SELECTING A HOMEBUILT DESIGN
PART1
Matching the Machine to the Man
We all know the feeling. There you
are, wandering through acres of
airplanes at Oshkosh. The adrenalin is
pumping and your fingers nervously
twitch while fondling your checkbook.
You've made up your mind. This is your
year to build an airplane. No, not just
AN airplane, but THE airplane. It will be
your pride and joy. The airplane will be
your statement to the world. It will be
your gateway to faraway places. It will
be something gossamer and magic. It
will be ...
This is a dangerous time! This is the
time when rationality and logic have
been overpowered by the dread dis-
ease, Igotabuildanairplanitis. At exactly
the critical moment, when your saner
self should reign supreme, your
mechanical hormones are running
amuck. You are in deep trouble and
don't even know it. You are about to let
those hormones pick a homebuilt de-
sign for you and, in so doing, create
one of the longest lasting, most knuckle
busting nightmares of your life. This
would be a good time for a really cold
shower. Or two!
Selecting a homebuilt to build is far
more complicated than, say, picking
someone to be your spouse. At least in
that case hormones were supposed to
be part of the equation. The only way
to approach the problem of selecting a
design is with cold rationalism. This ain't
easy. In fact, it can be darned hard, but
by following some simple guidelines, it
can be made easier and, when the de-
cision is made, there is a better possibil-
ity of not only completing the airplane,
but of having the machine match the
man (or woman).
Undoubtedly the most common mis-
take is basing the "which airplane" deci-
sion entirely on the airplane and what it
does. Little or no thought is given as to
how that airplane fits into the realities
represented by our own life. In fact,
without giving it some thought, many of
us don't really know what the realities
of our life are. That's okay, since not
by BUDD DAVISSON
66 Scudders Rd.
Sparta, NJ 07871
knowing the realities is what keeps
most of us from leaping off tall buildings.
However, jam a project as big as build-
ing an airplane into the average life and
suddenly the realities become very real.
That's why the man/machine match is
so critical. We don't want to put an aero-
nautical square peg into a hexagonal
hole.
Most of making the man/machine
match right the first time is carefully
evaluating all those things which enter
into the situation, as it actually exists.
The decision has to be based on our
real life aeronautical situation, not the
life we see with our emotionally closed
eyes.
Rule one, naturally, is don't take your
checkbook to a fly-in until you've gone
through the complete evaluation cycle.
The evaluation process centers on
four basic areas. The first is a self evalu-
ation in which you stand off and take a
hard, objective look at yourself as a
builder, pilot, family man and provider.
". . . the most common
mistake is basing the
'which airplane' decision
entirely on the airplane
and what it does."
The other areas include evaluating
your personal environment in terms of
a place to build said airplane. Then, it's
necessary to look hard at the mission
you have in mind for the airplane.
Granted, we all want a 300 mph, fully
aerobatic, four seat amphibian that
burns 3.4 gph (of diesel) and builds in
three months and can do everything.
But, that isn't the real world. We have
to decide exactly what it is we're going
to do with this homegrown magic carpet
so we can select the best compromise
as represented by each design.
Last . . . and nearly least . . . is the
evaluation of the airplane possibilities
themselves. By the time you've taken
all the other steps, many of the contend-
ing designs will have been eliminated
by the decision parameters developed.
You'll also have spent enough time
thinking about it that most (not all) of
your hormones will be under control.
When it comes to self evaluation,
some of the simplest questions we must
ask ourselves are the hardest and often
lead into entirely different subjects and
directions. However, the questions we
have to ask are fairly short and concise.
It's the answers that get long and drawn
out. The questions are the following:
- "Why do you want to build an
airplane?"
- "What kind of a builder are you?"
- "What is your 'life situation' in terms
of time, finances and family?"
- "What kind of pilot are you?"
Why Do You Want To
Build An Airplane?
If you answer the above question by
saying "Because I want something to
fly", then you are barking up the wrong
wind tee. If your only reason for building
is to fly, then chances are you'll never
finish the project because your urge to
fly will overpower your urge to build. If,
during the project, the builder is con-
stantly looking down the road, visualiz-
ing himself wafting out over far hori-
zons, he will become discouraged and
quit. In a project where progress is mea-
sured in millimeters, the horizons never
seem to get any closer.
There are thousands of flying
machines out there that can get a pilot
up and down without those thousands
of hours of nitpicking labor which pre-
SPORT AVIATION 37
 cede the launching of a homebuilt. They
are airplanes a pilot buys to fly.
A homebuilt is an airplane in which
the act of building is an end in itself. It
is an unbelievably long, arduous task
that will never be completed if it is
looked at as a task or a stepping stone
to someplace else.
Acceptable reasons for building an
airplane are almost always a little hard
to get a handle on and they vary from
builder to builder. The combinations of
reasons vary as much as the per-
sonalities of the builders, but they al-
most always include some form of the
act of creating and the tremendous
satisfaction which comes from creating
something that lives and breathes, as
an airplane does. Also, acting as glue
which holds together all the other
reasons is a stubborn streak of indi-
vidualism, of wanting a machine that is
strictly, unequivocally the way the
builder wants it to be.
The most important reason for build-
ing should be that you just like to build
things. Simple as that. What is being
built is secondary.
The fact that many homebuilts offer
performance not normally available
elsewhere isn't reason enough to jump
into a homebuilt project. With a number
of noteable exceptions, performance
that approximates a homebuilt design
is available in ready-to-fly spam can
form. For instance, if you just want to
do aerobatics rather than putting 3,000
hours into building a Pitts, buy a used
Pitts S-2A - the dollars work out the
same. Rather than building a Glasair II
or Long-EZ for the long range cross
country performance, put ferry tanks in
the back of a late model Mooney or
Bonanza. This kind of approach is for
those who give "I want to fly" as their
reason for building an airplane. This
kind of approach isn't even worth dis-
cussing for those who have the
mechanical creative bug running
through their veins and have to have
something that's as individual as their
thumbprint.
What Kind Of A Builder
Are You?
Evaluating yourself as a builder has
absolutely nothing to do with what you
have done or what you can do. Skill and
experience aren't part of the equation,
although they do help. They aren't im-
portant because there is not one skill
involved in building any airplane that
can't be learned by the average guy at
the airport who has the right attitude.
And that is the magic ingredient . . .
attitude.
The right attitude involves a willing-
ness to do things "right" and learn what
has to be learned. If this isn't your at-
titude, if your frustration level is low and
38 JANUARY 1989
interest in learning is nil, don't build.
Don't even think about building. Even
those who build things around the
house might not know what their actual
builder attitude is because they've
never thought about it or have never
tackled a long term, detailed project. If
that's you, try the following as a test
case: Build a good sized, flying model
airplane and judge your feelings and at-
titudes this brings out. To make the test
case a little more concrete and a heck
of a lot of fun, buy a Sig Manufacturing,
Montezuma, IA, Chipmunk kit (CL-19)
and a Fox .35 or .40 engine. This is a
U-Control (wires running to a handle,
with you attached, in the middle of a
circle) stunt ship with 53" wing span. By
the time you are done building, finish-
ing, flying (and repairing) one of these,
you'll have gone through a tiny micro-
casm of bulding a real airplane, includ-
ing scrounging up all the requisite parts.
You'll be in and out of the project for
about $100 and it will tell you a lot about
yourself. If it shows you to have the
wrong attitude, the C-note saved you
thousands. If it turns you on, it showed
you a new side of yourself and, at the
very least, got you into a sport (U-C
stunt) that's a lot of fun in its own right.
One of the most important factors of
the "builders attitude" involves "project
orientation." This means the project at
hand is the only project of immediate
concern. In other words, the tiny piece
you are grinding/sawing/bashing into
the appropriate shape is the project.
Granted, there are thousands of such
projects under the umbrella of the larger
one, but by concentrating on them one
at a time, the job seems much shorter.
Also, there's a lot to be said for sitting
down to build a widget and seeing it
started and finished in one sitting. The
satisfaction factor is much higher than
judging success and progress only by
looking at the whole. By building the
airplane one little project at a time,
when you run out of little projects you'll
look up and realize the airplane is
finished.
Another factor in project orientation
is planning. There is a certain logic to
the way any project proceeds and that
has to be mapped out in advance. That
doesn't mean setting strict time
schedules (which are a sure way to dis-
appoint yourself). That means certain
parts and assemblies have to be done
before others.
Some parts can be built totally inde-
pendent of all the rest and that can be
used to your psychological advantage.
Plan two different lines of building - one
will involve longer term components
and the other will involve those millions
of little parts that can be built in less
than an hour. This approach is more
important than it appears. All of us run
in cycles: one day we'll be ready to sink
our teeth into something really meaty
and long term. Other days we want in-
stant gratification, something that we
can do right now. Also, some days we
need work that is gross in nature (build-
ing work benches, sawing tubing, beat-
ing the dog) and others demand fine
detail work (wiring, instrument plumb-
ing, fitting clean-up, grooming the dog).
If we recognize those cycles and work
with them, then even on those days
when we would usually not feel like
working on the airplane, we can find
something that fits our mood.
Discipline is probably one of the most
important, and hard to control, parts of
project orientation. The guys who finish
airplanes don't necessarily lock them-
selves in their shops for days on end,
having their wife slip pizzas under the
door. Most of them do, however, desig-
nate at least one small project a day to
be finished. Many of them say all they
ask of themselves is that they physically
touch the project at least 4-5 times a
week. That way they don't drift away
from it or let other things get in their
way. They also know, once they've
overcome the sand-in-the-butt inertia
that overtakes us all right after supper
by simply walking into the shop, they'll
wake up and work for whatever time is
available to them.
Another form of discipline is actually
using available time. There are lots of
little tasks that can be done in just a few
minutes . . . removing masking tape
after painting, sweeping the shop, etc.
"Discipline is probably
one of the most
important, and hard
to control, parts of
project orientation."
These can be done while waiting for
dinner or during a lull in family activities.
For instance, I once timed myself and
found it took 17 minutes to fit a diagonal
piece of tubing and tack it, and 12 min-
utes for a vertical. So, when I found a
spare 20 minutes I was out in the shop
making headway.
Paying attention to detail is another
of those attitudinal factors that isn't in-
nate with everybody, but, with some
personal head banging can be learned.
Getting the details right is critical and it
is absolutely essential the feeling of
"good enough" isn't tolerated. Down to
the last detail, the builder must re-
member exactly what he is building and
why every detail counts. An airplane is
a machine that gets you just high
enough to bust your tail and "good
enough" doesn't cut it. Even/time you
make a fitting and an edge has a tiny
nick that needs to be cleaned out, one
you know probably doesn't make any
difference, you have to think about
being at 3,000 feet and wondering
whether that nick really was inconse-
quential. There are no inconsequential
parts of an airplane and strict attention
to detail has to be part of the project,
from beginning to end.
The builder attitude can be learned in
its entirety, but sometimes it has to be
worked at. An excellent way to practice
it is in building your workshop. In later
parts of this series, we get up to our
necks in the question of workshops and,
when we do, certain parts of it are made
for attitude development. It's also a
great way to decide which are thumbs
and which aren't.
The materials used in constructing
aircraft are also something an individual
has to keep in mind when doing his
builder evaluation. Folks are just natur-
ally more comfortable with some mate-
rials than others, historically. However,
that hasn't made much difference in
what airplane is built. All people bring a
rudimentary knowledge of wood con-
struction into aviation, but few build
airplanes out of it. Since all the other
materials require skills that aren't com-
monplace, that in itself is a testimonial
to the ease which new skills can be ac-
quired.
What Does Your Life
Actually Look Like?
Tossing an airplane building project
into many households would be like
throwing a skunk in a bathroom window
unless some preparation is made and
the right selection is made. The selec-
tion affects the family almost as much
as it does the builder and its effects are
in two areas - the first is while it is being
built and the second is when it is
finished and flying.
Let's look at the flying side of your life
first. Let's say right now you had an
airplane out at the airport, ready to go.
How many times a week can you get
out there and how much time can you
dedicate each time you do? If you have
a warp nine, cross continental runner,
how often will you have several days to
make use of its long legs?
Regardless of what we want in our
airplanes, often our life style dictates we
opt for something else. If your
weekends are filled up with soccer
games, birthday parties and trips to the
dentist, chances are the best you can
do is a Sunday morning at the 'drome.
In that situation, as much as you want
a Glasair III, a CUBy or Pitts actually
makes more sense.
Also, is your family part of your avia-
tion world? Do you actually need the
second, third or fourth seat? If they
travel with you, how big will the kids be
two or three years from now. A couple
of years growth will really screw up CG
calculations and foot room disappears
faster than last week's sneakers.
And then there is the ugly question of
money - how much will be left over after
building to feed the new bird? Close to
a couple bucks per gallon and it adds
up, if long weekends in the Bahamas
are part of your plans. It doesn't even
enter the picture if you're putting an
hour a week on your Pitts or Pietenpol.
The same factors have to be weighed
when building the airplane as well as
when flying. The average airplane con-
sumes between 1,500-3,000 hours of
free time that isn't really free. It is stolen
from someplace else in your life and it
may have to come from your sleep time,
if it's not available anywhere else. That
amount of time at two hours a day and
seven days a week is 750 to 1,500
building days. In a best case scenario,
that's a full two to four years.
Can you actually get 14 hours a week
free? How much time can you steal
from your family without it causing prob-
lems or building resentment towards the
airplane project? What about your job?
Does it take you away from home so
"Regardless of what we
want in our airplanes,
often our lifestyle
dictates we opt for
something else."
family-time is even more precious?
What about your own interest level?
Can you keep it up for 14 hours a week
for three years?
In many cases, the only way it will
work is by the nickel and dime time slots
mentioned earlier and doing the 10 to
midnight shift. It is critical the builder
recognize the family's rights and the de-
mands of the rest of his life. If he shorts
the family in the time department, he
stands a good chance of building a wall
of resentment that will be yet another
obstacle he has to overcome to build
the airplane.
Here comes the question of money
again - it used to be, when the only in-
vestment to get started on an airplane
was 30 bucks for a roll of plans, fi-
nances could always be worked out.
The pieces were bought a bit at a time
and the bite was small going in. Today,
since the majority of folks are building
kits, there is a pretty good hit right up
front. The average bank won't give you
the time of day when it comes to a
homebuilt, even though the same bank
will loan money to rebuild an antique or
classic. So, the builder has to figure out
what he can afford and when.
You As A Pilot
Pilot skill is the same as building skill.
It isn't important because it can be
learned. Absolutely anybody reading
this can be brought up to speed in any
airplane in the world, given enough
time. People who fly Pitts or Mustangs
aren't supermen gifted with talents
which are unobtainable. They have just
spent the time and money to learn.
It comes back down to attitude, espe-
cially the attitude towards challenges
versus enjoyment. It is important you
poke around in the mustier corners of
your mind to see if you would rather get
up and down with a minimum of hassle
or whether each flight is an experiment
to accept the challenge to improve. This
is probably the most important aspect
of making the man/machine match
work. If you are a pilot who dearly loves
the challenge of taming the airplane and
making it do what you want, you may
find yourself bored with a Pietenpol in
a matter of seconds. To that kind of a
driver, the challenge of making a no-
hop landing in a Pitts is justification
alone for building one. If, on the other
hand, your kind of flying is gently float-
ing up off the ground to groove on a
lemon-colored sunset and arrival and
departure are simply to be tolerated,
don't build a Pitts or other high demand
airplane. Your mouth will be so dried
out all the time you won't be able to spit
or whistle for weeks after each flight.
Both approaches to flying are correct
and one is no better than the other. But
it is important the builder know his feel-
ings about flight before he starts sawing
foam/tubing/wood/aluminum.
This seemingly simple combination,
matching the airplane to the pilot's at-
titude, not skill, is one of the reasons
there are so many homebuilts for sale
at 30-40 hours. They aren't bad
airplanes, they just don't match the
pilot's attitude envelope.
Summary
We are one-third of the way through
the evaluation process and it can be
seen how the initial person oriented
phases have a slight Psychology Today
look to them. Next month, we'll get into
the physical set-ups required to build
an airplane. In fact, we'll design a work-
shop and present some working draw-
ings for work benches and other crude,
but needed, items. Until then, climb
under the electric blanket, turn it up to
nine and think about airplanes. And let
your wife hold the checkbook.
SPORT AVIATION 39