Any of you built an Ultralight?

[Capt Thompson]

Sorry I've been away for a while, both jobs have been busy and I've taken a more active role at the Squadron and Wing, so it's been a while!

I recently made the decision to research building an ultralight kit. I've found an airport about an hour away that gives instruction, and my Squadron AEO helped me pick out a kit, the MiniMax 1100R. I'm going to order the vertical stab and rudder kit and try my hand at building.....if it turns out ok I'll keep going, and if it turns out I'm not really a builder, I'll paint in in CAP colors and hang it on the wall at Squadron HQ, and will be out less than $100.

My AEO suggested that when I get a little further along, I have the Cadets take part in the process as part of AE. I like the idea, I think I would have liked doing that when I was a Cadet, and having extra hands in the project would cut down the total build time. Obviously I won't be letting them take it for a spin, but learning how a plane goes together and how the controls operate would be interesting.

On the other hand, from a quality control standpoint, I'm concerned about having a group of 12 year olds assembling key components which, if they fail 2000 ft above ground, would result in a long fall with a sudden stop.

Have any of you ever built one? What parts would you get the Cadets involved in, if any?

Any general tips for building one? I have all of the tools and space, and my father is a woodworker and wants to help with the project. I'm not planning on rushing to get it done quick, both for quality control and financial reasons, I figure I'll buy a section at a time and spend a couple years doing the project in my spare time.

[Garibaldi]

Yeahhhh....from a quality control and a SAFETY perspective I would keep the youngers away from any critical flight structures. Unless you feel like going back over their work with a fine toothed comb.

Otherwise, yeah, not a bad idea from an AE standpoint.

[THRAWN]

Sorry I've been away for a while, both jobs have been busy and I've taken a more active role at the Squadron and Wing, so it's been a while!

I recently made the decision to research building an ultralight kit. I've found an airport about an hour away that gives instruction, and my Squadron AEO helped me pick out a kit, the MiniMax 1100R. I'm going to order the vertical stab and rudder kit and try my hand at building.....if it turns out ok I'll keep going, and if it turns out I'm not really a builder, I'll paint in in CAP colors and hang it on the wall at Squadron HQ, and will be out less than $100.

My AEO suggested that when I get a little further along, I have the Cadets take part in the process as part of AE. I like the idea, I think I would have liked doing that when I was a Cadet, and having extra hands in the project would cut down the total build time. Obviously I won't be letting them take it for a spin, but learning how a plane goes together and how the controls operate would be interesting.

On the other hand, from a quality control standpoint, I'm concerned about having a group of 12 year olds assembling key components which, if they fail 2000 ft above ground, would result in a long fall with a sudden stop.

Have any of you ever built one? What parts would you get the Cadets involved in, if any?

Any general tips for building one? I have all of the tools and space, and my father is a woodworker and wants to help with the project. I'm not planning on rushing to get it done quick, both for quality control and financial reasons, I figure I'll buy a section at a time and spend a couple years doing the project in my spare time.

Exactly what a cadet wants to do: be exploited for free labor and not be able to enjoy the end result. You might want to rethink that part of the project. Having them observe the construction would be a good way for them to see the sausage making of aviation, though.

[etodd]

Find an EAA Chapter near you:

https://www.eaa.org/en/eaa/eaa-chapters/find-an-eaa-chapter

Even if you don't join a local group, peruse their website and maybe subscribe for every tidbit of info on homebuilding you could ever want.

[Damron]

I assisted with the construction of a Himax, the high-wing version of the Minimax.

I like the idea of exposing cadets to such a project, but you would have to carefully select and spoon feed anything you would want cadets to do, avoiding any dangerous power tools. Then, inspect their work and be prepared to trash or repair anything that's not right - wood is pretty [darn] forgiving.

It could be fun, but in no way would it reduce your construction time, unless you have a small group that will be there from start to finish.  That would be tough to coordinate and sustain for many reasons, including cadet protection issues. Maybe you could have a small number of cadet participation days during the construction, where they benefit from seeing different stages on construction. 

I don't think you can build a Himax light enough to legally fly 103, but it's a much better aircraft and probably worth it to build as an experimental.

[The CyBorg is destroyed]

My birth father (who had a PPL and a quarter-share interest in a Piper Cherokee Six) was going to try to build something called a Gyrocopter that required two Volkswagen engines.

He already had the kit and had just got the engines when he was killed in an accident.

I'm not sure the kit he had is available today - this was in 1984 - and I never saw it out of the box, and don't remember what the pictures he had looked like.

All I remember seeing is the box and the two VW engines.

[Capt Thompson]

Correct, the HiMax can't be built to part 103 specs.

I think anything with power tools will have to be done at home beforehand, but maybe some of the gluing and clamping could be done with the Cadets as well as varnish and paint. Maybe have the Cadets help design the paint scheme.

If nothing else I will bring in pieces periodically as the project progresses so they can see. When the main components are built, but not yet covered we could assemble the skeleton so they can really see how everything works.

Once complete I will let them sit in the cockpit and manipulate the controls to see how the control surfaces are affected. I definitely wouldn't let an untrained Cadet take it for a spin though.