Would You Fly an $80,000 Home-Built Aircraft That Comes in A box?

A few years ago, I saw this video from JP Schulze, talking about his plan to build his own airplane (in under 4 months) and fly it around the world. Since then, I’ve been fascinated with the idea of a home-built aircraft. Naturally, when I get even two percent interested in a topic, I spend the next few weeks consuming everything I can about it until it seeps into my eyelids when I lie down to sleep.

Now, I'm not talking about a paper or a model airplane for all seven of you reading this who aren’t familiar with home-built aircraft. I’m talking about an actual, full-size, get-in-and-fly aircraft that carries a human soul through the sky. There are plenty of options for home-built aircraft: Lancair, Zenith, Vans Aircraft, etc.. However, one of particular interest to me is Kitfox (not a sponsor…yet). Kitfox is a go-kart with fabric wings that can land practically anywhere with more than 150 feet of flat-ish surface.

But before I explain my descent into aviation madness, a few words about experimental aircraft. They’re not actually “experimental” in the way you might think. They don’t have giant red buttons labeled “BREAK IN CASE OF EMERGENCY” or wings that might suddenly decide to test new aerodynamic theories mid-flight. The term “experimental” is an FAA category for aircraft built by individuals rather than factories. It’s the equivalent of those “made with love” labels your grandma sews onto her handmade quilts, except grandma’s quilt has a much lower chance of killing you and involves less paperwork.

So how does one “build” an airplane? You start with a kit, which arrives in several car-size boxes that instantly transform your garage into a place your family avoids for the next 24 months. Every kit is different, but in the case of Kitfox, the steel tube frame comes pre-welded along with a bunch of other boxes that include wings, control systems, and about ten thousand parts that look mildly important. It doesn’t include the engine, propeller, instruments, paint, and sanity—those are sold separately.

I know what you’re thinking: “Aren’t home-built aircraft deathtraps strapped together by overconfident amateurs? Well….no. According to the Experimental Aircraft Association, these planes have an accident rate that is less than one percentage point higher than that of factory-built aircraft. In the specific case of the Kitfox—and I hope this doesn’t jinx the fine people over at Kitfox—there has never been a reported in-flight structural failure across 7,000 kits sold. I will say this is significantly better than my high school shop class safety record, where we had two emergency room visits just from making gumball machines.

Alright, I know you’re excited to switch tabs and go order an aircraft kit, but there are a couple of other things to consider. COST. I’m just going to be talking about Kitfox here because that’s where my rabbit hole led, but I’ve found the costs are pretty comparable across other brands.

The base kit starts around $36,000, and that’s just the beginning. You’ll still need an engine, which will be another $15,000 to $25,000, depending on how much horsepower you want. Then there’s the instruments, which can range from “basic steam gauges that will get you killed in the clouds” ($5,000) to “full glass panel that will show you exactly how slow your ground speed is when that 50 knot headwind hits” ($20,000).

Andddd then there’s the time investment. On average, it’ll take about 1,000 hours—or 681 re-runs of the movie “Airplane!”—to complete. Despite “aircraft building” sounding very technical, it actually seems surprisingly accessible to normal humans. Disclaimer: I haven’t ever built one of these, but I have watched 18.2 hours of other people doing it on YouTube. If you’ve actually built one for yourself, please leave a comment, I’d love to know how long it actually took you. To me, it essentially looks like very high-stakes IKEA furniture, where instead of a wobbly bookshelf, the worst-case scenario is slightly more dramatic.

Now, for the real question you came here for: Would you (or I) fly in this thing once it’s built?

Absolutely!

And I definitely wouldn’t tell my mom. Plus, there are still quite a few safety checks and inspections that have to be completed before it’s legally allowed to fly. An FAA inspector verifies that you haven’t done anything stupid, and you’ll have to do 25–40 hours of test flying over uninhabited areas before you’re cleared for passengers. It’s important to make sure your creation isn’t a danger to society before releasing it into the wild.

The rewards of building and flying your own aircraft are substantial. For one, you'll know every single component intimately, which is helpful when something starts making a concerning noise at 3,000 feet. You'll have built exactly the airplane you want, with the panel layout, paint scheme, and interior that suits your needs. And perhaps most importantly, you'll have joined a community of people who can casually drop "I built my own airplane" into conversation, causing immediate silence followed by either admiration or concerned glances.

Maintenance costs are also lower since experimental aircraft owners can legally perform most of their own maintenance. Insurance is surprisingly reasonable, with rates comparable to certified aircraft.

Of course, there are some downsides. Resale can be tricky, as the market for homebuilt aircraft is smaller, and the value is heavily dependent on the builder's reputation and documentation. You also can't use the aircraft for commercial purposes, so your dreams of starting an air taxi service with your garage-built Kitfox will have to remain dreams.

And then there's the inevitable moment when a nervous friend asks, "Wait, YOU built this?" right before their scheduled flight with you. I imagine this is similar to the face people make when they discover the bridge they're crossing was built by the lowest bidder. But honestly, this is mostly an educational opportunity to explain that experimental aircraft have an excellent safety record and rigorous inspection requirements and that you're actually more familiar with your plane than most pilots are with their factory-built craft.

So, would I recommend building an experimental aircraft? If you have the time, money, space, and patient family members—absolutely. Few projects combine skill-building, engineering principles, and the ultimate reward of actual flight. Building an aircraft is one of those transformative experiences that divides your life into "before" and "after" periods, much like having children, except your airplane won't eventually need college tuition.

In the end, the real question isn't "would you fly in an $80,000 homebuilt aircraft?" It's "why wouldn't you?" After all, we regularly trust our lives to mass-produced vehicles built by Monday-morning factory workers. At least with a homebuilt, you know exactly who to blame if something goes wrong – and they have an extremely personal stake in making sure it doesn't.

Besides, nothing says "I make questionable but interesting life choices" quite like having an airplane in your garage.

@austinnhart is an aviation enthusiast who mixes his love of aviation with his passion for writing and entrepreneurship to create Aviatz, an online media company tailored to avgeeks and those who look up every time they hear an engine overhead. Please consider subscribing to our newsletter.