Amateur-built and experimental aircraft - Australian Transport Safety ...

associated with building an aircraft. The following items are a summary of those
other build challenges:
• designing safety enhancements and getting approval
• disreputable local parts suppliers
• bubble canopy, windscreens and windows
• carving propellers
• painting, making cowls and composite material
• use of butyrate dopes and fabric
• certification and paperwork
• partnerships with other people.
Summary of build challenges
Significant build challenges in this survey appear to relate to the aircraft design,
major modifications from the original design and choice of engine, and installing
avionics. Avionics were rated as most challenging overall but, significantly, some
of the build challenges are interpersonal. Certain aircraft designs, such as wooden
aircraft, appear to be more challenging as the generation of people with knowledge
in how to build and maintain wooden aircraft are replaced by people with
proficiencies in metal and composite aircraft. For some respondents, the build
process was easy and the paperwork was difficult.
3.5.5 Build resources
The survey requested that people rate their general access to information needed to
construct their aircraft. Most respondents had very good or excellent access to build
information (about 78 per cent), while a smaller proportion had adequate access
(about 18 per cent). Eleven respondents (about 4 per cent) reported that they had
less than adequate or no access to build resources as recorded in Figure 64.
Figure 64: General rating of access to build information
The importance of different types of build resources were rated by respondents. The
mean rating (from 1 least important to 5 most important) is presented in Figure 65.
On average, respondents indicated that manufacturer resources were the most
important, followed by other aircraft builders and LAMEs. Aircraft associations and
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