Selling a partially built kit

[Flightrite]

Bang for buck ya cant go past an RV. Occasionally you see a part built kit  for sale, being all metal is an advantage.

[Geoff_H]

1 hour ago, Flightrite said:

Bang for buck ya cant go past an RV. Occasionally you see a part built kit  for sale, being all metal is an advantage.

Why?

[danny_galaga]

Back to my original question. What I have is a Bushcat. Just been working on it again. Hair pulling stuff. Really is not a fun kit. Great plane though. Plenty of kit built versions flying.

The kit was about 45k. Includes all parts to fit a 912 - oil cooler, hoses etc. 

 

In addition I bought some steam gauges, and a wooden P prop.

 

 

 

SE Queensland  if anyone wants to have a look and make an offer. Id say it's roughly 75 per cent complete. I can almost guarantee you won't enjoy finishing it, but hey- I've done 75 percent of the yelling and cursing for you! 

 

I freakin absolutely HATE to give up on it, but the main idea of building the kit was to enjoy the process. This just makes me feel angry all the time.

 

So if someone were to buy it, there would be a different motivation- put in some hard work and get reasonable priced new plane out of it 🙂

 

 

Edited August 24, 2021 by danny_galaga

[Geoff_H]

https://www.gap.aero/pdf/bushcat/3week-Bushcat.pdf

 

So how many weeks have taken Danny?

Is this a real estimate?

 

[Thruster88]

Danny you just have to get someone with experience to help, don't give up. Have not flown a bushcat but they have a good reputation, it will be worth it. Some school kids built this one prior to the Sept 2019 Parks airshow.

Edited August 24, 2021 by Thruster88

[Geoff_H]

Danny what is giving you the most problems?  Is there anything that we can do remotely?

[danny_galaga]

3 weeks is impossible. Each missing or incorrect part takes about ten days to get the correct part from South Africa via DHL.  Which is quick in the world of air freight. Even quicker would be if that part was in the kit to start with.

 

I can only imagine that they had three or four kits to pull spare parts from with the Parkes kit 😄

Edited August 24, 2021 by danny_galaga

[Flightrite]

1 hour ago, Thruster88 said:

Danny you just have to get someone with experience to help, don't give up. Have not flown a bushcat but they have a good reputation, it will be worth it. Some school kids built this one prior to the Sept 2019 Parks airshow.

Was that the one where tickets where sold & some shifty sh1t going on behind the scenes?

Edited August 24, 2021 by Flightrite

[Thruster88]

Yeah the airshow promoter wouldn't pay for the aircraft so no aircraft was delivered.  

[Geoff_H]

Danny, Where have you got the project to. Related to the 3-week build?

[skippydiesel]

On 14/08/2021 at 9:41 AM, Flightrite said:

Bang for buck ya cant go past an RV. Occasionally you see a part built kit  for sale, being all metal is an advantage.

Why ?  - for the second time

[waraton]

Just now, skippydiesel said:

Why ?  - for the second time

Not sure about Flightrights' thinking but maybe when you crash them they cost a lot??? Sorry lockdown fatigue !!!😂😂😂😂

[Thruster88]

32 minutes ago, skippydiesel said:

Why ?  - for the second time

Just a guess. It is probably easier to see the build quality on a metal aircraft like the RV compared to a composite aircraft were you may not be able to see what is under the skin. Also as it is the most produced kit plane there is more chance of finding someone with experience who can guide a novice purchaser.  

Edited August 24, 2021 by Thruster88

[danny_galaga]

1 hour ago, Geoff_H said:

Danny, Where have you got the project to. Related to the 3-week build?

Id say about two weeks or so by their time scale. On and off it's been nearly two years for me. The other kit in the container mine came in was built in six months. He's retired though so a bit more spare time than me. So id say six months is a realistic figure.

 

[skippydiesel]

1 hour ago, Thruster88 said:

Just a guess. It is probably easier to see the build quality on a metal aircraft like the RV compared to a composite aircraft were you may not be able to see what is under the skin. Also as it is the most produced kit plane there is more chance of finding someone with experience who can guide a novice purchaser.  

As I understand it there are basically only 3 types of kit/[plans builds:

 

• All metal - One of  the traditional build materials. These days often include a lot of composite for those more "difficult" 3 dimensional shapes like cowlings, wing tips, fairings, etc. Metal kits lend themselves very well to advanced kits, where many of the components are built to "matching" holes and to production where CAD & automated/robotic "cutting" can mass produce parts (eg the  RV fleet). Metal can be complimented by plastic/wood/fabric.
• Wood - Probably the original material for kit/plans built aircraft - Can me all wood, or matched with fabric. Often plans built.
• Composite - Historically there are very few successful composite kit aircraft, probably due to the difficulty in making parts/components without molds (carving foam, etc). Then there is the potential health issues due to exposure to resins etc. The older kits also tend towards higher finished weights and individual handling characteristics. On the flip side recent composite aircraft are almost all extremely advanced kits.T he aircraft airframe comes as near finished components, that have been built in a mold, cured in an oven and have a high degree of conformity to original design and between completed aircraft. Arguably their build "integrity"  is compressible to factory built. They tend toward very simple "no brainer"  assembly. Often the finished aircraft are higher performing for their class/category.  Can be expensive 

[Geoff_H]

Why not sell a share of the aircraft?  The new shareholder gives money, maybe supplies the engine or similar, and finishes the aircraft, then you both own it. I am guessing that the problem that you are having is with engine and avionics.  I may be wrong.  I think that with a mentor you may have a much better experience.  You need moral help.  I have been there and would have given up except for moral assistance of other builders

[ev17ifly2]

I took delivery of a BushCat kit in the same shipment as Danny.  I have no technical background having had a career in sales and marketing however I found the build to be relatively straightforward and as a result the plane was signed off and flying within twelve months. It has now logged over 100 hours of flying.

[Geoff_H]

I recently had 3 problems in my project.  I got very disappointed.  I left it alone for 3 months and did "honey do's".  Two solutions have come to me and I am back building.

 

Danny when you get a problem why don't you publish it here.  Maybe with pics and manual extracts.  I am sure that we would all be here for you.  And I expect that the problem could be solved. Maybe you need to get assistance on techniques or methods of manufacture.  I am sure that you will get the job done and be so proud of yourself.

 

Don't sell, you will probably loose money and self esteem.  Keep going.  Show us all pictures of your progress.

[danny_galaga]

2 hours ago, ev17ifly2 said:

I took delivery of a BushCat kit in the same shipment as Danny.  I have no technical background having had a career in sales and marketing however I found the build to be relatively straightforward and as a result the plane was signed off and flying within twelve months. It has now logged over 100 hours of flying.

Which is great, but you are retired and twelve months is a far cry from the claimed 3 weeks. I was off to a bad start almost straight away. You would remember how early in the piece the engine mount goes in? AFTER I installed it I realised it had corrosion on it. Eddy said it was best to replace it. After sending two of them (the first was sent in a cardboard box and got bent in transit) I finally got to pull out the corroded one and replace it. So within the first few hours of the build I had to wait several weeks to proceed. The Parkes plane built by school kids could not have been built if they had my kit.

 

Yes I know I'm a bit of a sook about it. It is not the experience I was expecting. I am actually quite technically minded. For instance:

 

http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php/topic,144934.0.html

 

https://youtu.be/WmJLF05lkrk

 

 

Engine and electrics is no biggie for me. 

Edited August 24, 2021 by danny_galaga

[onetrack]

Danny, you need to hang Calvin Coolidge's famous quote on your wall, and refer to it when you're feeling stymied.

 

“Nothing in the world can take the place of persistence. Talent will not; nothing is more common than unsuccessful men with talent. Genius will not; unrewarded genius is almost a proverb. Education will not; the world is full of educated derelicts. Persistence and determination alone are omnipotent. The slogan Press On! has solved, and always will solve, the problems of the human race.”

 

Or perhaps one of John D. Rockefellers famous quotes -

 

"I do not think that there is any other quality so essential to success of any kind, as the quality of perseverance. It overcomes almost everything, even nature."

 

Or Napoleon Hill -

 

"The majority of men meet with failure because of their lack of persistence in creating new plans, to take the place of those which fail."

 

It's often good to reflect on the persistence of famous people who continued on with their efforts to develop new ideas, long after many others would have given up.

These persistent people were always rewarded with successful results.

[Thruster88]

Mike Patey's famous quote won't take as much wall space.

Back to work.

[danny_galaga]

Ok, ok! Time to get back at it. I stayed overnight in town so I could get more inertia on the project. 

[Geoff_H]

Why not sell a share of the aircraft?  The new shareholder gives money, maybe supplies the engine or similar, and finishes the aircraft, then you both own it.   I may be wrong.  I think that with a mentor you may have a much better experience.  You need moral help.  I have been there and would have given up except for moral assistance of other builders

[Geoff_H]

I also think that you would be better with "time away".  I know that it has helped me enormously.  Solved problems, got enthused again.  Don't burn your self out.  Nothing to do with perseverance.  Just as your body needs rest so does your mind.

 

[danny_galaga]

Screw that, I share nothing! 😄

 

I think the thing that helps the most is when i have a hissy fit and whine to you guys. Your positivity inspires 🙂