We are going to build an Airplane!

[Bill Berson]

For airplane design questions, I recommend this forum:http://www.homebuiltairplanes.com/forums/forum.php

[VansRV4ator]

It's great that you are wanting to build your own airplane. As a fellow homebuilder myself I would recommend building an RV from Vans Aircraft. But after looking at your requirements, I think a plans built Pober Junior Ace will be your best bet. They are simple to build, slow, affordable and can carry two people. However they are a tailwheel aircraft so you will need your tailwheel rating.

[Frank Giger]

Airdrome Sopwith Tabloid fits the bill pretty closely, except the fuel burn is a lot less.



Side by side seating, WWI look using modern material (aluminum tube and gusset construction), and just dead sexy.

And it won't break the bank.

The build thread with pictures and comments here:

http://www.theaerodrome.com/forum/re...h-tabloid.html

Airdrome Aircraft, the brain child of Robert Baslee:

http://www.airdromeaeroplanes.com

Worth looking at regardless.

[biplaneowner]

Have a look at the Durand Mark V www.durandmarkv.com

[Kyle Boatright]

The thousand pound useful load is tough on a homebuilt biplane, but if you can sacrifice some of that, how about a Hatz or a derivative of a Hatz such as a Hatz Classic?

[DaleB]

I think an Antonov AN-2 is just what the doctor ordered. It's as close to his requirements as a Jr. Ace or a Tabloid. A Staggerwing would be closer, but I suspect the fuel burn might be just a little high -- and it's certainly not a "classic" looking biplane either.

What he was asking for is pretty easy to match, all except for the biplane part. A Bearhawk comes to mind, or a Christavia Mk IV. I suppose if a guy were planning to design and build, you could start with a design like one of those and add a lower wing... although it baffles me why you'd want to. Not why you'd want to build a biplane, that part I totally get. But it would be building an awfully large mallet with which to hammer that square peg into the round hole. If I started a project of that scale as a retirement project, I'm be afraid I'd be too old to fly it by the time it was done.