How to save money on peel ply

[dust]

Well, we have been buying the ugliest peel ply at local fabric stores, we have had zebra, dye bled into sides of planes, orange, pink, white etc. etc. and we cut the price over wicks and aircraft buy allot.

 

Recently we were laying up the second turtle deck outside (in the basement) and when we were wetting out the peel ply it wouldn't wet out.

 

We kept mixing and spreading and squeegying over and over again. I automatically count many things that I do and I count the pumps of epoxy that I use.

 

Ok i finally said enough after we pumped enough on the "peel ply" to wet out both layers of glass underneath.

 

The next week the "peel ply" wouldn't peel off, it took 9 man hours to get it cleened off and maybe one day i will weigh the two turtle decks to see how much weight we added.

 

 

so now we will test all new batches or most probably stop saving money and buy from ac or wicks.

 

You have never built long enough to stop making mistakes

 

 

ENJOY the build, even the mistakes

[Jon Matcho]

The question is, how much money did you save? For purposes of your calculations, I suggest you set an hourly rate for labor at around $3.82/hour...

[Cozy1200]

Why $3.82?

[chuckthedog]

cause when it comes time to sell you plane you will be lucky to get 50 cents per hour.

[Cozy1200]

Chuck,

 

No offense to anyone, but I've heard similar things a bunch of times. Saying you earn $.50 an hour sounds great, but I'm not buying it. Here's why I think this way. Let say it takes you 10,000 hours to build the plane. That should cover build time, reading, research and all the stress a person can stand. This is still over three times what Nat say it should take. Now I'm going to pull another number out of thin air. You make $30,000 Profit after selling the plane and paying for what you've invested. That could be build for $30k, sell for $60k or build for $50k and sell for $80k. Nat claims you can sell for 2-3 time the build cost. I've never talked to anyone who has sold their plane, so I can say for sure.

 

Now back to the simple math. Under this wild scenario $30k divided by 10k hours is $3/hour. Under a more realistic scenario say you invest 3000 hours and still net $30k. With that you make $10/hour. Not bad for a hobby! I'm sure there have been cases of people putting in less hours and making more on their plane, but this is me talking out of my butt as a non-builder.

 

As for the $3.82 per hour and building for 3000 hours, your That is about a $11 to $12,000 profit. It seems a little hard for me believe that these planes for around $100,000 had $90k invested.

 

Someone please correct me if I'm totally wrong.

 

Now my disclaimer: If I am totally out of line for jumping on someone for simply exaggerating to make a point. I apologize. If what I'm saying is correct, why hasn't someone said something before? OH! I know, those smart people are to busy building while I'm still typing.

[chuckthedog]

If I build a third Long-ez. Will you come and do the math? I like your numbers better than the ones I ended up with after selling.

PS

you can't piss me off. I love to read this forum, it brings back memories.

(RUB)

The weather is great today. I'm gonna turn gas into noise with my pickel fork.

 

[mplafleur]

I don't have a lot of data on resale, just "if memory serves" but...

 

I get the impression that Long-EZ resale values are quite a bit lower than Cozy resale. Maybe half? There's a Long-EZ project for sale on eBay right now, just airframe, gears and engine mount for $3600 right now. But I don't think the resale value really goes up until it's a flying machine. I have seen Cozy's go for $90-100k. I also met a builder with a Velocity with $90k invested. I don't know of any Cozy builder who comes close to that investment.

 

If you want to make some money on the project, build a Cozy, or even a Lancair, not a Long-EZ.

[chuckthedog]

Well i'm back from flying. Let me say one more thing. Asking price, and what you actually get are uasually a long way apart.

I think the reason is, if it took a dime to poop, most plane buyers can't even pass gas wihout asking the bank first.

BTW Some Longs are for sale for 45 to 50 thousand, Loaded of course.

[mplafleur]

That's the upper end of what I thought the EZ's were going for.

[Cozy1200]

I guess I should have mentioned that I was thinking of the Cozy not the Long-Ez when typing. Keeping that in mind, I guess it does change the numbers.

 

ChuckTheDog,

If you ever want a place to fly, just for the sake of flying. Come up to Portland and Muncie. I'll treat you to supper just for a bull session. I don't see to many canards around here.