Potential new builder: thanks for the welcome
Posted: Fri Feb 17, 2012 5:57 pm
Hi Mike,
First of all, thanks for sharing your knowledge on this subject and for
welcoming me to the list. I gather you are the administrator of the Rebel
Digest. I must commend you on creating this because it really is a valuable
asset to such a widely dispersed group of people with a common interest. I
know this because I have been a member of the Alfa Digest for about 5 years.
We all restore beaten up old Alfa Romeos for some 'God knows why' reason.
Many of us have our own project websites and such.
But anyway, concerning the choice of kitplane to build. I'm sure I'm not the
first person to go through this but it came upon me like a fever, always in
the back of my head - sure, but this time it is really serious. I'm going to
build a plane.
A friend of mine is halfway through a Glastar project. I've worked with this
guy for years but never really knew him. I had seen him looking at various
flying publications and overheard him talking about the plane to others so
one day I asked him about it and that's pretty much what got it started. I
seriously looked at the Glastar but considered it too expensive although it
has very nice performance stats. I also questioned it's ruggedness simply
because its so 'pretty' and it looks a little strange in conventional gear
configuration. And then there were all those potential builders who got
completely screwed when Stoddard Hamilton went kaput! This was apparently a
pretty big hit to some of them. I know that for me, this whole endeavor is a
real stretch. I ain't gettin' any younger!
So I bought the 2000 edition of EAA's Aerocrafter magazine and began
scouring the web for anything I could find about experimental aircraft. I
actually skipped right past the Murphy stuff several times though I did
glance at it. To be honest, the view of the Rebel panel, initially made me
chuckle. After concentrated study though, I cannot make a judgement without
sitting in the pilots seat and feeling the airplane. I gradually gravitated
to the Murphy Rebel as I eliminated one competitor after another. There
really aren't a lot of choices when you really know what kind of airplane
you want. You are probably wondering why I've never mentioned RV's - well,
that's because the airplane I build must be a high-wing. I don't know why, I
don't know why I restore old Alfa Romeos either, but none-the-less...
I have lots to talk about concerning the competition that I haven't ruled
out yet and what some of my concerns are about the Rebel, why I might not
choose it. The wife, the kids, my brothers, mother, Dad and all my friends
are all supportive but totally sick of hearing about it so I'm glad I got
somebody to talk to!
Thanks again for the welcome
Paul
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First of all, thanks for sharing your knowledge on this subject and for
welcoming me to the list. I gather you are the administrator of the Rebel
Digest. I must commend you on creating this because it really is a valuable
asset to such a widely dispersed group of people with a common interest. I
know this because I have been a member of the Alfa Digest for about 5 years.
We all restore beaten up old Alfa Romeos for some 'God knows why' reason.
Many of us have our own project websites and such.
But anyway, concerning the choice of kitplane to build. I'm sure I'm not the
first person to go through this but it came upon me like a fever, always in
the back of my head - sure, but this time it is really serious. I'm going to
build a plane.
A friend of mine is halfway through a Glastar project. I've worked with this
guy for years but never really knew him. I had seen him looking at various
flying publications and overheard him talking about the plane to others so
one day I asked him about it and that's pretty much what got it started. I
seriously looked at the Glastar but considered it too expensive although it
has very nice performance stats. I also questioned it's ruggedness simply
because its so 'pretty' and it looks a little strange in conventional gear
configuration. And then there were all those potential builders who got
completely screwed when Stoddard Hamilton went kaput! This was apparently a
pretty big hit to some of them. I know that for me, this whole endeavor is a
real stretch. I ain't gettin' any younger!
So I bought the 2000 edition of EAA's Aerocrafter magazine and began
scouring the web for anything I could find about experimental aircraft. I
actually skipped right past the Murphy stuff several times though I did
glance at it. To be honest, the view of the Rebel panel, initially made me
chuckle. After concentrated study though, I cannot make a judgement without
sitting in the pilots seat and feeling the airplane. I gradually gravitated
to the Murphy Rebel as I eliminated one competitor after another. There
really aren't a lot of choices when you really know what kind of airplane
you want. You are probably wondering why I've never mentioned RV's - well,
that's because the airplane I build must be a high-wing. I don't know why, I
don't know why I restore old Alfa Romeos either, but none-the-less...
I have lots to talk about concerning the competition that I haven't ruled
out yet and what some of my concerns are about the Rebel, why I might not
choose it. The wife, the kids, my brothers, mother, Dad and all my friends
are all supportive but totally sick of hearing about it so I'm glad I got
somebody to talk to!
Thanks again for the welcome
Paul
Welcome to the list Paul, I don't know of any Rebels in your area... but I
can tell you that I've been following most of the same kits you mention
below for the past 8 years. I think you'll hear from most of the builders
here that Murphy's aircraft are truly a league above the others. The
GlasStar may not even be a viable consideration anymore since
Stoddard-Hamilton is in Bankruptcy. I'm sure you'll get a lot of good
information from the members of this list comparing these aircraft... some
biased, but straight forward and honest. If you haven't gotten it already,
Murphy's latest information pack and video are excellent.
Mike
*-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------*
The Murphy Rebel Builders List is for the discussion
between builders and owners of Murphy Rebel aircraft.
Archives located at:
http://www.dcsol.com/murphy-rebel/lists/default.htm
*-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------*
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