How hard is building a plane, could I do it, and similar questions.

These questions defy a quantitative answer. Think about it. How hard is doing anything? Consequently, my answers to these questions usually depend on my mood at the moment.

I can tell you with certainty that building a plane is far easier than raising a child. It might even be less expensive, too. And this leads me to the first real question you should be asking yourself - can I afford to build a plane? If you want to tackle that question, checkout the calculator on Van's web site, run the numbers, add 20% and then explore your budget. Some folks ask why add 20% and that's a fair question. The simple answer is if I told you the real multiplier you might not start. If you don't start you certainly won't finish and it probably won't be because you didn't have adequate skills or financial means.

If you can find the money to fund the project, odds are pretty good you either have or can develop the skills needed to build an airworthy plane. This leads me to the second real question, the one I struggled with and few people ask. How much time are you willing to commit to the project? There's a common piece of wisdom that says "Persistence builds airplanes, not skill". It was a wise person that first spoke those words. If you have the time and the money, it would be hard to imagine someone that couldn't complete the airplane.

In between the questions about how difficult building a plane is and what skills you need to complete the plane are a host of implied questions. Sometimes I think these are the real questions and sometimes they lead me to just jump to the answer that lets the person off the hook, "No, I don't think you could build a plane." The most common implied question is "Can I build a show winning plane?" If you're looking for your first plane to be the show winner, odds are you'll be in for some disappointment. If this is what you're looking for my advice is to buy a few lottery tickets. They're cheaper than building a plane, you'll get your answer sooner, and the disappointment will likely be less.

This is my first plane and I'm learning darn near everything as I go along. I built one of Van's little 'looks like a plane part kits' and screwed it up so bad I bought a second one and darn near didn't buy the empennage. I knew wood working pretty well but metal is different. The tools are different. Driving and bucking rivets is different. Every thing about working with metal is different. Unless you've worked with metal before and are familiar with the techniques you're going to have a learning curve to address. Do you remember syllogisms from logic class? Here's one. You learn from your mistakes. Building your plane is a learning process. Therefore, you'll make mistakes on your plane. Maybe your second plane can be a show winner. Think of your first plane as a $60,000 lesson.

The next most common implied question seems to be on target. Do I have 'what it takes' to really do this? There's an unspoken implication that the questioner really doesn't know what 'what it takes' really is. I can tell you with certainty what 'what it takes' is. It's persistence -an hour or two every day spent on the project. Only you know if you want the end result bad enough to spend the time and the money to make it happen. Odds are overwhelming that you either already have or can rapidly develop the skills needed to build a safe airworthy plane. Van's kits and directions make it hard to build a plane that isn't true to form, square and plumb, and structurally correct. Drilling holes (especially match drilled holes) isn't hard. Neither is deburring, dimpling, or riveting. Odds are you can already measure and cut materials, so you're well on your way to having the skills needed to build a plane.

So, is building a plane difficult? Not really but like raising kids, it takes years and you will make mistakes. Some you can fix and some you can't. Some only you will know about and others will be pretty obvious. Is it expensive? To most of us of average means yes, but expensive doesn't mean unaffordable. Can you do it too? If you're willing to commit the time to it I'd bet on you successfully completing the project...and if you did a good job I might even bet your second plane will be a show winner.