Even though our segment of Experimental aviation, the homebuilt domain, is dominated by kit aircraft, there are still some hardy and handy builders who prefer to craft their own airplanes from scratch, tapping into the essence of how homebuilt aviation was conducted in its infancy. This is not to say that the plansbuilt designs are limited only to the aircraft of the early days (though there are certainly many of those). There are also high-performance aerobatic racing types among this group, along with the replicas of the earliest designs. Building from plans may hold appeal for those with more time than money, because materials can be gathered a little at a time and acquired as they are found or become available, with the finished project’s bottom line often favorably affected. And if a builder wishes to purchase some components in addition to building from plans, that option is sometimes available.
Last year we had listed 138 currently available plansbuilt designs, and this year we count 142. Still, there has been a slight contraction in the business that is not reflected in this number, as some kits have now become available only as plans. Some of the plans sellers we are aware of have been in business for more than half a century, and as small businesses, if there is no one to take up the mantle as they grow older, such as a family member or other interested party, the plans may simply no longer be made available. As the population of early plans designers ages, we may see this happen more and more often. Still, there are new developments to talk about, and though the new plans-only designs are few (mostly limited to newly owned), some shifting has been going on in this area of homebuilding, and we’ll take a look at what has changed since last year.
Hevle Classic.
What’s Developed in the Realm
A couple of items were mentioned in the Kit Aircraft Buyer’s Guide last month, but they’re worth revisiting. Preceptor Aircraft has discontinued making kits and is now offering plans only for its N-3 Pup, Stinger, STOL King, Super and Ultra Pups. A new web site is being designed and should be launched by the time you read this, the company says. The Bearhawk LSA, which is available as a kit from Bearhawk Aircraft, is also available as a plansbuilt from R&B Aircraft (Bob Barrows). For more on Barrows’ latest development, see Jared Yates’s article on Page 28.
Hevle Aviation, purveyor of the Hevle Classic, is also developing an 80% Stearman that will be powered by a Rotec engine, the company says. Meyer Aircraft, which currently offers the Little Toot, has plans for a “Big Toot” and is building the first example, says Thomas Meyer. Production photos of this work in progress will be offered on a web site that the company says is being revamped. The Big Toot is expected to be available next year.
There is a new listing for new company, Andrew Budek-Schmeisser, and the Jungster 2, and they’re working not only on new designs, including a clipped-wing monocoupe, but are also planning to offer kits for the Jungster 1 and Jungster 2. (No word on when those kits might be available.) The rights for the Jungster 1 biplane were purchased from Mike Townsley. Adams Aeronautics Company has acquired the CA-2. The company purchased the rights from Hummel Aviation, which was no longer supporting the design. Andrew Pietenpol, grandson of Pietenpol Air Camper designer Bernard Pietenpol, has taken over the plans business, and it’s now renamed BHP and Sons Air Camper Aircraft LLC. You can read more about the family legacy in the sidebar on Page 27. We were unable to contact Ev Cassagneres, purveyor of the Ryan ST-R Replica, but an Internet search subsequently yielded an obituary, so we have to assume that this design is no longer available. CSN, which offers plans for the Corby Starlet CJ-1, says the new Corby Kestrel CM2 all-metal design that is in the works has been delayed and should be available next year. Justin Drake, which had offered the M-19 Flying Squirrel, couldn’t be contacted, and so that is designated no longer available until we hear to the contrary. The Hatz Biplane Association, which offers plans for the Hatz CB-1 and Kelly D, has a new president, Kevin Connor.
Meyer Little Toot.
The Hummel Bird from Hummel Aviation had somehow been mislabeled in the Online Aircraft Buyer’s Guide as not being available, but it is a current design. The company’s Ultra Cruiser Plus has been replaced by the H-5.
As of November 2012, Redfern Plans, which had offered the Redfern Fokker DR1 and Redfern Nieuport 17 or 24, is no longer selling plans. Marv Reese has sold the rights for the Daisy Mae design to Russ Alarie, and it is now listed under the company name Flight Addictions, LLC. Roger Mann, which switched names to Ragwing Aircraft last year, is now back to being listed as Roger Mann and offers some 14 designs from the RW1 Ultra-Piet “Pete” to the RW26 Special II. Carl Unger, purveyor of the Breezy R.L.U.-1 is coming up on the 50th anniversary of the design. He says he’s “still flying a 37-year-old airplane built by a 17-year-old kid.” Luceair, which offers plans for the Wittman Buttercup, says a materials kit is now available through Aircraft Spruce & Specialty.
R.L.U.-1 Breezy.
Newly Owned Designs
Adams Aeronautics Company: CA-2
The ultralight CA-2, designed by Frank Griffith, is now owned by Adams Aeronautics Company, and plans sales and builder support have resumed. This low-wing aircraft has tailwheel landing gear and a wingspan of 26 feet; it is Sport Pilot compliant. Build time, for beginners, is estimated to be 600 hours.
Andrew Budek-Schmeisser: Jungster 2
The Jungster 2 is a high-wing monoplane with a maximum speed of 200 mph and a rate of climb of 3500 fpm. The wing design is parasol; the landing gear is tailwheel. The aircraft was designed by Rim Kaminskas and is constructed mostly of aircraft-grade spruce. The wingstruts and landing gear are constructed from 4130 steel tubing. A kit is planned for the future, the company says.
Parting Notes
As mentioned in the Kit Aircraft Buyer’s Guide last month, this guide is intended as a starting point. The Online Buyer’s Guide, available at www.kitplanes.com, offers complete listings (including specifications and contact information) for more than 1000 new and used kit and plansbuilt aircraft, and rotorcraft. (Non-subscribers: See the ad on Page 31 for free online access.) Even though purchasing a plans set is less of an initial investment than a kit, it still pays to do your homework: Talk or meet with the plans provider, visit online discussion boards, if they’re available, and speak to builders who have constructed the type of airplane you’re considering to get a sense of what you’ll be in for. If you can find a working aircraft of the model you like, try it on for size and maybe even ask the owner for a demo flight. Most will be more than willing to help an enthusiastic would-be builder.
Aircraft plans (also called drawings or blueprints) are the single most important and valuable resource available to an airplane builder. The blueprints contain the “genetic code” of an airplane, allowing the builder to “clone” an airplane from the information contained in the drawings. All airplanes (including kits and factory-builts) started their existence on a flat piece of paper (or, more recently, on a flat monitor). A plans builder (sometimes called a scratch-builder) not only assembles the aircraft, but first sources the materials and then makes (manufactures) the parts and pieces that are later assembled to form the various sections of the airframe. Obviously it takes time, tools and skills to source and manufacture the parts, but this can potentially be a significant cost saver and provide a good learning opportunity, while also allowing a builder to develop new skills.
The old vs. the new approach, much improved thanks to CADD.
Like our kits, Zenith’s plans have evolved over the years, becoming more detailed and user friendly, and taking full advantage of available modern technology such as CADD (computer-aided design and drafting). As an active kit manufacturer, we also continuously update the drawings (and share the updates with existing customers). We also supply detailed assembly manuals along with the plans: These are step-by-step photo assembly guides with instructions and building tips and hints (such as recommended tools).
As the kit has become more complete and the level of completion of individual parts has increased, so has the definition of the individual parts as shown in the drawings. Twenty years ago, a purchaser received a hand-drawn set of blueprints covering the basic airframe structure, with somewhat scant details on finishing the aircraft (only rudimentary information on firewall forward, fuel system, cabin details and other finishing touches). Today’s CADD drawings take the builder much closer to the completed aircraft with more information on finishing the project, and they are revised on a regular basis (we typically update the drawings at least once a year).
As an example, the Zenith STOL wing fuel-tank diagrams show much more detail and clarity in the 2012 version than the hand-drawn diagram from 1990 (see photos above).
Zenith plans come with an aircraft serial number and are supplied on 11×17-inch paper sheets (a size that is much more transportable than larger blueprint sheets), with the photo assembly guides supplied on a CD-ROM disk (with easy-to-print PDF files with high-resolution color photos). The plans are split into logical sections (such as wings, tail, etc.) with details on both the individual parts and the assemblies of the individual parts. The parts drawings contain full details to build the parts, starting with the material (such as type and thickness of the aluminum alloy sheet) and also details on making the part. For example, for a wingrib, the exact dimensions of the finished part are supplied, as well as the dimensions of the rib-forming block, bend radius and flat dimensions of the part before forming.
Today’s drawings can be much more detailed than in years past.
While building an airplane from plans is not for everyone, it is an affordable way to begin the adventure of building your own airplane (whether or not you decide to later purchase a full kit or various components). Our plans (and included manuals) are chock-full of useful information and also include full access to Zenith’s online builder resources (which include an online community with active discussions and bulletin boards where builders help each other). They also include unlimited access to the factory for technical support. (Furthermore, a builder may apply the cost of the plans toward the purchase of a kit.)
Zenith designs are well suited for plans building, requiring relatively few specialty tools (and corresponding skills). Sheet-metal skins are single-curvature bends, and many sections (such as wing leading edge airfoil) are constant chord, requiring fewer forming blocks. The raw materials, such as 6061-T6 aluminum sheets, and hardware are also readily available from multiple sources, and, importantly, a builder may purchase any individual finished part or component kit from the factory. (Let’s face it, some individual parts are just not worth the time and effort to build when the company can have the finished part shipped to you at an affordable price.)
Once the aircraft is finished and flying, having a set of plans for the aircraft continues to be an advantage: You’ll never have to fully rely on the (kit) manufacturer (assuming a kit is also available), and you won’t have to reverse-engineer for spares or replacement parts.
—Sebastien Heintz
Luceair Wittman Buttercup.
Air Camper: Wood Wonder by a Wonderful Man
Bernard Pietenpol, with an eighth-grade education, unquenchable curiosity and a feverishly inventive imagination, designed the Pietenpol Air Camper and is commonly referred to as the “Father of the Homebuilt Aircraft.” For more than 84 years, the Pietenpol Air Camper has been a favorite plansbuilt aircraft in the homebuilding community.
Vitalis Kapler’s exceptional example of an Air Camper.
Bernard Pietenpol was born February 17, 1901, in an agricultural community. At a time when many men in the community were interested in farming, Bernard’s interest focused on anything mechanical, including motorcycles, automobiles, airplanes and machining.
While running a Ford repair garage in Cherry Grove, Minnesota, Bernard started building wooden homebuilt aircraft of his own design. When Ford came out with the Model A automobile engine, he knew he had to install it in his airplane. On September 10, 1928, airplane No. 626 made its first flight. Bernard called it the Pietenpol Air Camper.
His philosophy was that he wanted to design an airplane out of common parts that a common man could afford and build. His initial aircraft, constructed in the late Depression years, were of wood, glue, steel, nuts, bolts and cotton sheets obtained from the local hardware store. He used primarily non-electric hand tools in his construction.
From 1928 through 1984, Bernard built and operated Pietenpol Air Field in Cherry Grove, sold many sets of Pietenpol Air Camper plans and kits, built more than 20 Air Campers and repaired aircraft in the region. He also taught basic pilot training during WW-II. He enjoyed helping builders with their technical questions and supply needs, and in the 1960s successfully built two Corvair-powered Air Campers, again proving that automobile engines could power airplanes. In 1984, after Bernard passed away, his son Donald Pietenpol (a second-generation pilot) followed in his father’s footsteps.
Now I (Donald Pietenpol’s son, a third-generation pilot) am continuing in my grandfather’s footsteps, supporting plans sales and answering the informational and technical questions I receive each day. I currently build Pietenpol Air Campers, and I live and fly off of the original 1400-foot Pietenpol Field (grass strip) my grandfather developed back in the 1940s. I retired from 30 years as a software engineer, and at 51 years of age have gone back to college to obtain a degree in mechanical engineering. It is my goal to open a small Pietenpol Air Camper parts manufacturing shop in Cherry Grove.
Bernard Pietenpol was a humble man and did not know the positive impact his aircraft design would have on aviation for generations. His 1928 design of a simple, inexpensive, rugged, barnstorming wooden wonder lives on and naturally brings out the unquenchable curiosity and feverishly inventive imagination of current do-it-yourself aircraft builders.
The future of the Pietenpol Air Camper has never been brighter. The Air Camper knows no age. Today, young aviators such as 15-year-old Joseph Jameson from Houston, Texas, (right) can be found after school building Air Campers in their parents’ garage. Several high schools have workshop programs where students are building Air Campers. Even a 95-year-old builder from Alaska is constructing an Air Camper for his grandson to view moose with. He says, “It keeps my mind engaged, body young, and it keeps keep me out of a nursing home.”
Pietenpol: A true original.
Since 1928, the love of building and flying this little low-and-slow wooden wonder has attracted builders who are constructing and flying Pietenpol Air Campers in more than 30 countries worldwide. My father, upon his grandmother’s passing, found a string of bound letters requesting Air Camper plans in her attic. He read and counted every one of them, and during the period of 1929-1941, some 6000 letters were received. That tapered off as men were called up for WW-II, but it would be fair to say that the design’s popularity remains undiminished.
The Model A-powered Air Camper shown above was completed this year by Vitalis Kapler (age 85) of Rochester, Minnesota. In 1972, Vitalis began a business partnership/friendship with Bernard Pietenpol. He built his Air Camper with the express intent to produce an exact replica of the original. Vitalis’s Air Camper weighs within an ounce of the original aircraft Bernard Pietenpol built and stands out as one of the best examples of my grandfather’s 1928 design.
—Andrew Pietenpol
