No Gab it is much much more complicated than that, lots of paperwork and $$$$$$$$ to make a certified aircraft experimental.

A friend of mine over here had a little Grumman AA1 that had a terribly temperamental hour meter

It was very well looked after (the hour meter) he even had a circuit breaker to protect its circuitry .... trouble was, sometimes the circuit breaker would pop while he was flying.... dam shame that

Living on a farm miles from anywhere, sometimes if it needed a jug replaced or something.... miraculously one would appear on it over night? Like there were elves in the barn with the plane or something? Very strange that.....

I posted this on the wrong thread by mistake, so here goes again.
For pure cross-country utility - to get from A to B - it's hard to beat an enclosed FW. Gyros will do it, my Aircam will do it, but if you want comfort, warmth, and don't want to get wet etc, enclosed is the way. ( I may eventually put a canopy on the Aircam if the boss lady decides she wants to fly with me.) FW was also designed to get you up to altitude for a smoother ride etc, etc.
If you go Experimental you can fit out the cockpit like an Airbus for $15k or so with full autopilot, weather, ADS-B, the lot.
Phil's RANS -19 is a great example. He can sit in his armchair at home, plan his flight in Foreflight on his iPad, get in his plane, transfer the plan directly to the Dynon and then except to back off the throttle to level out, hardly touch the controls except to stop for gas, all the way from Deland to Tennessee.

It must be different for helicopters then! I know a lot of run out Robinsons flying as experimental...

I know a few illegals. No such thing as an experimental Robinson usually it's sold and the new owner doesn't reregister it. All the experimental ones graduated to smoking hole status after a stint as a drone.

Damn, that's nice.
We had one here locally with a two-stroke but I never saw it fly, and I don't know what ever happened to it.

As little as I carry passengers, I would be better off getting a single seater. I have access to some other planes to fly if I want to carry someone else. My boss has a pristine Cessna 170 that needs to be flown more often.

I always thought that a HummelBird would be a blast to fly too.

As long as we're talking small f/w that are a blast, we need to mention the 90% Spitfire right?

http://www.supermarineaircraft.com/mk26b-90

Barry Kroepelin has a hummel bird, at least he did last year, Have to go visit and see what he has added to his collection since.

Still have the HummelBird.......can't beat 120 mph cruise @ 2 gal/hr!!

I want to be like Barry when I grow up!


Nevermind, I don't want to grow up, just be like Barry, he is So...Cool!

Me too...only a bit better hung than him...which is probably not that hard to achieve.....

So here are some pics of Phil's 150. 60 hrs since overhaul.
He will sell for $17k with a fresh annual.

Man That's a smokin deal!

I wish I already had my PPL!

I have a few fix wing friends who might be interested. Is that a price for everyone or just Scotty?

That one is in great shape, most of them look like the cockpit has not been refurbished since the plane was new 40+ years ago,

Phil is pretty meticulous about everything.
That's the price, I just said I know someone who may be interested

No cheaper way than to buy it, get your PPL, then sell it when you're done to get an Experimental.
That's a good price right there. Renting a 172 will probably run about $120/hour wet, plus instructor.
I paid a little less but I have a mid-time C-90 instead of a freshly overhauled O-200, and my panel is not as well equipped.

That looks like a great deal, and it's a nice looking plane... I'm starting my PPL next month... but probably couldn't get a nice deal like this in Europe.

Scotty, imagine if you got that and put a nice paintjob on it... get your PPL in it, then sell it on and get another one? Could be a good business from home?

You could even do hotrod paintjobs on other peoples planes for them? They can even fly it to your door, you paint it, they fly it away again?

That would be a great side line for you I think?

I have heard you can paint pretty good?

I don't want to paint airplanes!!!! I even quit painting cars and bikes, and even helmets, I have painted too many things for too many years,
The chemicals are harsh, very toxic, and with airplanes you get into all the use of paint stripper and then having to balance and rig flight controls to do it properly, etc,
I have thought about it, but not something I want to do at this point in my life.

I would rather relax, and fly, rather than have to work after working all day like I do now...


Yes it would be a good one to get my PPL in and build some real cross country time..