Kit planes

[Ghostie31]

Hey,
Any one got any ideas on the best kit planes?
Cheers
Ghostie

[Monocock]

"Best" for what?

Let us know if you want to travel at 190 kts from tarmac runways or if you want to land in stubble fields (:ok: ) and operate from strips.

If I was going to take a year off work for a bit of R & R I would like nothing better than to get stuck into a Kitfox.

Unfortunately, if I found myself in that situation I fear Mrs M might have other plans...

[Flyboy-F33]

Best overall...probably Vans RV series, certainly the most prolific.

best performance (and my choice) would be Lancair

It all depends on your profile.

GG

[Rod1]

The one I am building of course!

MCR-01. Most efficient, lowest operating cost for high speed and super handling

Rods

[Mariner9]

Challenge you to a race Rod once your airbourne!

Get a Pioneer 300 :ok:

http://tinypic.com/e66ryc.jpg

[Rod1]

Been done old boy. G-CUTE thrashed the Pioneer at Shobodon on rate of clime and Cruse. CUTE does have the advantage over me of having a VP prop, but CUTE cruses at 160Kn. Given that the pioneer has disappearing Dunlop’s and a VP prop you may have the edge on me until I go VP.

Rod1

[ETOPS773]

MCR-01
Awesome piece of kit. Cheap,fast sexy...and diesel engine option being developed
here (http://www.dieselthrust.de/)
One day I will have one :ok:


If its range your after, I've very good things about the WD Fascination VLA.

[Confabulous]

ETOPS,

Only one word (two at a pinch) will suffice to measure my reaction to the diesel version:

WOOHOO!!!!!!

There, I feel much better. I was racking my brains to think of a reason there wasn't a Jet A1 powered BanBi.

Oh happy day... :}

(5 l/hour anyone?) :E

One day I'll have one as well, be sure of that.

[Russell Gulch]

MCR-01 Awesome piece of kit Made of plastic, of course.

The original poster's question is heavily loaded with unknowns. perhaps he or she might wish to expand on quite what "best kit " means?
Best performer?
Cheapest price?
Easiest to build?
Cheapest to run?
Easiest to repair?

Sounds like a troll to me.

[Confabulous]

Made of plastic, of course.

Actually it's carbon fibre with aluminum wing skins.

[Rod1]

I am not sure about the JetA1 engines. My AA5B would now be costing me about £60 per hour in Avgas, so building the MCR was partly a way of ensuring I can fly long term for less money. The MCR burns about £15 per hour, and the Rotax 912 has the best reliability of any engine in the PFA fleet.

The JetA1 solution will reduce the cost by another £8 per hour but what about reliability? I think it will be at least 7 or 8 years before any of the experimental engines are truly proven in the field. You also have to look at the cost of engine purchase. I got my engine (912ULS) 18 months ago at an all in cost of £8600 inc vat and carriage. At the time the Wiltch (forgive the spelling) was available at £13,600 all in, a difference of £5000!

The MCR-01 ULM has carbon fibre wing skins, as does the MCR-04.

Rod1

[Ghostie31]

Hi thanks for all ur comments,

What im looking for is, reliability, decent performane, cabable of aeros and not too manuy man hours to build.
Whats the europa like? saw it being built on a tv programme.
Cheers

[Confabulous]

AFAIK the Europa isn't aerobatic - I suggest a Rans S6 if you want something that meets your needs!

AVGAS price is going to keep going up, and it will be phased out in the next 10 years - it's not very profitable for the oil companies. Mogas will obviously keep being produced, but Jet A1 will have far better availability at airfields.

Besides, projected fuel burn is apparently around the 9L/hour mark, and at roughly half the cost of AVGAS (with more complete combustion etc), that's double the flying hours for the same price. Yes, £7-£9 and hour isn't a lot, but let's face it - the Rotax engines aren't the most efficient - far better then the Lycomings perhaps, but according to the specs, Rotax fuel burn increases at higher alt due to the lack of a mixture control, therefore the SFC is around the .45 - .48 mark, while Jet A1 power engines would be down around the .35 mark. Besides, isn't the Rotax experimental too?

Personally I think the better efficiency and lower fuel costs would be worth the higher price.

And having roughly 30% more range would put the lid on it for me! I wonder if those long range tanks can be fitted....

[spitfire]

There's a reason there are more of the Van's RV series flying than any other kitplane in history - great kits, great support, great resale values & all based on outstanding performance.