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"Homemade airplane"

hjacquart

Member
Took a friend flying last Sunday in my "homemade airplane". Her daughter in law was very concerned that she was going to go fly in a homemade airplane. Maybe I am a little sensitive to the term after spending thousands of hours and dollars building my homemade plane. I'm sure this happens to most who build a plane due to the lack of knowledge of just what goes in to one of the projects so I'm asking what experiences the rest of you have had with this sort of response when you complete your plane. What are some of your better responses when you are asked about flying a "homemade plane":rolleyes:
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I think it is a common response and not unjustified

We have to earn respect and support one airplane at a time and one flight at a time. There is no detail manufacturing quality assurance, there is no configuration control, there is no robust system of integration and test ... I almost never give anyone a ride but when I do they know they are riding in a high performance experimental airplane and I know that even more than they. That is why we built it. If they are concerned about what they don't know, I think that is healthy and I do not take offense.

Bob Axsom
 
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Well when people ask me about my airplane, I tell them I work (soon to be retired from) for Boeing. (I leave the part out that I do not work with Boeing Commercial Airplanes.) One of the first things after that that I tell them is that I make my living as an Engineer, then follow on with being a FAA Licensed Mechanic for Airplanes and Power Plants. I then let them know that the FAA thought enough of my skills to make me a DAR to represent them on Initial Inspections of airplanes that other people built at home.

The airplane made its first flight almost 16-years ago in September 1997. Since that time it has been as far North as Fort Yukon Alaska and that is north of the Arctic Circle. It has been out to the Bahamas and has flown across the US over 20 times. I also let them know that I am a Commercial pilot with a 2nd class medical certificate that is needed to be paid to fly.

Mark Twain popularized the phrase: "There are lies, ****ed lies, and statistics." All I will add is that some people make good used car salespeople. We (all of us that fly Custom Built / Amateur Built / Experimental aircraft) need to use the correct words to describe our aircraft and what we do.
 
I just explain that this aircraft was built by the person who's butt will be in it during every hour of flight; not by a person who wants to put in 40 hrs. of work and go home for the weekend.
 
Beautiful

Howard, that is one beautiful "homemade airplane!" I only hope mine turns out half that well. :)
 
When I fly for young eagles and COPA Kids they have no idea it is "homemade". I usually say nothing until we are back on the ground. At least to the ones that are very nervous to even go. Others I explain while airborne. When I spill the beans, generally they don't believe me.:D. Until I explain a bit more about the process and how it became what it is. It is a real I opener for most of the kids. Face it, these planes do not look "homemade";)
 
Please read your operation limitations!

When I fly for young eagles and COPA Kids they have no idea it is "homemade". I usually say nothing until we are back on the ground. At least to the ones that are very nervous to even go. Others I explain while airborne. When I spill the beans, generally they don't believe me.:D. Until I explain a bit more about the process and how it became what it is. It is a real I opener for most of the kids. Face it, these planes do not look "homemade";)

Paragraph (12); " The pilot in command of this aircraft must advise each passenger of the experimental nature of this aircraft, and explain that it does not meet the certification requirements of a standard certificated aircraft."
 
home made

I haven't finished mine yet but do get the questions from visitors. I respond with comparisons of performance between Vans and certificated and the cost. I also remind them it was home builders who started building airplanes.
Then I give them the $.10 tour inside the house. Most will ask where we bought the furniture. My response..."I built it! " They usually understand at that point.
Our furniture will last for at least another generation if the kids or grand kids take care of it. I hope my home made plane lasts as well.
 
Once on this forum, somebody had a biting response for the comment "Oh, it was just a kit". Unfortunately I have forgotten the response, but am needing it again.
 
As a friend of mine says "there's a big difference between homebuilt and homemade"

My homebuilt doesn't me anybody's standards but my own...
 
Once on this forum, somebody had a biting response for the comment "Oh, it was just a kit". Unfortunately I have forgotten the response, but am needing it again.

Something like "yeah... Sort of the same as how Home Depot is a house kit"? Don't remember where I read it.
 
I've spent two years, answering questions from my parents about the nature of my EAB - mostly from my mother. I'm nearly 50 and she still worries about "her little boy".

I'm patient and explain things a little at a time. She's more comfortable with the idea now because she understands how many Vans Aircraft are flying and how, as pilots, we are very safety conscious.

There will always be those who "don't get it" but as long as we keep telling the story, explaining safety, and opening people's eyes to how much there is to learn, EAB is a great oportunity for young and old alike.
 
Before I took my aircraft to the paint shop, I left a black sharpie around for folks to draw whatever on the aluminum skin. When people ask me about the plane being "homemade", I show them this picture of my youngest son's thoughts on the subject:

1goodreson.jpg


He thought of this entirely on his own, without any prompting from me or anyone else, and thought it belonged square on the side of the fuselage.
 
Paragraph (12); " The pilot in command of this aircraft must advise each passenger of the experimental nature of this aircraft, and explain that it does not meet the certification requirements of a standard certificated aircraft."

It's Canadian registration Mel... Maybe they are different?
 
Couple examples of addendums to the required "Passenger warning" placard that I have seen.


"This aircraft is amateur built, and does not comply with federal safety regulations for standard aircraft"------------it exceeds them.

"This aircraft is amateur built, and does not comply with federal safety regulations for standard aircraft"-------which explains why it is so fast, economical, and fun to fly.
 
I don't have mine done yet (or even close), but I still get the question. I just answer honestly and try to educate.

Yes, it is a kit and I am building it pretty much per plan. There are about 8000 of these flying today and currently more completed and registered every year than Cessna, Piper, and the other well known manufacturers.

Yes, I am building it in my garage, then will move it to the airport just before the wings go on.

Yes, my wife and I are going to travel in it with no reservations.

Yes, there are people who scratch build airplanes, but I don't have the time for that.

Etc.

It is usually a good conversation and usually leaves them much more informed and more comfortable with the idea. I am proud that it is a home built (or home made) kit. If anyone is uncomfortable with it, they just can't have a ride.

Tim
 
Great response

I don't have mine done yet (or even close), but I still get the question. I just answer honestly and try to educate.

Yes, it is a kit and I am building it pretty much per plan. There are about 8000 of these flying today and currently more completed and registered every year than Cessna, Piper, and the other well known manufacturers.

Yes, I am building it in my garage, then will move it to the airport just before the wings go on.

Yes, my wife and I are going to travel in it with no reservations.

Yes, there are people who scratch build airplanes, but I don't have the time for that.

Etc.

It is usually a good conversation and usually leaves them much more informed and more comfortable with the idea. I am proud that it is a home built (or home made) kit. If anyone is uncomfortable with it, they just can't have a ride.

Tim

I think yours is a near perfect response.

Bob Axsom
 
Just as I was prepping my RV-8 for the DAR Airworthiness Inspection, a middle aged airport bum I'd never seen before came by the hangar. Adhering to the first rule of homebuilding, I kept on working while he asked questions.
Pretty soom comments like "You didn't build this" and "This isn't new" came out.
I was a little steamed, but I let Marilyn my wife take care of it...she kind of explained that it's new except for the years required to build it. It's largely a kit, but yes, I built it, and maybe we should walk out here and look at these other planes...
She's a good girl. :)
 
I have had some of the darndest responses to Eagle's Nest One! I usually introduce the plane as, "It was built mostly by kids to young to get their driver's license," and that is true. "Do you FLY it?" "Is it safe?" "Surely they had to have help." Yes, yes, and no, they did it themselves. Perhaps the best response came from a pilot who had just looked at a 12 built by an adult. "How come this looks so much better than that one over there?" I told him they didn't know what they could get by with, or how to cut corners in quality.

Maybe EN-1 is educating people other than the builders. When they see what a bunch of kids can do, they must realize that "homemade" airplanes are doable and safe. Actually, I try not to talk that much about it when any of the kids are around. They explain it better than I can, especially when one of them fires it up and takes off. This does more to convince the "normal" GA pilot than anything I have ever been able to do with my 9A.

It is interesting to watch a parent, just after their son or daughter is strapped in for a Young Eagle's flight, when I tell them that the plane was built by kids at the local high school. I haven't had one say anything negative, but I usually drop the canopy and yell "Clear prop!" about that time.

Bob
 
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That is so awesome! I have not even got any of the local high schools to even discuss it with me, it seems to be an attitude of "some crazy old coot who thinks he and some kids can build an airplane." and immediately dismissed as crazy.
 
Earlier this year we had some friends from Germany visit. I told them my rv9 was built to the same standards as the plane they just flew over the Atlantic in. All four went for a ride with me, one at a time, and they loved it. :)
 
"This aircraft is amateur built, and does not comply with federal safety regulations for standard aircraft"------------it exceeds them.

I told them my rv9 was built to the same standards as the plane they just flew over the Atlantic in.

These are not truthful statements and i would not use them to explain "homemade aircraft".
 
These are not truthful statements and i would not use them to explain "homemade aircraft".

Why not? My riveting, hardware installation, wiring, parts fabrication and installation, etc. is all done according to standard aviation practices. The local Boeing plant has a great automated machine that drills, countersinks, installs fasteners all while the operator sits at a console to monitor the progress. The result is flawless, but there is still a lot of handrilling and setting of rivets going on by individuals in the C17 production area.

We build on a smaller scale but not in terms of quality. Of course I am talking about my plane, not so sure about others.
 
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Sorry. I missed that.

We require this, within an easy read of the passengers. Not an explanation of the aircraft type. Not that that is the best thing. A briefing of the safety items is a standard. Most people want to go up because it is a home built. They know it is extremely well cared for.

Placards

(27) Unless otherwise required in the applicable section, each amateur-built aircraft shall display the following placard:

one containing the following statement readily legible from each passenger station, or displayed on the side of the fuselage:
YOU FLY IN THIS AIRCRAFT AT YOUR OWN RISK.

THIS AIRCRAFT DOES NOT COMPLY WITH INTERNATIONALLY

RECOGNIZED STANDARDS.


if the placard required by 27(a) is displayed on the side of the fuselage, it shall be in a position that is readily legible to persons entering the aircraft, in letters at least 10 mm (3/8 in.) high and of a color contrasting with the background;
in any area of an aircraft designated for the carriage of passengers, other than an area beside the pilot, a placard showing the maximum permissible load for that compartment or area:
MAXIMUM PASSENGER AND/OR BAGGAGE LOAD: ..............KG (LB)

Maybe it is best to explain to the nervous first flighters that it not a factory built plane as your regs require. If they decide that now they really do not want to go, so be it. I find they have a much better understanding of the plane while taxing/flying than sitting in this "thing" that this "stranger" built to take them up "there" for the first time. Some are so overwhelmed to begin with before the prop even starts turning. Others want to know everything about it before we even get buckled.
 
Why not? My riveting, hardware installation, wiring, parts fabrication and installation, etc. is all done according to standard aviation practices. The local Boeing plant has a great automated machine that drills, countersinks, installs fasteners all while the operator sits at a console to monitor the progress. The result is flawless, but there is still a lot of handrilling and setting of rivets going on by individuals in the C17 production area.
We build on a smaller scale but not in terms of quality. Of course I am talking about my plane, not so sure about others.

From a practical standpoint, you may be correct. And I agree.
But, From a technical standpoint;
Was it built to a type certificate?
Can it ever meet the definition of "airworthy"?
Does it meet part 23? Part 121?
 
What a great example of a good thread gone bad. A great topic with some wonderful replies has turned into a technical p.....g match as to what standard someone built their aircraft.

:rolleyes:
 
Home made, home built, owner assembled...

I'm not an aerospace engineer, I'm not an A&P, and did not stay at any holiday Inn. I was an auto mechanic (NIASE), a statistician, and now a system analyst.

Question: How many software engineers does it take to change a light bulb?
Answer: NONE. That's a hardware problem.

So, first of all, I tell them it is not homemade, it is owner assembled. There are thousands flying, and was designed by folks way smarter than me.

I bought kits and assembled them with inspections all along the way. I make it clear that it is an experimental aircraft by designation, professionally engineered by design, and owner assembled by choice.

And, they do not have to fly in it.

My friend at work looks at the progress pictures and said: "Man, I'd never fly in a plane that I built." I answered: "I'd never fly in a plane you built either." :rolleyes:

CC
 
I remember back in the 60's when I spent some time with a couple of builders. One was doing a Volksplane the other a Benson. I think a lot of people picture, as I do. a stack of mahogany and a roll of blueprints. I just explained to a friend yesterday that these aircraft are so advanced that its hard to describe.

And I pointed out that 99% of accidents are the nut holding the stick, not the aircraft.

Blain
 
We build on a smaller scale but not in terms of quality. Of course I am talking about my plane, not so sure about others.

Quality is one thing, design standards is completely different. I do believe our quality is mostly as good or better.

What a great example of a good thread gone bad. :rolleyes:

Sorry for being a downer to the thread but trying not to propogate mis-conceptions about EAB. Telling others the facts (like Bob and Bob above) is the best way to go with the general public, in my opinion. YMMV.
 
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