Changing The Way YOU Build Your Plane

Glasair Aviation president Mikael Via took the opportunity at AirVenture 2006 to reaffirm Glasair's new "2 Weeks To Taxi" program.

In basic terms, under the program a customer will select the options they would like to see on a Glasair Sportsman 2+2 and purchase the fast build kit option. Then, schedule two weeks out of their lives and to travel to Arlington, WA where they will build their own 2+2 under the watchful eye and supervision of several Glasair technicians for the next two weeks.

If the syllabus is followed as specified, the customer will have a brand new Sportsman aircraft in taxi-test condition upon completion of the program. All that's left to do is paint, weight & balance, and the FAA paperwork.

Pretty Cool! If this pioneering program succeeds... the idea of spending six or seven or even 10 years to build an aircraft may be a thing of the past.

Via told ANN the 2 Weeks To Taxi program grew out of Glasair's management decision to take hard look at how people build airplanes. After observing of the work habits of several skilled homebuilders, Glasair found that in 8 hours of straight work, a homebuilder will actually produce only about two hours of truly productive time.

Glasair also found that a majority of the builder's time was consumed by activities not related to the nuts & bolts of aircraft construction. Builders suffer a large volume of interruptions, welcome or not welcome, compounded with a percentage of their time being spent in activities as simple as looking things up in the manual. Builders loose momentum looking for tools or even a part that was in a box a year ago.

With all distractions factored out, only about 20% of most builders' time is in fact spent productively.

During the program, a customer's aircraft will move from work station to work station throughout the day with the proper and at some stations, specialized tools waiting for them. Highly experienced technicians are available to advise the builder at every stage of the program.

At the end of these two weeks, the customer will have built more than 51% of their own aircraft, making the craft a completely legal amateur-built aircraft which opens up all the less expensive maintenance options for the owner.

More importantly, the customer will have an aircraft that is ready to fly in two weeks and not several years. Additionally, the customer will have received the benefit decades of experience while assembling their own plane. A cost advantage is that the customer will be buying all their components and instruments in bundle packaged price.

Presently Glasair does not provide housing for customers during the two weeks that the builder will be in Arlington... but they have worked out a reasonable rate at a local motel.

"With our 2 Weeks To Taxi program you know up front how much your airplane is going to cost," said Glasair's Alan Negrin. "You know exactly how long it's going to take to build. And, you know you're going to finish the project. A potential builder doesn't know the specific answer to those questions with any other manufacturer's kit. Mostly, you know that you'll finish your aircraft with quality because you're building under expert supervision."

FMI: www.glasairaviation.com