The decision at the end of the day is one that only you can make, however We’d highly recommend that you follow the procedure outlined below:
- Join EAA, and meet like minded people who understand your frame of reference, especially when your spouse might not understand why you wish to spend 5 years of your life in your workshop, neglecting your family, and occasionally bringing some very odd looking people around to the house. See Membership Information for more information.
- Go on project visits and see first hand what is involved in terms of time and money, and what can be achieved by some ingenuity.
- Look at all the aircraft types available, and the information that the EAA Chapter can provide you with to assist in making a decision. EAA has an extensive video library, as well as reference material, and ongoing lectures and practical workshops. These are listed either on our web site, or within the individual chapters
- Look at your desired mission for your airplane. Set yourself the specifications you require, and then (without looking at the pictures) decide whether the aircraft meets your specifications. Discard all those that don’t, and DON’T look at the pictures of the ones you’ve discarded. Sex sells…
- Assess your available resources (money, space, ability, etc.), but don’t be disheartened if you lack in any respects. Often members build together or pool resources.
- Builder support for the types you are looking at – this is probably the most important. You will reach a stage where you want to chuck it all in, but if you are working with, or alongside, or supported by others building the same aircraft type, it will get you over that hump…
Once you’ve a realistic and unemotionally handle on these items, start checking out designs until you find 2 or 3 designs that fit your situation best. Then go ahead and start checking out differences between them. Don’t dwell too much on factors like “I’ve never done any welding” since you’re going to have to learn to do lots of things you never considered before. Also, designers’ claims for performance are often “stretched” a bit, so wait to talk to owners before making any final decisions. Remember also that a large percentage of aviation acitivity in SA occurs way above 5000 feet (hot and high), so build this into your specifications, especially if you intend flying fully loaded to the EAA Airweek.
