Whether it’s traveling or kicking around home base I get asked that a lot lately. And it’s often from longtime airplane owners tired of shelling out retirement bucks to feed an old Bonanza or Cessna 180, especially for avionics upgrades, plus buyers are still recovering from the ADS-B buy-in. Non-TSO (but STC’d) gear has lowered prices for EFIS and autopilots, but not as low as experimental stuff, which require neither certification standard. Compare a glass upgrade from the round gauges in a Lancair IV to the same upgrade in a Mooney and I think E/A-B, or Experimental Amateur-Built aircraft—call them homebuilts, kits or both—look pretty compelling.
But the buzzkill comes halfway through the project when you realize—without an airplane—you really want to fly your kit, but don’t have the time to finish it. Maybe buying one that someone finished is the better option. But do you really want to buy an airplane that someone else built? In plenty of cases the answer is yes, and in plenty others it’s hell no. I’ve had my hands in both and have been both impressed and frightened by what I saw. When asked to be pointed in the right direction, I usually recommend joining up with a local EAA (Experimental Aircraft Association) chapter. Here you’re bound to find someone who can help with the sharp-eyed process of finding a quality build. But you gotta know what you want, first, and many buyers simply end up with the wrong airplane. I’ve seen some of them auger. That Lancair IV won’t play in the ice like your Bonanza did. But man, does speed rule in the world of homebuilts.