Hello Everyone!
my name is Johannes, or simply Jo. German, living in Spain, 40 years old. I am an active glider pilot but don't have a PPL yet. I have been dreaming of building my own aircraft since I was 14 years old when I saw a beautifully built RV-4 at my local aerodrome. For years I was focused on Vans, purchasing preview plans but since a couple of years I have abandoned the RV's in favor of a plans built aircraft. Many rounds of dreams have followed, Long-EZ, Cozy, Vision... then I stumbled across the Quickie 2 and Dragonfly and fell in love with the design. If there would be a quickie you could land and take off with on a 600m strip, that would be awesome. For now, I threw that option in the bin. Realistically, I do need short(er) field capabilities and won't have the luxury of paved, long runways on most of my destinations.
Along comes the KR-2, and from there I found the path to both the Gaz'aile 2 and Cherry BX-2 which are currently the options I am considering. It's a standoff. I have purchased the Gaz'aile plans already, even if I am not 100% sure it did win against the Cherry BX-2. I am intrigued by both designs...
Why I chose these two designs (at least for now):
Here are some questions I have:
Looking forward to finally turning into a builder. Still not entirely there yet, but I think I am closer than ever to crossing that line.
Saludos,
Jo
my name is Johannes, or simply Jo. German, living in Spain, 40 years old. I am an active glider pilot but don't have a PPL yet. I have been dreaming of building my own aircraft since I was 14 years old when I saw a beautifully built RV-4 at my local aerodrome. For years I was focused on Vans, purchasing preview plans but since a couple of years I have abandoned the RV's in favor of a plans built aircraft. Many rounds of dreams have followed, Long-EZ, Cozy, Vision... then I stumbled across the Quickie 2 and Dragonfly and fell in love with the design. If there would be a quickie you could land and take off with on a 600m strip, that would be awesome. For now, I threw that option in the bin. Realistically, I do need short(er) field capabilities and won't have the luxury of paved, long runways on most of my destinations.
Along comes the KR-2, and from there I found the path to both the Gaz'aile 2 and Cherry BX-2 which are currently the options I am considering. It's a standoff. I have purchased the Gaz'aile plans already, even if I am not 100% sure it did win against the Cherry BX-2. I am intrigued by both designs...
Why I chose these two designs (at least for now):
- Entirely plans build.
- Both designs have a reasonably large community and > 50 finished aircraft flying with a good track record.
- Economic. In particular the Gaz'aile 2 performance with the diesel engine < 7.5 L/h is excellent. When I will one day have finished a plane, I don't want to be constantly thinking how much fuel/money I have already burned on every single trip.
Here are some questions I have:
- What kind of trade-offs would you nudge in either of the two options.
- Are there people who know both planes and can provide some comments on the construction? Notable differences for example?
- What I particular like on the Cherry, are the foldable wings. Something I am very used to from gliding. It is yet another level of freedom, to easily de-rig an aircraft, put it on a trailer and travel with it by car to another destination.
- On the other hand, I really like the engine choice for the Gaz'aile and the fuel efficiency. I am wondering if the same diesel engine would perform similar on a Cherry...
- Have I overlooked other options that fall into similar categories?
Looking forward to finally turning into a builder. Still not entirely there yet, but I think I am closer than ever to crossing that line.
Saludos,
Jo
