Question for matt chapman.........

[JEFFRO503]

Hey Matt......

I have finally come to the conclusion that within the next 5 years or so , i'm going to be wanting to get into full scale aircraft. It's something i've been wanting to do for a while , and with my bussiness just now getting underway and i'm making a lot better money , it's feasable to think i could possibly afford an airplane within the next 5 years.

With that in mind , i have been looking at a few of the Extra 300 airplanes out there for sale. Is there anything in paticular that i should be looking at when it comes time to buy one? Obviously i want the airplane , motor and controls in good shape , but what about modifications to the airplanes?

Do people like yourself , sean tucker , patty wagstaff and so forth , do you guys modify the airplane for better thows , hop up the motor's for more power ect......? I know sean's was built from the ground up , so that doesn't really count , but what about your's and patty's?


I'm not looking to do any show's or anything , but would love to be able and go out and just tear up the sky a few times a week or something. I have been looking into getting my private pilot's licence and i think within the next 2 years , i'm going to start training and so forth , so when i can afford a full scale Extra 300 ( or aerobatic type airplane) , i'll have some traing behind me.


any advice from you would be worth it's weight in gold , thanks alot for taking the time to answer when you get it.


Jeff

[vupilot]

While your waiting for Matts reply.....

Youll find when you start your flight training that the insurance companies and Federal Aviation Regulations (FAR's) govern over what you may really want to do. For example, most any Extra 300L you find for sale will be stock because it is a factory built and FAA certified factory built aircraft so there is very little you can change and keep it legal. Seans Challenger for example is an experimental/amatuer built aircraft and falls under a seperate set of regulations that allow for the type of modification and customization that his aircraft has.

The long and short is that anything made by Cessna, Piper, Extra etc and is FAA certified factory built aircraft cannot be altered unless by STC or field approval.

An Experimental that you build at home or have built for you can basically be anything you want it to be with any modification but must pass FAA airworthiness inspection(s) and be flown under a different set of FAR's.

Hope that clears things up a bit for you while your waiting for Matts reply. I'm sure he has plenty more he can add.

-Chris

[JEFFRO503]

Thanks for all the info chris.much appreciated! like i said , i'm just now trying to venture off into the unknown of what i might need to get done so i can fly one of these airplanes. Honestly , something like an extra 300 , edge 540 or something else along those lines is my goal to be able to own and fly one. I'm thinking it will be close to 5 years before i can acomplish eveything i need to , to get into that position.......just looking towards the future man.

[vupilot]

I hear ya. You should purchase a tailwheel aircraft such as a Cessna 140 or Citabria which can be bought for 20-50K and get your private certificate in it. Then fly the crap out of it to build tailwheel hous so that you will be insurable when you can afford the more exotic aircraft.

[diveredd]

Agrees with vupilot. Low-time pilots and performance aerobatics don't mix.