John,

Opinions are just that. You stated yours, I stated mine. I suspect if
you had ever spent any time in a well built Q200 you might just have
a different feeling about it. Everything has a trade off! Your point
however is well taken. Building a composite aircraft from scratch is
not easy and without parts or help it could be a nightmare. Having
said that, our group knows the answers to most all the questions a
new builder can ask. A builder today has alot more help than I ever
did! Interestingly a Q was sold yesterday on Barnstormers, boasting
the plane had 5 of 6 of the Jim/Bob six pack mods complete. Someone
is listening and using it as a selling tool!

My "unbridled enthusiam" as you call it is what happens when one
commits to build something in his garage over a long period of time
that can be flown anywhere in the country very quickly, get it John
QUICKLY. Its the mix we all present here in this forum that makes it
fun! By the way I look forward to meeting you if you ever get around
this neck of the woods.

Brad I hope this little exchange has given you more insight into our
neat little airplanes. Whether it be a DF or Q, its great company to
be in. If I can help you in any way, please feel free to call me @
510-468-4891. I hope you have a little better feeling for what you
may be getting into. Good Luck.

Regards,

Jim Patillo N46JP Q200

P.S. Jeff, I am going to try to get several of us to your Sullivan
event in the fall.

--- In Q-LIST@..., "JohntenHave" <Jtenhave@m...> wrote:

Jim,

reread my post. Unbridled enthusiasm is one thing, a viable path

for

a beginner to enable construction and completion is quite another.
Brad was not asking how great Q 200s are but rather announcing his
intention to start building one.

You and I are doing him a disservice if we do not advise him of the
cold hard facts before he commits to a path which could just as

well

result in a dead end. Building a "straight-forward", supported
project is hard enough that only one in ten are finished by the
orginator.

Q-200s are OK, I have flown in one but it did not take 600hrs to
decide that there are better aircraft (in my view) with respect to
visibility on approach, engineering, cockpit space, comfort,

luggage

space and load carrying capacity whilst remaining within the
published weight limits. It depends what you want or what
compromises you deem reasonable.

There is one thing for sure, there is more than one answer to the
question "what can I build that will meet my flying needs?" If

Brad

does the analysis and decides with all the facts that the Q200 is

the

one for him, great. I am sure we will all do our best to support

him.

Looking at the latest breed of Ultralights I suspect we run the

risk

of morphing into a bunch of aging vintage aircraft enthusiasts....
best we do not look too closely ;-)

Regards

John







--- In Q-LIST@..., "Jim Patillo"
<logistics_engineering@m...> wrote:

Brad,

While John Tenhave is correct in stating the decision you make

now

can take several years to build, there's nothing faster or more

fun

for the money than a Q200, which I doubt John has ever riden in.

snip