![]() ![]() Sorting the significant changes from the new aircraft models is interesting and takes judgment. But oftentimes, the “new” is interesting, but not enough to call the airplane a new model. Manufacturers regularly announce new products, new designs, and new deals. KITPLANES® is proud to provide the information and insights necessary for our readers to inform themselves and make better decisions as they jump into the world of homebuilding, and the staff stands by, ready to assist those builders in the years to come, as they complete and fly their dream machines.Įach year as we prepare these industry guides, we have to look closely at the long list of press releases that have accumulated in our inbox over the past 12 months. It is our goal to provide a jumping-off point for someone asking the question, “What kit is right for me?”and for experienced builders looking towards their next project. This issue will highlight those new ideas that have appeared in the past year, and the online database started last year will help readers compare different designs and find more information on existing designs. Once again, our staff has taken the time to do some shopping for you, pulling together information on the kits available on the market as of this writing. This year’s Kit Buyer’s Guide reflects both the new and the oldand the upgraded ideas in between. To all appearances, vendors weren’t just standing around and talking they were writing orders! In between the LSAs and the jet, we found new STOL aircraft to delight those looking to go into the wild, and smooth flyers for going after that hundred-dollar hamburger. At least two companies have new single-seaters for the LSA market, and Sonex has rekindled the jet homebuilt market with its offer to sell the first ten delivery slots of its little SubSonex, an aircraft bound to be compared to the BD-5J that got so many of today’s generation interested in homebuilding in the first place. There were new airplanes in several booths, upgraded designs in others. kit manufacturer’s row) seemed better stocked and more crowded than in recent memory. Without looking at the AirVenture vendor directory and comparing it to prior years, we can only estimate (based on appearances) that the North Display Area (a.k.a. The recession has not killed Experimental aviation it is coming back! The down economy of the past few years seems, at least to us, to be easing back into recovery to the point where people are eagerly looking at and buying new products and projects. While the shear volume of entirely new aircraft kits might be down, there is a lot of activity in the kit company community: providing kits and parts for existing designs, improving kits already out thereand yes, showing the new designs on which they have been toiling. Walking the grounds, talking with kit manufacturers, and most importantly with builders (and prospective builders), the buzz we found was that people are interested in not only completing existing projects, but in starting new ones. ![]() That is the conclusion we reached in our visit to AirVenture 2013 this past July. ![]()
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