The chance to fly is a fantasy many children dream about, but for some, it lasts a lifetime.
Keith Weale combined his love of tinkering around in his workshop with the desire to own his own aircraft and for the past six years, has been tirelessly spending his free time to build his dream from the confines of his Auckland townhouse.
Because he wished to fly whenever he wanted to, not having to book an aircraft a week in advance only to cancel it on the day because of bad weather, he has always wanted to own his own plane. However, the cost of general aircraft ownership is beyond most of us, so Keith settled on a kitset from Van’s Aircraft in Oregon, USA. Van’s Aircraft have been selling the most popular kit-built aircraft in the world for 50 years. In that time, 11,000 of their various models of aircraft have been completed in garages and basements across the world, and are now flying. Van's Aircraft have proven to be one of the safest and most reliable range of amateur-built aircraft money can buy and are regarded by many as being the Rolls Royce of kit-built aircraft.
Keith settled on the RV-12 all-metal, side-by-side two seat aircraft with full dual controls so it can be flown from both seats. It has a 100 hp Rotax 912ULS petrol engine, designed and built in Austria specifically for aircraft. This modern close-tolerance and liquid-cooled engine has proven to be one of the most reliable and fuel-efficient aircraft engines in the world.
Building a kit-set aircraft is not a cheap exercise. Keith estimates he has spent NZD160,000 to get the aircraft to completion. He bought the RV-12 in six separate sub-kits to spread the cashflow over the years and to have enough space in his townhouse to store the thousands of components – he even fitted out the attic and commandeered the family bathroom for storage!
Spending many thousands of hours building the aircraft, Keith spent every spare minute of the day, including during his commute to/from work on the bus, reading up and learning how to build an aeroplane. He states, “Building an aircraft has to become a daily way of relaxation, a pastime, a way of unwinding from work. You can't think of anything else while you’re building, so it's a good way of setting the worries of the day aside for a while.”
While people are genuinely surprised that you’re allowed to build an aircraft as an amateur without formal training, the law says you can, provided that the project meets the criteria for recreation and education.
Although Keith built the aircraft entirely on his own (except for painting the exterior), he did have tremendous support and encouragement from a fraternity of fellow aircraft builders and pilots who had been down the path before him. He believes being able to join social media groups and a sport aircraft club where you can bounce ideas around, and have mentors and experts look over your work from time to time is invaluable.
Keith sums up his story, “I’ve made dozens of genuine friends in the process. It's a brotherhood of like-minded aviators who’ve all faced similar challenges and put their skills to the ultimate test: will she fly? Yes, she did, on Saturday 18 December 2021.”
Stats
Flying height: 12,000—15,000 feet
Fuel capacity: 75 L
Fuel burn rate: 15 L/hour
Comfortable cruise speed: 200 km/h
Range/distance: 800 km (4 hours with 1 hour reserve)
Luggage capacity: 22 kg
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