Buying a Flying Homebuilt: The Top Five Mistakes | Aviation

By Lisa Turner, EAA Lifetime 509911

This piece originally ran in Lisa’s Airworthy column in the August 2024 issue of EAA Sport Aviation magazine.

An unexpressed thought sometimes hides like an aftertaste in my brain as I pick up the for-sale flyers for aircraft and read the flight details of new and wonderful airplanes on the shiny pages of aviation magazines. “Wouldn’t that be great to have,” I ponder, as I imagine lifting off into the blue sky. Then, the thought that’s been hiding bursts forth in a flash, “You can’t afford it.”

Here to save the day is our own Hal Bryan with “Flying Affordably: 10 Ready-to-Fly Aircraft That Are Cheaper Than a New Car” in the May 2024 edition of EAA Sport Aviation. It arrived about the time I was reminded that one of my pet peeves is the cost of personal aircraft ownership. I shake my head reading flight details of aircraft I can’t afford, even when I’m trying to be stingy on other pleasures.

Hal pointed out the many alternatives we have to get in the air — from plansbuilt, to kitbuilt, to ready-to-go. If you’re not inclined mechanically and the build part of the kit aircraft equation is not your gallon of gas, you still have lots of affordable choices.

Buying a flying homebuilt is a great way to get in the air in a recently built aircraft. The aircraft are typically well equipped in terms of avionics and…