
South African teens fly from Cape to Cairo in plane they assembled from kit - sdiq
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-48914418
======
AWildC182
Don't let the "kit" part put you off. It still requires a ton of effort and
skill. You aren't getting an Ikea plane in a box, you're getting a bunch of
rough cut aluminum and some plans. You still have to trim and debur the parts
to their final specifications, align everything, and rivet it together all
without damaging things.

Source: currently working on an RV-8 in my garage.

For those interested in what you have to do, here's another builder's blog
(not mine) [https://www.rv8-hangar.com/latest-
progress-2/](https://www.rv8-hangar.com/latest-progress-2/)

The contents of a typical kit: [https://www.vansaircraft.com/wp-
content/uploads/2018/12/rv-7...](https://www.vansaircraft.com/wp-
content/uploads/2018/12/rv-7_standard_kit_lg.jpg)

~~~
cyanoacry
And for those that wonder what a more "modern" scratchbuilt plane is like,
check out the Cozy Mk IV:
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cozy_MK_IV](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cozy_MK_IV).
Made from fiberglass and foam cut to templates that came with a set of plans
(with a handful of pre-fab parts).

A typical builder's log:
[http://www.cozy.simpex.com/](http://www.cozy.simpex.com/)

source: I, too, am building a plane in my garage.
[https://twitter.com/acozyplane](https://twitter.com/acozyplane)

~~~
JasonFruit
The Cozy is a beaut too. I love it when we come out of the woodwork like this!

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jfk13
I saw this article when it appeared, but was a little disappointed that
"homemade" means "built the aircraft ... from a kit manufactured in South
Africa by the Airplane Factory". Not to belittle the time, effort and skill
involved (both in assembling and flying it), but to me "homemade plane"
carried slightly different connotations than "assembled from a kit".

(I'm no expert carpenter, but I have built some pieces of furniture from basic
pieces of timber, etc.; I would consider these to be "homemade". I've also
assembled flat-packed furniture from places like Ikea or Homebase; I wouldn't
refer to those items as "homemade".)

~~~
sokoloff
This is still thousands of hours of effort, riveting aluminum, installing
avionics, engine, and interior, etc.

IMO, it's much closer to making furniture than assembling flat-packed from
Ikea.

------
anonoholic
Not sure it's fair to call a $120K - $140K† kit (not including the cost of
having the engine and avionics professionally installed) "homemade", but still
an impressive flying achievement for the 17 year old pilots.

†
[https://www.airplanefactory.com/aircraft/sling-4-kit/](https://www.airplanefactory.com/aircraft/sling-4-kit/)

~~~
not_a_cop75
I'm glad he's able to fly a plane but at this point it really feels like we're
cheering on the mid upper class for their accomplishments. I want to see some
kid from the slums build a real plane from spare junk yard parts. That would
be much more impressive to me.

~~~
stronglikedan
> _but at this point it really feels like we 're cheering on the mid upper
> class for their accomplishments._

We are, and there's nothing wrong with that.

~~~
ohaideredevs
There is - the kid's parents having money is not his/her accomplishment.

~~~
thaumasiotes
And we aren't cheering them for _buying_ the kit. Assembling it successfully
is significant.

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40acres
The #1 problem with commenting online (including this post) is the nitpicking
of semantics. Truly the best way to generate engagement online is to be
"wrong".

Congratulations to the pilots and those who assembled the plane, it must've
been an amazing ride.

~~~
mbrumlow
What a good reason to use more precise language!

The real issue is the news outlet who wanted to generate clicks for their
story.

We can all agree that "South African teens admissible airplane from kit and
fly it" Is a bit less click worthy.

But the real story here is about how manufacturing is about to make another
shift now that the places we have been shipping our manufacturing off to have
raised their GDP.

~~~
briandear
In the aviation community, homebuilt = kitplane.

~~~
mbrumlow
So then replacing homemade to homebuilt is all that needs to be done to make
the title more precise!

For reference briandear tells the truth.

[https://www.eaa.org/eaa/aircraft-building](https://www.eaa.org/eaa/aircraft-
building)

------
briandear
To be fair, “homebuilt” or technically “amateur built” is a category defined
by the FAA. So homebuilt is the accurate term for this story.

[https://www.faa.gov/aircraft/gen_av/ultralights/amateur_buil...](https://www.faa.gov/aircraft/gen_av/ultralights/amateur_built/amateur_regs/)

~~~
Someone1234
What does the FAA (and their definitions) have to do with a story in the BBC
about a South African aircraft kit flown by a South African teenager, written
by a journalist living in Cape Town? Those definitions don't even apply to all
of North America, let alone Europe, or Africa.

~~~
briandear
The question was about the validity of the term “homebuilt,” the point is that
there is regulatory precedence for such a term. The British use a similar
term. [https://www.caa.co.uk/General-aviation/Aircraft-ownership-
an...](https://www.caa.co.uk/General-aviation/Aircraft-ownership-and-
maintenance/Types-of-aircraft/Amateur-built-aircraft/)

As does South Africa:

[http://www.caa.co.za/Airworthiness%20Documents/FAQ%20-%20Ama...](http://www.caa.co.za/Airworthiness%20Documents/FAQ%20-%20Amateur-
Built%20Aircraft.pdf)

Since HN is an American site, a reference to the FAA is helpful. I didn’t have
time to look up regs for Egypt, but the point is that amateur built aircraft
is defined by regulation and doesn’t necessarily mean what people want it to
mean. In aviation, homebuilt is exactly how people refer to kitplanes.

~~~
leadingthenet
> The question was about the validity of the term “homebuilt,”.

Ok, and that's fine. But the headline mentions "homemade", not "homebuilt",
which in my mind changes the meaning significantly.

------
NikolaeVarius
I think its important to point out its home assembled, this was a pre-fabbed
kit. Not a from ground up designed plane.

------
verisimilitudes
I usually see Hacker News praise African youth for building something, no
matter how trivial. I wonder what makes this case different from those others.

In any case, good for them.

~~~
hkai
Perhaps an article without the photo would attract more praise? What do you
think?

------
morley
How feasible (I guess in terms of costs) is it to build a _real_ home-made
airplane? I guess the obvious place to start is to reproduce the Kitty Hawk
plane with modern (ostensibly lighter and cheaper) materials?

~~~
spitfire
Very! There's a number of aircraf that are plans only. They used to be the
main homebuilt aircraft around. Thankfully kit built is the major bulk of
homebuilt aircraft today.

If you had $20K it's perfectly possible to build a day only single/twin seat
runabout.

[http://www.chilton-aircraft.co.uk](http://www.chilton-aircraft.co.uk) Plans
available free after permission to build from Mrs. Ward.

[https://www.pietenpolaircraftcompany.com](https://www.pietenpolaircraftcompany.com)
Plans available for $180. Wood kits with all the wood for specific parts
available in the $75-$300 range.

------
ipsum2
If anyone is also disappointed that this was assembled from a kit, there's a
Youtuber (Peter Sripol) actually making homemade planes:
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O6sy5bt4D-Y](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O6sy5bt4D-Y).
Would recommend his channel.

------
scohesc
Really top quality journalism by the BBC to conveniently redefine the
definition of homemade to "pre-made parts and watched over by people who know
what to do" in order to get more clicks through 'shocking' headlines.

------
ohaideredevs
You also don't have to understand anything about anything. That's not to take
away from what you are doing, but the title completely misrepresents the
amount of competence of these (likely spoiled) kids.

Also, what's the total cost (for ALL parts, but without labor)? I looked at
their site and it seems to list $30-40k but I don't see the engine included in
the part list.

~~~
AWildC182
Wat.

You can go off and just buy the kit if you want to die I guess...

I ended up taking a class on airframe construction from a licensed A&P and
probably spent several hundred hours doing research at this point.

Engines can be anywhere from a 10k run-out old Lycoming or a $40k+ brand new
IO-540 in a crate.

On the issue of "spoiled kids" there are a bunch of schools in the US that do
a similar build project (typically an RV-14 LSA). It's not uncommon for more
vocationally oriented high schools.

~~~
ohaideredevs
Thanks for info on costs. I wonder how these compare to Cessnas.

~~~
lutorm
A new Cessna 172 is just north of a quarter million dollars, it seems.

Experimental/amateur-built aircraft are the fastest growing segment of
aviation, precisely because it represents a fairly affordable avenue for
getting into flying. The prices of certified aircraft have skyrocketed way
past what any normal, even reasonably affluent, person can justify.

~~~
ohaideredevs
I mean performance / safety wise.

~~~
lutorm
Ah sorry. Safety-wise EAB has a slightly worse accident record than certified
small airplanes, but not much. The majority of the accidents are due to pilot
error, so it's not clear the type of aircraft makes a difference there.

Performance-wise, you can get better performing airplanes, with better
instrumentation, for far less money as experimentals. This is because they do
not have to pass any FAA certifications, so there's much more innovation
taking place in the EAB market.

Of course, it's also dependent on the builder and designer doing a good job,
so especially second-hand markets can be iffy since all the due diligence for
figuring out what you're buying is on you.

~~~
ohaideredevs
Cool, ty

------
mhb
German Scientists Pull Off Truly Autonomous Aircraft Landing in Stunning
Video:
[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=20391108](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=20391108)

