Hello all,
I'm considering starting a homebuilt project, and first learned of the T-18 about a week ago. After a few days of internet research I've become more interested. Can somebody fact-check my summary?
Two place, aluminum monoplane with a cruise speed of around 150 mph.
Standard engine is an O-290, but
O-235, O-320, O-360, etc have been used. Both constant speed and fixed pitch props are popular.
Basic build time is around 2,000 hours.
Seems like the number of active planes flying may be in the hundreds (?). About a dozen or more projects currently building as of this writing, and a fairly active support community.
Current options for procuring plans & kits:
1) Eklund Engineering, Inc.
http://www.thorpt18.com They sell plans (and kits for some parts) for the original T-18 and the widened fuselage version.
2) Classic Sport Aircraft
http://www.classicsportaircraft.com They sell plans with kits (but not the plans separately) for the S-18 version with folding wings, new airfoil, widened fuselage, and (optional) tricycle gear. The new airfoil is supposed to reduce stall speed by 10(?) knots maybe.
3) Check eBay, Barnstormers, etc for abandoned projects with plans.
Am I right so far?
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