“The FAA’s National Kit Evaluation Team (NKET) evaluated the Merlin’s Quick Build Kit (QBK), and it passed by .01% — You can’t get more builder-friendly than that,” says Aeromarine President Chip Erwin, from his build center in Florida, where two customers are completing their Merlin PSA kits right now. Two more customers are assembling Merlins at their home bases.
The Build Center is unique, too, in that “The builder actually builds his own airplane, and you’re ready to fly – not just taxi – in two weeks. After the first week, the airframe is finished, and builders are on to the engine and panel installations.”
So complete and builder-ready is the QBK that some of the parts and assemblies are already tacked into position for shipping (using colored soft rivets), requiring the builder to actually do a bit of disassembly!
Erwin says, “Precision matched-hole technology means that the holes punched are not just pilot holes; the accuracy is so high that holes in the skins match the holes in the ribs and bulkheads at final size, so next to zero drilling is required. This precision saves dozens if not hundreds of assembly time hours.”
The single-seat all-metal Merlin PSA (Personal Sport Aircraft) features power by the 4-stroke HKS or the reliable 2-stroke Rotax 582.
Several Merlin PSA are already flying in the UK, and several more are near complete in the US, within just weeks of FAA’s approval of the kit.
Merlin PSA quick-build kits are available for delivery this summer; some slots remain for the Builders’ Center, as well. The kit (without engine, prop, and paint) has an introductory price of only $16,500. Depending on engine and panel options, completed and painted aircraft cost from $30k to $45k.
For more information, visit www.aeromarine-lsa.com
