Buying a used home-built?

Jay;
I've seen some ****-poorly built RV's that fly just fine. Unless it
was built by a fellow or crew with much experience, and not their
first model, I'd just stay away. Pick what you want and build it
yourself. There's nothing better than that accomplishment and you
know it's done right.

On Thu, 13 Jan 2005 14:12:51 GMT, "Jay Honeck"
wrote:

It seems that there are some remarkable deals out there for 200 mph used
Glasairs, but I would hesitate to buy one simply because I wouldn't trust
the workmanship.

What's the consensus on this issue? Is this a valid fear, or -- as some
have told me -- does the workmanship on the average home-built meet or
exceed that of the average Spam Can?

I've seen some ****-poorly built RV's that fly just fine. Unless it
was built by a fellow or crew with much experience, and not their
first model, I'd just stay away. Pick what you want and build it
yourself. There's nothing better than that accomplishment and you
know it's done right.

No way. I've known too many homebuilders to wish that fate on anyone.

There is no way I can afford to spend every waking spare moment, for the
next five years, away from my family building an airplane.

a) I don't have that many spare moments to spend with my family
b) I like to fly too much to waste that much time.

I truly admire those who have done it, but building a plane ain't for me.
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"

Idea.... The Vans' RV Suite! Just need to figure out how to get it out once
all the visiting pilots help you build it!
Jim

a) I don't have that many spare moments to spend with my family
b) I like to fly too much to waste that much time.

I truly admire those who have done it, but building a plane ain't for me.
--

"Jim Burns" posted the exciting message
:

Idea.... The Vans' RV Suite! Just need to figure out how to get it
out once all the visiting pilots help you build it!
Jim

"Free hotel room for each 5 hours labor building homebuilt aircraft..."

In article ,
Jon A. wrote:

Jay;
I've seen some ****-poorly built RV's that fly just fine. Unless it
was built by a fellow or crew with much experience, and not their
first model, I'd just stay away. Pick what you want and build it
yourself. There's nothing better than that accomplishment and you
know it's done right.

On Thu, 13 Jan 2005 14:12:51 GMT, "Jay Honeck"
wrote:

It seems that there are some remarkable deals out there for 200 mph used
Glasairs, but I would hesitate to buy one simply because I wouldn't trust
the workmanship.

What's the consensus on this issue? Is this a valid fear, or -- as some
have told me -- does the workmanship on the average home-built meet or
exceed that of the average Spam Can?



Bud Davisson is alleged to have said, "Given the choice between buying a
used homebuilt or a used snake, buy the snake."

There are a lot of fine homebuilts out there -- and there are a lot of
dogs, too! If you contemplate buying one, get some of your friends who
know the type homebuilt you're examining to go along and, literelly, go
over it with a fine tooth comb.

Bud Davisson is alleged to have said, "Given the choice between buying a
used homebuilt or a used snake, buy the snake."

There are a lot of fine homebuilts out there -- and there are a lot of
dogs, too! If you contemplate buying one, get some of your friends who
know the type homebuilt you're examining to go along and, literelly, go
over it with a fine tooth comb.

Exactly what I told a gentleman looking to buy a used Bonanza!

Jon,

Your point is lost on me.

If the planes were poorly made, but flew just fine, then it appears that it
would not be that risky to buy an RV. Your statement tells me that you can
tell reasonably easily the quality of the build ("some" implies you have
seen at least 3 that you somehow decided were poorly built). Furthermore,
even those that are poor quality seem to fly just fine. More kudoos for
Van.

Without a doubt, probably the best homebuilt line out there. When you
get into the guts of these things and see missing, mal aligned or
rivets improperly bucked, alignments made necessary by poor
installation of components on the back end and compensated for by
removing goods on the close end, hardware store parts and pieces and
generally going totally against the recommendation of Ol' Van, you
gotta start thinking about what the deal is.




On Fri, 14 Jan 2005 20:04:27 GMT, "Dude" wrote:

Jon,

Your point is lost on me.

If the planes were poorly made, but flew just fine, then it appears that it
would not be that risky to buy an RV. Your statement tells me that you can
tell reasonably easily the quality of the build ("some" implies you have
seen at least 3 that you somehow decided were poorly built). Furthermore,
even those that are poor quality seem to fly just fine. More kudoos for
Van.

"Jon A." wrote in message
...
Without a doubt, probably the best homebuilt line out there. When you
get into the guts of these things and see missing, mal aligned or
rivets improperly bucked, alignments made necessary by poor
installation of components on the back end and compensated for by
removing goods on the close end, hardware store parts and pieces and
generally going totally against the recommendation of Ol' Van, you
gotta start thinking about what the deal is.



These don't sound like litems that would be missed by someone doing a
reasonably thorough prebuy. I still believe that buying a Van's is no less
risky than buying an out of warranty certified plane.