The Most Popular Homebuilt Airplane In The World 

Nice work. The plane looks great. White with a red stripe. Clean and classy

As Textron locks down the parts market to keep prices in the stratosphere, and their profits, the experimental market is the best way to stay away from that horrendous scam.

I built a "slow build" original Glasair 1-RG it took me more than 4000 hours and about 10 years building part time. That's an average of 8 hours per week for 10 years. Been flying it since 2004, even flew it to Alaska with my son and to the Arctic Circle while up there. N789DB

@@danblumel what about all that time sitting on the couch watching TV you missed out on?

How’s she fly?

I didn't think he was going to let him get a word in edgewise😮

YES! He’s always cutting people off. Drives me crazy.

Hey guys, go watch someone else..respectfully. Jimmy has a particular personality that most of us enjoy. Or start your own channel..

A.D.D & A.D.H.D are personality or mental disorders. Most can’t control it well without specific training to overcome it, although very high IQ’s are a common result. Inventive skills common, often seeing things others are blind to. The brain literally works so fast, it goes out ahead of most conversations, especially difficult if a person takes forever to finally spit out whatever they’re trying to say. 😖

Stop being such dicks. We are all lucky and should respect the time and trouble it takes to put these together

AHH yes, the A10. From an honest aircraft company that just made great aircraft instead of puffing their bank accounts with lies about "invisible skin", then using some of that money to grease the skids.

its not a turret. its a single station with rotation and a tool changer. but appropriate commentary in a company thats toast due to incompetence concerning fabrication process.

I need cooler friends

I agree with your comment . This man's training saved lives .

seems like the general aviation industry is losing its grip, i heard compared to other times that the US ain't producing enough pilots plus aviation in general took a big hit during covid, well it looks like it hasn't recovered quite yet, who's going to buy the new planes, a experimental or a big airliner if the demand to fly more is not even there.

@lcfflc3887 For at least the last fourth years the aviation community has been saying there will be a shortage of pilot and mechanics, yet cockpits keep being filled and mechanics have been available (although a lot of places are filling positions with people that don't have an A&P). What has been a trend for the last decade is people turning g old enough to enter the job market DON'T want a career which tales them away from home or to have to work with their hands or out in the weather.

@@gregdcross the passion for aviation perhaps is what's missing compared to few decades back plus the economics behind it is a factor too plus so many Job choice available this days make same amount of money by doing very little.

@lcfflc3887 Agreed. But back in 86 after graduating with a BS in Aviation Maintenance Management and getting g my A&P, my first job was at an FBO that was a Beechcraft dealer at BNA. Starting salary was $16,225/year while working on all sorts of corporate aircraft. So imagine walking across then hanger floor carrying a part that costs $30K, yet a mechanic at a car dealership was making twice as much. After 6 months and an excellent evaluation my my crew chief and Maintenance manager, they gave me a 3% raise. Pay was @ 10% of what they charged for shop rate and all mechanics were expected to be able to finish tasks in less time than the shop standard billing time, then move to another task.

@@gregdcross despite the pay been a lot hier today as a starter, Young people seems to be more interested in other things even so the aviation industry is so large and has so much opportunities to offer, the evolution of computer tech and other technologies today has taken future prospects out of the aviation arena plus so many regulations and certificates for this and that sure is overwhelming enough to keep many young people away, computer graphics designers, software developers, or a carrier in business, are attractive carries opportunities that are hot today and young people just want a big chunk of money from the very start, things has changed.

Glasair. Another great kit plane

To funny those spars are what I made to cool

Me too! Hope Van's survives. The trend, however, is not good. The awful GA fatal accident rate is not helping the whole community. Lots of poor judgement going on.

@@vgrof2315wtf are you talking about “ga accident rate” have you ever looked at real data before? Accident rates aren’t rising.

Let’s hope, they survive and get out of their financial struggles they are into. 😢 The airplanes are awesome. Van‘s people, please don’t screw around with quality. Even knowing money is short. Keep up the quality and please don’t ruin your business because of rushing out kits to gain money. Keep your faith your great standards and your good philosophy up. The people out there will thank you for this and honor this. You have great airplanes and people know this. We have hard times in the world. Hopefully you will make it. Van’s aircraft is huge in the GA community and the GA needs these airplanes. Good luck 🍀👍 😊

@@zq3yp the hilarious part is GA accidents are actually lower than previous years, not sure where this bozo made this up from

@@spacexenthusiast1799the real issue in part is the liability issues that have plagued GA for many decades. Any kind or type of accident happens and multiple law suits are filed for millions in damages. It was for this same reason that GA Mfg lijj my e Cessna and Piper, etc stoped manufacturing for twenty to thirty years. Ending in tge later 80’s. At that time some legal concessions had been made. However it’s still an issue.

I'm 20 id love to work and do something like this there's so much to do and learn there. Currently working on trying to get my pilot's license and then amp school to get my mechanical and airframe certification.

@@ryansaindon5559that’s great! And don’t let OP’s anecdotal and discriminatory post get you down. Good luck! One point of order, it’s A&P school: airframe and powerplant.

or a tripod 😵‍💫 but this could be stabilized in post pretty easily

He's like a kid on Christmas morning. Most of us get a little cynical as we age, but Jimmy seems to have avoided this.

Only a year? From the start? That's fast.

I got the project from another builder who had finished building the tail and gave up. I built everything else. The fuse was a quick build, that helped. Also, I'm retired so that really helps.

Got you beat Mike, finished my RV-4 34 yrs ago.

Vans needs to get some military contracts to help balance their bottom line.

The people who complain aboutbtheir Taxes and who support more spending on the military are usually the same person. I wonder if they listen to themselves.

Looking at the scale of the operation, it's really impressive, I had no idea it was so big. They're doing some really impressive things. It's obviously also a very big investment. The history of light aviation though from day 1 is full of companies with big dreams that over invested. Some (most?) went bankrupt and disappeared, some are still around. I don't recall exactly but Piper went bankrupt I think at least 3 times in their history. The reality of the aviation biz never measures up to the dreams...!

That's kinda sad. Their products look well made. Why are they in financial trouble? 😢

There are a few versions of the story doing the rounds at the moment. It would appear that they have had two main problems. Firstly, during the covid epidemic, they were swamped with orders that created a huge backlog of orders for which they had taken deposits (and thus committed themselves to delivering at the agreed price). In the interim, material and labour costs have soared leaving them out of pocket. Secondly, a sub-contractor that was using laser cutting to machine rivet holes, allegedly misused the technology and created a situation whereby the surrounding metal became brittle and then prone to cracking. So they have a large recall to manage and then the issue of having to supply replacement parts FOC. It appears to be a moving situation, but I'm sure they will get through it. Whether that will involve a chapter 11 situation, time will tell (which aircraft manufacturer has that NOT happened to?) time will tell. They're great aircraft, great guys, and I wish them well.

@@wsmempson1 which aircraft manufacturer hasn’t had to go through it? Van’s Aircraft. I sure hope they do make it. I have flown several Vans airplanes. I haven’t found one I dislike. The only reason I don’t own one is I don’t consider myself a builder. I had all I want, rebuilding an aircraft. At the same time I’m worried about buying used because I don’t know the quality of the build on someone else’s Vans.

You think that’s bad, watch the latest “Aerostar owners association” vids on parts availability, they’re all going to be grounded very soon with lack of parts being made. It’s a very telling forecast of the “certified aircraft market” as a whole. Experimental is the only way to go and stay flying.

@@pwffstube Some truth to what you stated but also the vendor did not use Van's pattern of starting the hole from the center but instead from the outer edge that created a heat/brittle issue.

If you ever want to get a little dizzy, just look at a picture of Boeing's Everett plant. I can't imagine the army of people needed to churn out a 737 in only 18 hours.

Well, I will 1st point out that Americans buy cars from foreign brands 45% of the time and of that 45%, Japan is the clear leader. Next, I will point out that during WW2, Japan was completely dependent upon foreign resources to fight the War. The USA at the time meanwhile, was nearly (not rubber, for instance) independent of foreign resources. That's what the War in the Pacific was first all about. The martyrdom you write about was forced upon the young pilots because the plane was nearly all that Japan had left to throw at the US Navy. Food for thought, yes? Finally, my father died of old age but he was a combat veteran of WW2, so I know the age group and I know that those still alive don't name themselves after Jack Black movies. I can teach you more, you know where to find me.

I would probably Velcro a soft something to somewhere convenient. Just in case.

The videos of a project like this would also be of enormous interest to youe subscribers.