The Van’s RV-7 (above) and the Van’s RV-10 (below)  are among two new additions to the Two Weeks to Taxi Program.  Photo by Dave Higdon

Over the past three years, 70 owners have taken a Glasair Sportsman 2+2 kit from nothing but parts to a state where it can taxi. There’s nothing remarkable about that figure until one realizes the transformation occurred in just a two-week period. Then it gets interesting. The program, conceived by Glasair and currently only available for the Sportsman, provides a kit owner with all the tools, fixtures, and parts necessary for the compressed construction schedule.

Based on the success of the Sportsman program, Two Weeks to Taxi LLC will expand the program to include the popular RV-7 and RV-10 kits offered by Van’s Aircraft.

According to Mikael Via, president of Two Weeks to Taxi LLC, many, if not most of the over 1,000 airplane kits delivered each year are not completed by the original owner.

"We looked into this and tried to determine why this was happening," Via said. "We concluded that it is basically two things: a misunderstanding of the total cost and a misunderstanding of the total time involved."

Via added that while the basic costs of the kit, engine, prop, interior and paint are typically well understood, a misunderstanding develops from things like a long list of parts and hardware that may not be included in the basic kit. Other factors raising the total cost could include parts that were damaged during construction, the cost of tools, the cost of fixtures and even the cost of the space needed while the project is underway.

As for the misunderstanding about time Via said, "When you ask [a kit manufacturer] how long it takes to build it, they are focusing only on the physical act of putting something together. But what everyone misses is the time that goes into organizing all the materials, arranging the shop space, the preparation of getting the particular component level or rigged and then the cleanup."

"There also is the time associated with uncertainty," Via added. "If you are doing something for the first time and it’s telling you to drill a hole in a spar, something you are going to rely on, you want to be certain you get that hole in the right place. You actually get hung up a lot building an aircraft on your own, because of the fear of uncertainty."

The Sportsman is the original offering under the Two Weeks to Taxi Program. Photo by Dave Higdon

The Two Weeks to Taxi program is designed to address all the barriers to finishing by providing an owner/builder with absolutely everything necessary to get the kit assembled, onto its landing gear, and ready to taxi in just 14 days. Via indicated "ready to taxi" means the fuel system is operating, the engine is operating, the radio works, the brakes work and the airframe is more or less complete.

Via recommends that the builder take a bit of a break after the intensive two-week program. Following a break, the project should be thoroughly inspected, rigged, the paperwork done, and any other final details taken care of before the serious step of flight testing begins.

Overall, the program should result in a 70-to-90 percent reduction in the time required to build any of the supported kits. But, Via cautioned, "This program is not for everyone. This is not a replacement for all other approaches to building a kit plane."

One example Via cited as a possible issue for some builders is that the number of options available for panels, avionics, and engine configurations are limited to just a few preconfigured choices.

Planes completed under the two-week program comply with the FAA’s 51-percent rule for owner-built aircraft.

Prices for a kit purchased under the program include everything necessary to complete the two weeks and reservations for RV deliveries in the first quarter of 2008 are available on a first come, first served basis.

More information is available at the company’s Web site www.TwoWeeksToTaxi.com.