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My Experience with "Builder-Assistance"
The purpose of a "Builder-Assistance" program is to help a builder with the assembly and/or the completion of his personal aircraft. For enthusiasts of the Zenith line of popular kit-planes, Quality Sport Planes, LLC (QSP) coordinates such programs in Northern California. The following account was written by a builder who participated in a custom two-week program...
I'd like to share my experiences of being involved in one of the first two-week West Coast builder-assistance programs sponsored by Quality Sport Planes, building my Zodiac 601XL.
By Mack Kreizenbeck
Learning to fly is one thing; building your own airplane is quite another! If you have the dream, however, both can be readily achieved. You are not alone, and help & guidance are never far away...
PART 1
At first I was quite dubious. You know, all the questions one has prior to entering a new adventure... My mechanical aptitude is above average (restoring autos, GMC motor homes, etc.), but I have never built an airplane! Let me give you a synopsis.
I would have had an excellent support group - if I decided to build a Kit Fox -
but I could not get past the 250 hours it would take just to cover the airframe...
Since then, my position in life had changed and, finally convincing my wife that I should own my own aircraft, I started a two-year research program looking at all LSA aircraft.
One strong contender was the Kit-Fox, especially since having the opportunity to know Dean Wilson, a highly respected designer and engineer of the Avid, Explorer and Eclipse. I even designed and built a hangar on the Caldwell, Idaho industrial Airport to accommodate Avid aircraft.
I first became acquainted with Zenith products when I attended Oshkosh in 1997 -- liked what I saw but filed it in the back of my mind as I wanted a Cessna 182, plus I was a member of a club who owned six Cessnas.
Several of my acquaintances have built and fly Kit Foxes -- there is a local group of 17 individuals that purchased one each, rented a large hangar and started production -- all, but one, are flying today.
The Zenith crew...
...at Oshkosh
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