"canuck_bob" wrote in message
...
Thanks Cavelamb, I'm trying my local fabric stores this week. /that
tip will be very helpful.

Stealth Pilot I originally bought the Fly Baby to have a plane to fly
that was in fact a full kit for systems. It dawned on me that a
flying plane would be a cheaper source of parts for a project rather
than sourcing individually. Then I started to understand the design
and the history of the aircraft and the building movement in North
America and fell for the design.

Ron's site really helped to see all this. Then I looked at the
Tailwind as a possible project and realized it started the movement to
legitamacy when it was the first homebuilt licenced to carry a
passenger.

I would like to see the EAA start an Antique Homebuilt category and
start elevating the status of these old homebuilts. But their
direction and goals are focused at the other end of the spectrum from
the Fly Baby and what it represents. They no longer support or
endorse the working guy who has to build and fly cheap, cheap like an
older used car cheap. You know guys like Poberezny and his buddies
meeting in a basement redesigning Corben planes because they wanted to
experiment and build cheap while feeding a family. Cheap has become
$40,000 and affordable $80-120,000 according to our GA savior LSA.

You have a lot of good points there, and it's really interesting to note
that the Tailwind is still the plane to try to beat for efficiency.

Some of the kits can give it a run; but you are right about the price.

A lot of the problem is simply that a kit is about the least expensive form
that can fit into a business plan that includes an advertising budget, and
organized fly-in events require a lot of funding. The general security
madness also seems to add to the subsequent cost of basing and operation,
even if it does also have some efficacy in reducing the incidence of theft.

Actually, a lot of plans are still out there, all types of engines have
gotten lighter for their power output, and the same basic principles of
flight still work. So, perhaps the best that we can do is to try to
convince the EAA to roll Sport Pilot into Sport Aviation and to bring back
Experimenter as their seperate magazine. It was far from perfect; but it
could still be the best solution.

Peter