I would like to build my own aeroplane; is this as infeasible as it sounds?

Question

I have no technical knowledge, but I am willing to learn and have friends who DO know what they're doing with a spanner!

I've long been interested in the earliest days of flight, from the brothers Wright up until WW1, and marvel at how their machines were so simple compared to what we have today, but they still did the job.

I'd love to build my own fully-functioning aeroplane from scratch. It doesn't have to be pretty, or have blinding manoeuvrability, but I would love to be able to flit above the treetops and experience the thrills those pioneers did nearly one hundred years ago.

Is my dream actually as far-fetched as it sounds? A no-frills, simple aeroplane built for one and designed to fly low and slow.

What configuration would be simplest- a biplane? This is what many of the early vehicles were. What about an engine, would a car engine work?

I know this project may never get off of the ground (pun intended), but please humour me!

Answer 1

You can get "kit planes" like "kit cars". I do not know a lot about it but i was watching a discovery program & some guy with no knowledge built a plane from scratch. He had to go on some training so he could be certified competent while constructing the wing & tail sections as they have to be inspected & passed as fit for purpose. He built it I think for less than £10000. Saying that it was a small basic plane.

Answer 2

Hi

Well i think building a micro light  is quicker and less costly . You can order a kit.

The Micro lights tend to be single winged and they use motor bike engines . I t might be a good idea to join a club first and get the hang of flying .

Here some info on building a micro light

http://hubpages.com/hub/How-to-Build-a-M...

Here a site to get you on your way to building a plane

http://www.popularmechanics.com/science/...

Hope this helps bye

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Answer 3

Why not compromise and build a kit plane.

All the aeronautic design work has been done for you, you just build it yet still maintain considerable flexibility on various aspects of it's specification.

Answer 4

I appreciate your interest, but you should consider the difficulties involved. If you still want to do it go ahead, as many have succeeded also. Go through the following sites which give enough information on the subject:

http://aerospaceplanes.suite101.com/arti...

www.auf.asn.au/constructors/index.html

http://www.flion.com/rv6a/Default.htm

Answer 5

Very expensive and it would take years to complete - it's probably cheaper to buy one ready-built, and don't forget the time and cost to gain a pilot's license.

Take a look at kit-planes to get an idea of the costs involved. There are aircraft enthusiast clubs that share workshops and help each other out but

it depends where you live.

Answer 6

Maybe you would like to start with a smaller project like a lunar landing module!  Building an airplane is much easier than an aeroplane.  :-)

Small experimental planes should be left to the experts.  Those things are death traps!

Answer 7

Your dream is not silly; there is a large industry supporting home-builders, and at least in the US the law makes it easy to do so. Google up 'airplane kits' or 'home-built aircraft' and go for it!

Answer 8

I say go for it, do what you can while you're alive!



But just one tip, don't follow the instructions on building it on Yahoo Answers or it could all go horribly wrong! lol

Answer 9

Ignore all this "build it yourself kit" bollox, we share the same dream my friend. Personally I would like to build myself a spitfire and have looked into it very deeply, a car engine wouldn't really work as they as normally quite heavy, the most important thing to bare in mind when building is having a decent power:weight ratio, you also need to consider lots of things like the controls sensors. Your normal one man aircraft needs a power of around 1000 hp to get in the sky.

look on this link "http://www.howstuffworks.com/airplane.h... its great, just goes through all the basic little things you will have to consider when building a simple aircraft. Good luck, just don't kill yourself whilst flying it :)

Answer 10

please go to Youtube and see all those home made kit plane videos--also there is a web site www.zenithair.com who sell the STOL CH 701 in kit form.They use a 100HP engine.As for the car engine in an airplane there is a video there using a VW car engine.