Matt,
What experience is required to build the Rocket? I REALLY enjoy building RC airplanes and am just shy of holding a private pilot license (MANY hours in sims however)... Last year I started thinking about going BIG building an actual kit aircraft and kept coming back to the Rocket while doing research.
Momma approved the financing and space in the garage/basement, I'm just trying to get my mind around the task before jumping in.
The QB kit looks to be what I would start with to gain the experience.. Do you have advice to share? I just signed up for the mailing list so haven't seen much info yet.
Thanks!
Rick
Building an F1 Rocket is not as easy as building a Vans RV. The Vans kits are terrific, as are the airframes. The RV manual is like a set of blue prints and the detail is amazing. The Rocket leaves much to your imagination. There is nothing "cook book" about it, unlike the Vans kits, which is VERY well spelled out for you. That being said, if I can do it, anyone can do it. I'm not trained, and no master mechanic by any means, but the plane turned out pretty nice. And solid. You would probably be better at it than I was.
Keep in mind that I put about 2000 hours into the project and I'm still not finished. In fact I worked 4 hours on it yesterday while the airport was closed and the snow plows were hard at work. It's a major time committment to build one of these things (let alone the money). I've logged more than 435 separate days that I worked on the plane. Some days 1 hour, many days 10 hours. If you have a family or other outside committments, it gets really tough.
The project is really gratifying. Having now flown the plane, you can't imagine the satisfaction. I don't think, however, that I will ever build another plane. It's way too time consuming. I think I have as much plane as I'll ever need, so I can't imagine getting/building anything bigger/better.
I think the Rocket is the pinnacle of the aluminum kit planes. And the EVO model is easy to fly. Slower to land than the stock version of the F1, slower to land than the RVs and LOTS slower than the composite kits. The EVO is also faster in cruise than all the other aluminum kits (that I know of), but not as fast as the glass planes. You get the best of both worlds. I was told that the EVO lands like a Cessna 150, and that is certainly true (although it is a taildragger). And when I was indicating 190 knots without any fairings (should get another 15 knots maybe), you know it does scoot.
One of the beautiful things about having built this plane, and one of the main reasons I built it, is that I am now certified by the FAA to do ALL the maintenance work on the plane. I can do anything and everything any FAA certified mechanic can do on a plane, I'm just restricted to MY plane. No one knows it better than me.
Then again, you might think that if I invested 2000 building hours into my real job, that would buy a lot of mechanic's time in someone's shop, and it would buy a lot of certified aircraft. And I'll never get 2000 hours of income out of the plane when/if I ever sell it. So you have to build it for the joy and experience, because you won't make money on it. You're lucky to get your costs out of it if you have to sell.
The Rocket is a great little plane, and Team Rocket/Mark Frederick is great to work with. You will get all the support you need from him, and there's lot's of us other builders to help, too. It's a very rewarding experience, just keep in mind that it can be a monumental undertaking.
...and worth every minute!
