The Airplane

Completed:  Aircraft Decision
Time Spent:  40+ years

I spent a lot of time, years of reading and sitting in various models before landing on this one.

First off, I needed to decide on the "mission".  I am interested in the build experience but I don't want to spend the next 5-10 years doing it... I'd much rather be flying.  As far as the aircraft goes, I want to be able to go cross country with it and would use it to commute the 400 kms (200 miles as the crow flies) to Ottawa where I have been spending the last few years most weekdays.  While I love the drive through the north country, I would rather fly over it.  So I want a machine that is fast enough that it makes sense to fly rather than drive.  This means it has to be capable of 125 mph or more.  I have an instrument rating (and commerical rating and mult-engine and float endorsements as well) so want something that can do IFR safely when necessary.  I won't be doing known ice or anything but want to be able to go most weeks if I can.

While there are literally dozens of "homebuilt" aircraft I could see myself in, I narrowed it down pretty quickly to metal aircraft as I don't want to spend 10 years building a wooden one (although the Sequoia Falco

Sequoia Falco - Can you tell it's Italian?

is still one of my favorites and was the one that gave me the bug way back when) and after doing a workshop on composite ones, I learned very quickly YUCK!!!!  There are some beautiful composite airplanes and you can't beat the performance but I just can't see myself sanding and breathing filler for the next two to five years (they also take a lot longer to build).

The CH650B isn't my dream airplane but then my budget doesn't allow for $2M P-51 Mustangs either.    I did take a strong look at the Titan T-51 3/4 scale Mustang

Titan T-51

and was very tempted but it was about double the money, at least four times the effort and would take me longer time wise than I want (although I must admit to still having dreams about it!).  It has retractable gear which I'm very familiar with but don't need the complexity as it doesn't add that much speed at the speeds I'm contemplating. I don't think it would be a very stable IFR platform either!

The other finalist ended up being a Van's RV-8.

Vans RV-8

 It can be built relatively quickly, there are thousands of them flying and they look a lot like a Mustang (and are aerobatic to boot) but they need a bigger engine, I'd have to get it from Oregon and it's more money than I want to spend (if I'm going that far, I'd go with the T-51).  The clincher was that it's a bit too responsive for a stable IFR platform.   Maybe my next one.

Although I never would have guessed that I'd end up with this, it does fit my parameters exactly so I decided to go with the Zenith 650B.  It was designed by Chris Heintz a transplanted Frenchman who moved to Canada to work at DeHaviland but fell into home building and has built some of the most successful designs to date.  His two sons now carry on the business.  One in Midland and one in Missouri.  They work well together so I can get completely serviced from Midland even though my kit originally comes from Missouri.

The plane is pretty:

This one is the prototype and started as a 601 (hence the tail number).

The Factory 650B with a UL350Is Engine

It has great visibility, is very stable.  Not too fast (top speed is about 160mph but regular cruise would be closer to 130-140), it climbs at 1200 feet per minute and burns only about 5 US GPH (19 L/hr).  That means I could get to Ottawa and back on about 55L of gas.  My car is pretty good on gas (when I'm not driving it like a maniac) but I burn almost double that.  Best of all, it is nice and roomy and will carry two REAL people with bags.  I can load it up with an IFR panel and it will be a great little cross country cruiser (for short flights...  I won't be taking it to Hawaii).   The thing about airplanes is that for short flights (under a few hundred miles), speed is almost irrelevant.  I can get to Ottawa in just over an hour.  The scheduled flying time for Air Canada is 55 minutes.  You can spend a lot of money going fast but unless you are spending all your time flying multi hour legs, it just isn't worth it - besides, isn't the whole point to BE flying? 

The Ch650B can also be built as a tail dragger and I could paint it to look like a Mustang...  but that's a decision for another day.