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Denali, I am scratch building my 4 place. I have a little over 700 hours in so far. I have all ribs formed up and half primed with stiffener angles riveted on, aileron pushrods welded up, spars cut to length, bent, and lightening holes cut in them, spar splice plates and spacers cut to size and predrilled. I also have the aileron counterbalance tubes filled with lead and cut to length and the aileron nose skins are cut to size and bent. One flap is almost complete, I still need to make the hinge brackets and trailing edge. The other flap is sitting clecoed together waiting for the weather to straighten so I can paint and rivet it together...I also need to make the hinge brackets and trailing edge for this one. Both ailerons are framed up but I found a mistake (hinge pocket to narrow, I wouldn't have been able to insert the bolt on assembly) before I drilled the nose skin which will add about 20-25 hours to the build to fix. EVERYTHING takes longer than you think it should. When I set out on this journey I vowed to build the best airworthy aircraft I could...I have no intentions on building a show plane but I do the best work I can do.
I expect to have at least 4000 hours in mine before I fly it. I am hoping to have it flying by the time I retire. I am that guy in the neighborhood who is always building or fixing something in his garage, most likely keeping people up at night when I loose track of time. For me, the journey is as meaningful as the destination which in this case a flying aircraft. Successful builders "get" to build an aircraft to fly later, many many unsuccessful builders "have" to build their aircraft. I arrived at Airventure 2011 ready to drop money on a RV-7 tail kit. After a week of attending forms, walking the aircraft parking areas, and actually sitting in some I realized that I was going to have to be brutally honest with myself and my intended mission. I went home and continued researching and being honest with myself and my situation and ended up ordering a set of 4 place prints. I have more time than money and there was no way I could come up with 40 grand for a kit and after looking through the print I realized that most individual parts were not all that difficult, there was just a lot of them.
The bearhawk is one hell of an aircraft, both in construction and size. I am also helping a friend build a rans s-19 and another who is rebuilding a Zenith 750(?), anyway, those planes are junk compared to how the bearhawk is built. Now don't get me wrong, I am not totally cutting them down, but if you are looking for a plane to survive a crash or hand down to the next generation you are much better off with an aircraft built like a bearhawk. The Rans and Zenith planes are thin and "tinny" compared to bearhawks or RVs (-12 excluded). Keep in mind that the Rans and Zenith birds are "pop" rivet planes, there are very few if any driven rivets and most of them are not countersunk which saves a buttload of time. Rans, Zenith, and the RV-12 are good planes for their intended purpose and to the best of my knowlege are LSA planes. You cannot fairly compare a 4 place welded steel tube, fabric covered aluminum wing aircraft with driven rivets and a 2500 gross weight aircraft to an LSA legal pop rivet plane. I have seen the craftsmanship and completeness of the 4 place qb kit and the price seems fair for what you get. It appears to me that the Avipro group has completed about as much as they can and still be 51% legal. As for the "claimed" hours to build, take them as a grain of salt. If you are an experienced builder with the ideal setup, hit it hard everyday after work and on the weekends, have everything planned out and ready to go you might be able to reach the claimed build time. IF you stick to the plans, you will have a lot better chance of the aircraft flying in a reasonable amount of time. Custom modifications add a lot of time, more than you would think.
I am not trying to be discouraging or cut other aircraft down, but simply trying to emphasize the scope of the project. Think of it as building a car from scratch, most wouldn't even attempt it which is why companies like Factory Five exist...to provide a means to build a car in their garage when the reality is that most are going to simply head down to their ford or chevy dealer and buy a car.
If you decide that building is not for you, find a flying bearhawk or a maule. The maule is about as close to bearhawk performance as you will get in the certified world. Best of luck with which ever decision you make.
Joe
I expect to have at least 4000 hours in mine before I fly it. I am hoping to have it flying by the time I retire. I am that guy in the neighborhood who is always building or fixing something in his garage, most likely keeping people up at night when I loose track of time. For me, the journey is as meaningful as the destination which in this case a flying aircraft. Successful builders "get" to build an aircraft to fly later, many many unsuccessful builders "have" to build their aircraft. I arrived at Airventure 2011 ready to drop money on a RV-7 tail kit. After a week of attending forms, walking the aircraft parking areas, and actually sitting in some I realized that I was going to have to be brutally honest with myself and my intended mission. I went home and continued researching and being honest with myself and my situation and ended up ordering a set of 4 place prints. I have more time than money and there was no way I could come up with 40 grand for a kit and after looking through the print I realized that most individual parts were not all that difficult, there was just a lot of them.
The bearhawk is one hell of an aircraft, both in construction and size. I am also helping a friend build a rans s-19 and another who is rebuilding a Zenith 750(?), anyway, those planes are junk compared to how the bearhawk is built. Now don't get me wrong, I am not totally cutting them down, but if you are looking for a plane to survive a crash or hand down to the next generation you are much better off with an aircraft built like a bearhawk. The Rans and Zenith planes are thin and "tinny" compared to bearhawks or RVs (-12 excluded). Keep in mind that the Rans and Zenith birds are "pop" rivet planes, there are very few if any driven rivets and most of them are not countersunk which saves a buttload of time. Rans, Zenith, and the RV-12 are good planes for their intended purpose and to the best of my knowlege are LSA planes. You cannot fairly compare a 4 place welded steel tube, fabric covered aluminum wing aircraft with driven rivets and a 2500 gross weight aircraft to an LSA legal pop rivet plane. I have seen the craftsmanship and completeness of the 4 place qb kit and the price seems fair for what you get. It appears to me that the Avipro group has completed about as much as they can and still be 51% legal. As for the "claimed" hours to build, take them as a grain of salt. If you are an experienced builder with the ideal setup, hit it hard everyday after work and on the weekends, have everything planned out and ready to go you might be able to reach the claimed build time. IF you stick to the plans, you will have a lot better chance of the aircraft flying in a reasonable amount of time. Custom modifications add a lot of time, more than you would think.
I am not trying to be discouraging or cut other aircraft down, but simply trying to emphasize the scope of the project. Think of it as building a car from scratch, most wouldn't even attempt it which is why companies like Factory Five exist...to provide a means to build a car in their garage when the reality is that most are going to simply head down to their ford or chevy dealer and buy a car.
If you decide that building is not for you, find a flying bearhawk or a maule. The maule is about as close to bearhawk performance as you will get in the certified world. Best of luck with which ever decision you make.
Joe
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