Hangar Flying

Effectively you don't pay the FAA anything. I think there's like a $10 re-registration fee. If you upgrade your plane to IFR, you call up your FSDO and ask for your airworthiness restrictions to be changed. No fee.

Your state, on the other hand, will treat you like a drunken playboy millionaire and want their cut of the purchase price of the airplane under various 'luxury taxes'.

Lots of messages on here recently about buying EZ's, so for everyone's sake I'm posting what I think is the most important step in the purchase process.

If this is your first purchase of a experiemental composite aircraft, ALLWAYS have the aircraft inspected by an A&P familiar with composite homebuilts! Unless you've built one or maintained one for several years there's no way to be familiar enough with all the systems to be able to perform an adequite pre-buy inspection yourself.

Because experimental aircraft are far less regulated then their certified brothers it's very easy for an experimental owner maintain their aircraft in a dangerous state.

Considering the investment, both in dollars and your continued survival, that buying an airplane entails the cost and trouble of an A&P inspection is trivial. If the seller objects, walk away from the deal. Feel free to negotiate a price and conditions for the purchase ahead of time, as long as it's stipulated that the sale is conditional on a clean bill of health from an A&P of the buyer's choosing.

If I were a seller I'd require it as well, to ensure the buyer has no grievence three months later when something unexpected breaks.

The second most important step is to verify it'll fit in the back of the truck you rented to drive it home.

I and most of the EAA members in New Jersey spent all friday trying to figure out how to fit it in the big u-haul and came to the conclustion that it just won't fit through the door. A quick call to U-haul to rent a car carrying trailer solved the problem though. I advise not mentioning you plan to put an airplane on it. Watch for narrow lanes and road construction; you're 1.5 feet wider than an 18-wheeler. Technically you should also have a wide-load permit.

http://www.rage.net/~greg/ez-trailer.jpg

What are the dimensions for the EZ with the wings and canard removed? What size truck/trailer will accomodate it?

G