Ultimate Issue: It's Time to Air Out the Kit Question

Why are there so few new homebuilt aircraft companies to choose from?

Marc Cook

Wednesday, July 24, 2024 at 09:12 AM ET

Verified

Edited By:

Kimberly Johnson

The DarkAero project is one of relatively few new airplane designs on the horizon. [Courtesy: DarkAero]

Key Takeaways:

Experimental aviation evolved from early homebuilding, with "kit" airplanes emerging in the 1970s to simplify construction by providing pre-packaged, tested components.
Modern kit aircraft builders expect a high level of factory pre-fabrication, precision manufacturing (like matched-hole construction), and reduced assembly time, driven by significant investments in advanced tooling and processes.
High startup costs for development and manufacturing infrastructure, alongside builder preference for established, financially stable companies due to past market uncertainties, create significant barriers for new kit airplane companies today.

See a mistake? Contact us.

Experimental aviation has been a serious thing since, well, the beginning. Orville and Wilbur were homebuilders, for sure, but it wasn’t until after World War II that the FAA agreed to carve out a licensing path for airplanes built in your barn or garage.

From the Experimental/Amateur-Built category’s emergence in 1947 through the founding of the Experimental Aircraft Association (EAA) in 1953, the classification grew slowly—in part because building on your own meant doing everything: welding, working with fabric, painting, upholstering, wiring, and plumbing. Once you’d found all the raw materials you needed, of course.