Airplane Research Papers
Perhaps the only joy greater than flying on a beautiful day is when it's in an airplane built with your own hands. What's truly remarkable about homemade aircraft are their great diversity of design. They can take the form of biplanes or ultra lights that aren't much more than a hang glider with a motor and landing gear. Some are as large as commercially built planes while others look and sound like go-carts with wings. They are remarkable because anyone with some mechanical aptitude and a work ethic can build one. Your basic airplane really isn't that complicated a device. You simply need a sound airframe, an engine, propeller, and cables for actuating flight control surfaces from the pilot's cockpit.
While there are aeronautical engineers …show more content…
who design and build their own airplanes, most DIY people purchase a kit and follow the instructions. They do their work in home garages, basements, and even living rooms. Some kit manufacturers allow their customers to use their facilities for putting their kit together.
Building your own plane however, is hard work.
The average time required to complete one is between two and five years. Completing a plane within this time frame will require about 20 hours of work every week. The key is consistency of effort. Taking long periods off can stretch the construction time out to a decade. Unfortunately, there are countless unfinished airplanes that will never fly because their builders lacked sufficient drive to sustain their efforts over the span of years. Another problem is that unless you have partners working with you, the project involves a lot of solitude, which can be too much for some.
However, for those who persevere, they get to experience this. Of course, as there is with many things in life, there is a dark side. In this case it's pilot liability. Whether justified or not, people will take you to court if they are injured or suffer property damage as a result of your flying should an accident happen.
Another liability wrinkle is that if you allow another person to fly your plane and he or she gets injured, you can be held liable as builder and owner of the plane. If their lawyer can show the accident occurred because of a maintenance lapse or because of faulty workmanship on your part, the result can destroy your
life.
While there are aeronautical engineers …show more content…
who design and build their own airplanes, most DIY people purchase a kit and follow the instructions. They do their work in home garages, basements, and even living rooms. Some kit manufacturers allow their customers to use their facilities for putting their kit together.
Building your own plane however, is hard work.
The average time required to complete one is between two and five years. Completing a plane within this time frame will require about 20 hours of work every week. The key is consistency of effort. Taking long periods off can stretch the construction time out to a decade. Unfortunately, there are countless unfinished airplanes that will never fly because their builders lacked sufficient drive to sustain their efforts over the span of years. Another problem is that unless you have partners working with you, the project involves a lot of solitude, which can be too much for some.
However, for those who persevere, they get to experience this. Of course, as there is with many things in life, there is a dark side. In this case it's pilot liability. Whether justified or not, people will take you to court if they are injured or suffer property damage as a result of your flying should an accident happen.
Another liability wrinkle is that if you allow another person to fly your plane and he or she gets injured, you can be held liable as builder and owner of the plane. If their lawyer can show the accident occurred because of a maintenance lapse or because of faulty workmanship on your part, the result can destroy your
life.