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| So I've been building an ultralight |
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| danny_galaga:
--- Quote from: nipsmg on September 02, 2024, 01:21:17 pm --- so many questions. --- End quote --- 😄 I got my ppl in the 90's and then let it go. About 6 years ago I converted it to what I guess you call a sports licence. I'm in Australia. I've regretted starting this almost from the beginning. If you start too many projects, which I do, then starting this sort of project may kill you psychologically. It has me. But some tips if you are think about it: Don't believe the manufacturers BS - they will say you can build it in six weeks and that there's nothing extra you need to get. They all say this. And all kits have things missing or wrong or both in my case. Even as it was at sea on the way to me, they issued an AD on it! They were grounded for a short while in the US I believe. So once I got it I had to build it knowing that the whole empennage would have to be replaced. The updated parts took over a year to be produce. I actually had to replace a lot of the rear end of the fuselage. But you couldn't really know until you got to that point. Very, very unsatisfying having to pull apart what you've only just built. Then there's all the missing/incorrect parts you come across as you're building. I get disappointed easily. This has been the most unfun thing I've ever done.but it's way too expensive to ditch like you could with a mame cab that didn't quite work out. Don't get me wrong, it's not something I DONT recommend doing. But if you have traits not dissimilar to mine, think twice. Think- if there are hurdles like that, do I have the personality to rise to the occasion and get on with, never looking back. Think about other projects you've done that you have unfinished and why. All kit manufacturers act like it's a box of Lego with everything there and perfectly designed. If you have a strong personality, and ignore the BS, knowing there are going to be exasperating moments then you'll probably be fine. Me, around the time I bought the kit, I was toying with buying a T bucket or similar. I would have had MUCH more fun in those years I've been building this thing. Anyway, the most joy I get with this kit now is complaining about it 😄 There's about 240kg total usable load. Oh and the kit manufacturer? They've gone broke .. |
| RandyT:
--- Quote from: danny_galaga on September 02, 2024, 08:47:22 pm ---All kit manufacturers act like it's a box of Lego with everything there and perfectly designed. If you have a strong personality, and ignore the BS, knowing there are going to be exasperating moments then you'll probably be fine. --- End quote --- Sounds like every Chinese scooter/ATV (and quite a number of other things from that corner of the world) I have ever purchased. But it usually ends up ok at the end...usually. |
| danny_galaga:
--- Quote from: RandyT on September 04, 2024, 02:56:51 pm --- --- Quote from: danny_galaga on September 02, 2024, 08:47:22 pm ---All kit manufacturers act like it's a box of Lego with everything there and perfectly designed. If you have a strong personality, and ignore the BS, knowing there are going to be exasperating moments then you'll probably be fine. --- End quote --- Sounds like every Chinese scooter/ATV (and quite a number of other things from that corner of the world) I have ever purchased. But it usually ends up ok at the end...usually. --- End quote --- 😄 There were actually two kit manufacturers (out of hundreds) that were 100% complete for EVERY kit .the first was the Christensen Eagle. Pretty much the father of the modern kit. The other was the Quicksilver MX. They both utilised a simple fool proof system. It's boggling that no one else seems to use it. Basically you would have sheets of cardboard printed with everything single part shadowed and described. Now you have a guy place all those parts on the shadow. Then he covers it in heat seal vacuum clear plastic. Very very easy to see something is amiss. For instance a missing part would stand out. Also say a bolt that is too long or short will stand out. The person packing those sheets just has to go off a checklist but if they are just numbered say 1-50 you don't even need that. As you build your plane, only when the manual asks for it, you cut the part out with a single edged razor. Maybe factories don't do it now because it might take up more space. But where's the savings if you have to keep sending parts out to your increasingly irate customer? I reckon my guys spent over $1000 on DHL freight sending me missing parts. Right at the beginning, the engine mount had some corrosion on it. Something went wrong with the plating process. So they sent me another mount IN A CARDBOARD BOX! Yep, when I got it, it was bent. So then they had to send me another, this time in a small wooden crate |
| danny_galaga:
The only two manufacturers in mind that could guarantee a quality product were at extreme ends of the scale. The Eagle was a fully aerobatic plane powered by usually a Continental 0360. About 200hp. The MX was an early ultralight powered by something like a 30hp single cylinder two stroke. |
| nitrogen_widget:
--- Quote from: danny_galaga on July 24, 2024, 06:06:20 pm ---As long as you are under 160, we can fly in my plane 🙂Although at 160, I do t think we can carry any fuel... --- End quote --- KG's or LB's? |
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