Re: Light-Sport Aircraft Yahoo group LSA

--- In Sport_Aircraft@yahoogroups.com, Helen Woods <Helen_Woods@...> wrote:
>
> Final price tag isn't in yet, but the SeaRey will be built in Florida
> and the factory is aiming for the ballpark of $125K, and that's for an
> amphib! I think the labor cost directly relate to how plane is
> constructed. We're building a SeaRey right now in the hangar and are
> amazed at how quickly it is going together. There's no welding and very
> title riveting. It pretty much bolts together saving a lot of time
> which would equate to money on a factory built plane.
>
> Helen
>

Building is FUN, isn't it? A labor of love with a BIG payoff at the end.

Looking at the SeaRay website, I see that they estimate ~$60,000 for the kit and other components and ~900 hours to put it all together and make it work. so the factory-built cost of $125,000 sounds realistic... if they can build and sell enough planes to offset the start-up costs.

Personally, I didn't mind the welding and riveting. And fabricating the parts from raw stock, while time consuming, was all part of the "fun".
I spent a total of ~$24,000 on materials and parts (many of the components were bought second-hand) and it took me one year (2000 man-hours) to build the plane, a simple all-aluminum Zodiac 601HD. After flying it for 5 years, I sold it for $48,000, so I made ALL of my money back AND got paid the princely sum of $12/hr for my efforts!... Of course, that didn't include the cost of the new workshop that I built to handle the project. In the end, I pretty much broke even. BUT, I had a GREAT time building and flying the plane.
And the personal satisfaction was priceless.

Rick

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