kiessig (01/23/83)
Well, a group of people here in the SF Bay Area recently completed
construction on a Eagle. They had it up for sale at $70K.
I for one don't believe that everything that comes out of the
factory is better than what some people can build at home. A home builder,
spending his own money, risking his own life during testing, is, in my
opinion, much more likely to do a good job than some factory guy who does
nothing but assemble other people's planes all day. In fact, during home
assembly it's a very good idea to have a certified mechanic, or an FAA
representative, come and have a good look at the work during critical
phases. Not only does this make it easier to get the plane certified
when it's done, it's also safer.
I don't know where the "you can only sell a kit for its parts
value" idea came from, but, at least in this case, I don't believe that.
Of course, if it were just some "bozo" who had done the building, and
there were obviously no care taken, or if the plane had never flown
and been certified, then that's another story.
Rick Kiessig
{harpo,megatest}!fortune!kiessig