Greetings from SC

[mrkmnrt]

Hi all,
New to the forum. I'm wanting to gather as much information as I can about the BH patrol and/or LSA. I'm leaning towards a Patrol. I haven't started building yet. I'm trying to decide which plans to buy. Though I'm not actively building I figure this is a good time to start educating myself and learning how to weld

[OhioLSA]

Hello, and welcome aboard!
For me the LSA was the right choice, but everyone has their own needs and priorities. I would strongly suggest that you speak with Mark Goldberg about kit options. It can save you lots of time and effort, unless you truly want to build from scratch.

Good luck!

[mrkmnrt]

I'm still deciding what route I'd like to go with. I really enjoy learning and acquiring different skills and doing a scratch build will allow me to do that while also keeping costs down, but I also see the benefit of doing the QB to get in the air sooner.
If I go with the LSA I'd be looking at sticking a Corvair in it. I looked at some of WW's stuff and there is one flying in Iowa, but there isn't any data on it. performance wise. The mission for the plane would be to get into some grass strips with my wife and/or daughter with some camping gear for a weekend.

[jaredyates]

You'll still find plenty of skills to acquire with a kit vs a plans build, and any money you save by scratch building will probably add up to the difference in what the plane is worth when you are done. Where in SC are you? There is a builder close to Florence that you might like to meet.

[mrkmnrt]

I'm in Powdersville, about 10 minutes away from Downtown Greenville.

I'm no where near the position of purchasing a kit at the moment, Got other priorities at the moment, but I might as well make use of the downtime to do some research. Considering purchasing plans to start studying.

[jaredyates]

The stage you are in is one of the most important stages for sure. You want to make sure of what you want before you start down the long road of getting there. Stephen Murphey is the builder over in the middle of the state. He's a yellow dot on the builder map, and when I was there last his LSA fuselage was done enough to sit in. He has some factory wings standing by. His runway is perfect and his hangar is coming along fast. He and his wife are both very nice and totally worth a visit if you can catch him. It's not uncommon for Bob to stop by the fall fly-in at Triple Tree, and I would suspect you'd see him in his Patrol or LSA if he does.

[mrkmnrt]

yup, planning on going to TT this year. Probably just attending the Saturday. My wife has relatives that live in Columbia, SC so maybe I can coordinate going down there to Stephen's sometime down the road. Thanks for all the info, this helps a lot.

[sbmurphey]

Welcome! Been a couple weeks since I checked in and caught up on the forum. As Jared said, you would be welcome to visit and try on my LSA frame for size. I'll PM you my contact info.

[Bcone1381]

When I was at the decision point you were at, I talked with Bob. His advice was that if my plan was J3 type of mission, then build the LSA and if it was more of a Supercub mission then build the Patrol. If you are at TT, then look for Jerry Cornwell. He goes by Stinger here on the forum. He has a scratch built LSA with an O-200 and it seems to me that he goes to TT about every year.

[mrkmnrt]

I'll probably lean towards the Patrol or the Companion then (My wife will probably like the companion more since it's SxS)