2009 KIT BUYER’S GUIDE What Are You Waiting For? Start Building Today! DESIGNS! Specs297 • Performance • Prices December 2008 It’s What You Need To Know About Today’s Kit Aircraft @=PFLI@;<8F==LE NFLC;D8B<FK?<IG@CFKJJF@CK?<@IKIFLJ<IJ# K?<EK?@J@JK?<<E>@E<=FIPFL% You’re no ordinary pilot, and so, we created our line of aggressive, high-performance Thunderbolt Engines. Available options include high-compression pistons, dynamic balancing, cylinder porting and polishing, as well as Lycoming’s exclusive roller tappet technology. Each engine is assembled by a dedicated team of pros, one at a time, to your exacting specs. So, what’s your idea of fun? Visit www.mytbolt.com or call 1-866-MYTBOLT. © 2008 Lycoming. Lycoming Engines, is a division of AVCO Corporation, a wholly owned subsidiary of Textron Inc. December 2008 | Volume 25, Number 12 On the cover: The cover montage was created by Art Director Suzanne Stackle with photos by Dave Higdon, Richard VanderMeulen and Kevin Wing. Annual Buyer’s Guide, Part 1 36 2009 KIT AIRCRAFT BUYER’S GUIDE Options abound among the 297 designs buildable from kits, including some Light Sport Aircraft ; compiled by Julia Downie. (Find a handy cross reference on Page 77.) Builder Spotlight 10 10 ROCKET A “regular” Rocket wasn’t enough for one ex-fi ghter pilot, so he added custom touches to make it his own; by Ed Wischmeyer. 1 6 ROLL YOUR OWN Th e behind-the-scenes view of designing and building your own homebuilt; by Ken Scott. 22 THE PAINT SHOP EXPERIENCE Doing your homework and communicating clearly will help keep the project on track; by Susan Brunner. 28 UNIVERSITY OF JABIRU What you’ll learn in a specifi c engine school can save you big money; by Dave Prizio. 78 BUILD YOUR SKILLS: FABRIC Securing the fabric to the wings; by Ron Alexander 85 TO LAUNCH A LIGHT SPORT Th e fl aps on the Jabiru J250 are installed, the fi rewall is up, and a simple task provides an important lesson; by Bob Fritz. Shop Talk 9 5 AERO ’LECTRICS PVC in the CAFE; by Jim Weir. Designer’s Notebook 90 WIND TUNNEL Th e causes and eff ects of adverse yaw; by Barnaby Wainfan. Exploring 36 2 AROUND THE PATCH Th e trouble with data; by Marc Cook. 8 WHAT’S NEW ECi’s cylinder warranty is extended, and there’s a new Honda engine; edited by Mary Bernard. 33 ASK THE DAR Ever wonder what the DAR is looking for during an inspection? Now you’ll know; by Mel Asberry. 97 LIGHT STUFF Comparing Flight Design’s new CTLS and the CTSW; by Dave Martin. Kit Bits 4 CONTRIBUTORS 6 LETTERS 64 LIST OF ADVERTISERS 92 BUILDERS’ MARKETPLACE 99 THE CLASSIFIED BUILDER 104 KIT STUFF 33 Drawing on experience; by cartoonist Robrucha. KITPLANES December 2008 1 The trouble with data. InIhDbi each December issue, this maga- included a simple stall-speed estimator published stall speeds aren’t accurate. zine publishes a comprehensive listing into a preliminary spreadsheet of all the This year, I also inserted a basic range of aircraft kits for sale at the time we aircraft data. It assumed a CLMAX (maxi- calculator that helped us fi nd numer- go to press (late September). And while mum trimmed lift coeffi cient of the wing) ous errors. By estimating fuel consump- much of the information is available else- of 2.0. According to Barnaby’s numbers, tion from 75% of the given horsepower where—from promotional material and (using a conservative 0.45 pounds/hour/ web sites—there are a few bits and pieces horsepower for four-strokes, 0.55 for that you won’t fi nd anywhere else. One two-strokes and 0.65 for turbines) then example is the number of completed air- calculating endurance from the stated craft, which, with a rare few examples, is fuel capacity, it’s easy to multiply by the not something companies like to publish claimed cruise speed to get range. We in sales literature or on their web sites. had a few with dramatically overstated We get that data point the old fash- range, which, in a lot of cases, we traced ioned way: We call the company and ask. to incorrect cruise fi gures or fuel capaci- Same for the rest of the fi gures, which ties. We also caught a few companies are provided to us by the kit manufactur- gaming the system, that is off ering range ers. This interaction is important. In the fi gures at very conservative power set- course of reviewing the raw materials for tings and cruise at max allowable power. the guide, we often fi nd that the kitmak- Ooh, getting slow there. What’s my stall You can have one or the other. For that er’s web site is either quite old or in error. speed, really? Don’t count on the airspeed matter, I’ve always disliked stating range, Sometimes both. indicator or, in most cases, the manufac- particularly as the companies do—to Every year, refi ning and error-checking turer’s estimates being totally accurate. fuel exhaustion (like we fl y that way!)— the buyer’s guide is like climbing Ever- this is at the low end of what’s achievable because it’s never realistic. est. There’s just so much data. Nearly 300 with slotted or Fowler fl aps, and at the We also found mixing and matching aircraft or aircraft sub models, times 32 high end of plain fl aps. Comparing the with engines, using, say, the 100-horse- individual fi elds. In fact, there are more estimated stall speed with the claimed power Rotax 912S when referring to fi elds, because we ask for data that’s not speed helped us fi nd the outliers. cruise speed and climb performance, but published—the maximum speed of the For those that fell outside the pre- then citing the 80-hp 912 also used in airplane at sea level, for example—to dicted range, we contacted the company the airframe for the range, empty weight help us create the what-is-LSA code, as for clarifi cation. A few off ered more real- and price. well as others that help us know if the istic numbers, while others stood by the When you reduce the issue, perfor- airplane is currently available as a kit, submitted fi gures. In part, it’s the indus- mance claims are only as good as the perhaps now just available as plans, or try’s penchant for publishing indicated claimant; what really matters is how your off the market entirely. All told, there are airspeed at the stall that’s to blame. Pitot- airplane truly performs. It mystifi es me more than 10,000 pieces to the puzzle static systems are notoriously inaccurate that builders, even today, seem to make that we print and place into our online at high angles of attack. The right way decisions based on the spec sheet. A guide, not including the photos. to measure airspeed at stall is with an 10- or 20-knot cruise-speed diff erence We have added a new dimension articulated pitot head on a boom, which is immaterial in the face of the quality of to our data reduction this year. With very few manufacturers care to get into. the kit, the integrity of the company and the help of our own Barnaby Wainfan, I Bottom line: Many, perhaps most, of the the design’s fl ying qualities. has been in aviation journalism for 20 years and in magazine work for more than 25. He is Marc Cook a 4000-hour instrument-rated, multi-engine pilot with experience in nearly 150 types. He’s completed two kit aircraft, an Aero Designs Pulsar XP and a Glastar Sportsman 2+2. 2 KITPLANES December 2008 Photo: Marc Cook This glass is not half-anything: Garmin G900X with SVT™. It’s the ultimate kitplane installation option. With the launch of Garmin’s G900X glass cockpit series – and its installation network of Garmin approved avionics dealers* – kitplane builders can now rival the avionics state-of-the-art from today’s leading aircraft manufacturers. Big, easy-to-scan LCD displays and fully integrated avionics bring a wealth of safety-enhancing features to the do-it- yourselfer’s flight deck. Preloaded SafeTaxi® and FliteCharts® come standard. Plus, Garmin’s newest SVT™ synthetic vision technology gives pilots the option to fly with a realistic 3-D “virtual reality” landscape on their G900X PFD. It’s like having a clear-day “out-the- window” view in any weather or flight situation. Garmin’s G900X: For your kitplane cockpit, the choice is clear as glass. Follow the leader. NASDAQ GRMN ©2008 Garmin Ltd. or its subsidiaries *Garmin G900X packages are available for specific Lancair, Van’s RV, Epic, Velocity, Comp Air and Seawind models. For a list of approved avionics dealers, visit Garmin’s website. www.garmin.com/aviation SUSAN BRUNNER EDITORIAL Susan Brunner was nosing around her local airport one Editor-in-Chief Marc Cook day when she started wondering how all of those beauti- [email protected] Managing Editor Mary Bernard ful homebuilt airplane paint jobs she saw were achieved. Art Director Suzanne Stackle So she asked—both builders and shops—and what she Senior Editors Bob Fritz, Dave Higdon Contributing Editors Chuck Berthe, Stein Bruch, found out could help all of us who may work with a paint Cory Emberson, Geoffrey Jones, shop one day. As you would expect, eff ective communi- Ed Kolano, Amy Laboda, cation is important, but there’s more to the story, which Howard Levy, Rick Lindstrom, Dave Martin, Dave Prizio begins on Page 22.