If you build it…you can also fly.
As Peter Elsey and Jason LoRusso discovered in recent years, there's a special sense of satisfaction in building your own airplane, or at least helping to build it, and it can make your flying experience even more amazing.
And while building a plane from a kit means significant savings when you consider the cost of buying your own plane outright, the plane is a big long-term investment. LoRusso points out that, unlike cars, private aircraft retain their value over time and can even increase in value.
“This is like a second home to us,” LoRusso said. LoRusso and his wife, Rebecca Chapman, spent about four years building the Vans Aircraft RV-10 single-prop airplane from start to finish. He has been flying the four-seater aircraft for about two years, including on a trip to Florida with his wife in March of this year.
LoRusso, 44, who grew up in Chester and now lives in Hadley, said he and his wife are expecting their first child this summer. So he decided to build a four-seater plane specifically in anticipation of being able to take his family with him. He will travel someday.
“This will be our vacation,” he said with a laugh.
Elsie, of East Hampton, has also recently been flying a new plane, an Arion Lightning XS that was assembled piecemeal in Tennessee last year and early this year. Elsie made several two-week trips south to assist with construction with staff from Arion Aircraft, a kit aircraft manufacturer based outside of Nashville.
“It's beautiful,” Elsie said of the new single-propeller plane, which will take off from Northampton Airport just like LoRusso. “It's fun to fly and maneuver, and it's much faster than anything I've flown before.”
Elsie, 58, previously co-owned a Cessna 152. The plane, jokingly likened to a “used Honda Civic,” is reliable, but with a top speed of perhaps 160 miles per hour and limited range.
For Cessna planes, he added, “It might be difficult to climb if there are two people on a hot day.''
By comparison, both Elsie and LoRusso's new aircraft can easily cruise at 200 miles per hour and fly 700 to 800 miles without refueling.
Both pilots said that one of the best things about building their own airplanes, or in Elsie's case playing a key role in building them, was how much they learned about airplanes and flying in general. said.
“I consider myself a lifelong learner and I learned so much in this program and really enjoyed it,” said Elsie, a pediatrician. “There was an orderly, step-by-step process that really appealed to me.”
And while LoRusso, who took a number of machinist courses while attending Smith Vocational High School in Northampton, had mechanical skills that were an asset when building the RV-10, the experience still He said he received a “huge amount of education” from him.
And working closely with his wife on this project, he said, “we learned a lot about each other and about each other.” That’s a big plus as well.”
LoRusso and Elsie, who work as bridge inspectors, came from different directions. Elsie had flown in ultralight planes several times as a teenager, but didn't return to flying until she was in her mid-40s, taking lessons at Northampton Airport. He received his license in 2015.
LoRusso built model airplanes as a child, but says he became afraid of flying when he grew up, probably because of news articles about plane crashes. His first time on a plane was in the fall of 2005, when he wanted to travel to Florida, but he decided it was too far to drive.
“So I took the plunge and took a commercial flight to go there and it was a really good experience,” he said. “The first thing I wanted to do when I came back was take flying lessons.”
He did just that, taking lessons at several different airports before settling at Northampton Airport, where he earned his license in 2006. Due to financial constraints at the time, his flying was intermittent for several years. He rented airplanes from time to time and later became part of a group that collectively owned Cessnas, small airplanes.
But about eight years ago, LoRusso learned about the possibility of building a plane from a kit through another pilot. “I didn't know you could do that,” he said. “But I love building things, so I thought it was the most affordable way to own my own airplane.”
The company he bought the kit from, Vans Aircraft of Aurora, Oregon, is the largest business of its kind in the world, with about 11,000 models currently in the air. “They have a great support network and you can contact a technician for help online or by phone.”
Still, building the RV-10 “was a really big undertaking,” LoRusso says. That's because he and his wife probably spent about 30 hours a week on the project for four years, in addition to their regular jobs. But it also gave them something to focus on during the coronavirus lockdown, he noted.
It also costs money. LoRusso said he spent about $130,000 on all the parts for the plane. But completed models of this and other kit aircraft typically sell for two to three times his price, he says.
From the beginning, Elsea chose to acquire Lighting XS through the “Builder Assist” program offered by Arion Aircraft. He felt he didn't have the technical background or time to build an airplane.
“If I tried to do that, by the time it was over I'd be too old to fly,” he said with a laugh.
Both aircraft had to undergo various test flights and detailed FAA inspections before being certified for regular flight. Elsie said he flew back from Tennessee to Massachusetts with Arion staff in March, then took a commercial flight back to Tennessee.
Elsie and LoRusso are also long-time friends, and they are part of a larger group of pilots associated with Northampton Airport, who, according to LoRusso, have been “really great mentors and a great source of support for me.” That's what it means. He is giving back. Currently, he says, he is mentoring two others who are building RV-10s.
And in the end, for both pilots, the value of owning and enjoying an aircraft lies in reinforcing what drew them to flying in the first place.
“I’m a bit of a thrill seeker,” Elsie says. “I enjoy the sense of speed. But I also love being able to look down and see the Earth unfolding below me, and I love being able to practice and test all the skills and skills I've learned so far. is.”
“When you fly, you feel a real sense of freedom and tranquility,” explains LoRusso. “You get so focused on what you're doing that all the other things you're dealing with in your life, all the problems in the world, really just melt away.”