding the plans for the airplane of your dreams is as simple as logging on to www.kitplanes.com and checking out the Online Buyer’s Guide. You can search for airplanes that fit your specific design parameters, or simply look the design up by name or manufacturer. You can compare models based on specifications, hours it takes to build, materials used—just about any parameters you care to use. And once you have found that plane, the listings will tell you where to go for plans: the name of the company or contact, as well as phone numbers and web site information.
Pazmany PL-9 Stork
The Reward
Building an airplane that comes as a kit is a remarkable achievement in anybody’s book—and building one from plans (or from scratch) can be even more remarkable. Whether that aircraft is simple or complex, knowing that you marked all of the dimensions, drilled every hole, and formed every shape is something that you can never lose. While our title says “KITPLANES®,” we applaud and support the entire homebuilding community. The plans builders might not appear in these pages quite as often, but that is only because they are hidden away in workshops all around the world, toiling away at projects that will be exactly what they want —and satisfy that dream of homebuilt, affordable flight.
While the majority of Experimental/Amateur-Built aircraft completions these days are coming from kits, there is still a great deal of interest in plans building. Plansbuilt aircraft can take longer to build—and longer to get started. Many potential builders have a set of plans that they have been dreaming about for many years, so looking at the rate of plans sales today doesn’t really reflect the number of plans for a given model that are sitting on workbenches or desks, waiting to be started. The numbers also don’t reflect the number of aircraft actually being built. But they can give us an idea of what folks are dreaming about at the current time. One of the largest sellers of plans is Aircraft Spruce and Specialty, and we asked them what has been selling from their catalog this year and last. The results give some indication of what’s popular.
Plans Sold | Year to Date | Last Year | Total |
W10 Tailwind Plans | 31 | 32 | 63 |
COZY Mark IV Plans | 19 | 30 | 49 |
Starduster Too SA300 | 6 | 6 | 12 |
Acroduster Too SA750 | 5 | 7 | 12 |
Wittman V-Witt Racer | 4 | 7 | 11 |
Starlet SA500 | 4 | 5 | 9 |
One Design Plans | 2 | 4 | 6 |
Buddy Great Lakes | 2 | 3 | 5 |
Baby Great Lakes | 1 | 3 | 4 |
Starduster One SA100 | 2 | 1 | 3 |
Super Baby Great Lakes | 0 | 3 | 3 |
Christavia MK-1 Plans | 0 | 2 | 2 |
Christavia MK-4 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
V-STAR SA900 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
Christavia MK-2 Plans | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Super Starduster SA101 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Acrolite 1B Plans | 0 | 0 | 0 |
The editors at KITPLANES® are happy to see that the top three represent quite a bit of diversity—a classic, a canard, and a biplane. Frankly, that is what building airplanes is all about—building what you want, building your dream.
This Baby Great Lakes appeared in the November 2012 issue of KITPLANES®.
Top Sellers
“Introduced at the first EAA fly-in 1953, Tailwind was designed and built by legendary designer and air racer Steve Wittman. This high-
performance homebuilt is constructed with a steel tubing fuselage, wood wings, and fabric covering. It offers exceptional cruising speeds and is economical to operate and maintain.”
– Aircraft Spruce and Specialty
“The Cozy MK IV is a high-performance, four-seat canard aircraft which is comfortable, efficient, and economical to build. It has a range of about 1,000 miles and a top speed of 200 mph. When constructed according to plans and operated within the approved C.G. range, the canard configuration makes it highly resistant to stalls or loss of position control. The MK IV features full dual control and two-axis trim. The composite construction is very strong, resistant to corrosion and fatigue, and offers better protection to the occupants than other types of construction.”
– Aircraft Spruce and Specialty
“This is the best-known biplane across the country. It is a two-place machine, large enough for two and baggage, fast enough for cross country if you want to really enjoy life, and without question the prettiest biplane ever built. It is rated +/- 6 G, so most aerobatics can be performed. Powered with engines from 125 to 375 hp, the 180 and 200 HP Lycoming are most popular. First flown in the 1960s, there are more than 1,000 flying. This is what flying was meant to be.”
– Aircraft Spruce and Specialty
Like a kid in a candy store, choosing a single aircraft design out of all the ones available to be my “favorite” or “best” is an impossible task. So many airplanes, so little time to fly and build; I could go for something fast, something long ranged, something sporty, or something to haul a moose out of the backcountry. Who can resist a biplane? Or…how about a Super Cub clone? I think that today, I’ll settle for a very unique aircraft, one that is almost synonymous with homebuilding (or in the minds of the public, those crackpots who will fly anything!)— the Breezy!
I think the Breezy epitomizes the spirit of homebuilding: taking whatever wings and engine you might have and create a flying machine with absolutely no frills. It is freedom in the air—and freedom in the design process—that can’t be beat. I can’t say that a Breezy is high on my list to actually build, but I must say that when I think of “homebuilt,” the Breezy invariably comes to mind.
—Paul Dye
Specifications:
Seats: 3
Design: HP 90
Max Speed: 105 mph
Stall Speed: 33 mph
Range 280: sm
From the Aircraft Spruce Catalog:
“Designed and constructed by Charles Roloff, Carl Unger, and Bob Liposky, the Breezy was first introduced in 1965 and hailed as one of the most distinctive and unusual homebuilt designs to ever attend an EAA Fly-in. Though there have been a lot other designs, particularly homebuilts, that embody the open cockpit which trademarks a Breezy, nothing can surpass it for the view and fresh-air feeling. The original Breezy was designed and built to accept a set of PA-12 wings. For that reason, there are no wing drawings with the plans. It is possible to substitute PA-14, PA-18, or J-3, J-4, or J-5 wings. It’s also possible to order wing kits that replicate a J-3 wing. Power for the prototype, which now hangs in the EAA Aviation Museum in Oshkosh, WI, is a Continental C-90. The Breezy will carry a pilot and two passengers.”
If I were to build from plans, it would have to be something unusual. I’d like the end result to be an aircraft you’re not likely to see at a typical fly-in.
Because plansbuilt projects take so long to complete, I’d like to gain back some of that time by building an airplane that’s fast. And since I’m going to be spending so much time in the shop, I probably won’t have time to get a tailwheel endorsement, so I need to build something with tricycle gear.
Last, but not least, I’d like to learn new skills. That means I need to choose a project that’s made from a material I don’t have much experience with—most likely wood.
Let’s see…fast, unusual, trigear, wood; it sounds like I’m building an Osprey Aircraft GP-4!
Designed by George Pereira, the retractable-gear GP-4 prototype was finished in April 1984 and was recognized by the EAA as an Outstanding New Design. Plans for the GP-4 consist of 57 large sheets, with full-scale drawings of many key parts. The drawings can be used as patterns for each component. Also included is a 55-page builder’s manual with photos and instructions.
Most of the structure is made from wood, with a fiberglass cowling and a few metal parts. If welding and fiberglass work is a problem, these parts can be bought from an approved vendor.
There’s no question the GP-4 is an enormous project; to date only about 40 have been completed and flown. To be honest, I don’t know where I’d find the time to complete such a project. But for builders who do, the reward will be a sleek, unusual airplane that performs as good as it looks.
—Mark Schrimmer
Specifications:
Seats: 2
Design HP: 200
Max Speed: 255 mph
Stall Speed: 62 mph
Range: 1100 sm
