CNN
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It wasn’t until he moved near an airfield in the UK more than 10 years ago that mechanical engineer Ashok Aliseril Tamarakshan started thinking seriously about learning to fly a plane.
Years later, he flew for the first time when his wife Abhilasha bought him a 30-minute flight experience for his birthday.
Aliceril, who is based in Essex, UK, booked some flying lessons at a local airfield and flew to the Isle of Wight off the south coast of England during her first session.
“It was a huge eye-opener about how[flying]gives you the freedom and access to a plane to go anywhere you have that ability,” he told CNN Travel. spoke. “So I really got into it.”
Aliceril received his private pilot’s license in 2019 and immediately began hiring planes for short-haul flights.
But as his family grew – he and Abhilasha now have two daughters – the two-seater airplanes typically available for private rental became even less suitable, and he pondered buying his own plane. I started.
Aliceril briefly considered purchasing older aircraft, considering aircraft manufactured in the 1960s and 1970s.
However, he was nervous about taking his family on an unfamiliar, old plane, and didn’t think it would be a “comfortable trip.”
Aliceril began to consider the possibility of building his own plane, believing that doing so would give him a better understanding of the aircraft and ease its long-term maintenance.
After researching self-assembled aircraft kits, he came across a four-seater plane manufactured by South African company Sling Aircraft that ticked all the boxes.
In January 2020, Aliceril flew to the Sling Aircraft factory facility in Johannesburg for a weekend. Sling TSi Aircraft I took a test flight and was very impressed, so I decided to purchase it.
“This was pre-coronavirus, and travel was still very easy back then,” he explains. “I ordered my first kit when I got home and by the time it arrived, the UK was in full lockdown.”
Aliseril said some of his co-workers had experience building aircraft and initially offered to help with the build. However, this was not possible due to the restrictions brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic that was sweeping the world at this time.
Still, he built a small shed in his backyard and planned the various stages of the project. light aircraft associationis the UK’s representative body that oversees the production and maintenance of domestic aircraft, authorized by the UK Civil Aviation Authority (CAA).
Regulations for amateur-built aircraft vary slightly from country to country. In the United States, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) Experimental airworthiness category If a special airworthiness certificate can be issued for aircraft assembled in kits.
Aircraft built by amateurs in the UK are inspected by the CAA and a ‘flight permit’ is issued if the aircraft is found to be suitable for flight.
The start of production was slightly delayed due to Covid-19 restrictions in place in the UK at the time, but the Light Aircraft Association inspectors assigned to the project visited the work space in advance. Because of the need, Aliceryl was able to start in April 2020.
Although he says his engineering background has helped him in some ways, he believes it was actually his home renovation experience that helped him build the 7.175 meter long and 2.45 meter high aircraft. Masu.
“These aircraft kits are designed to be assembled by any amateur with a little hands-on experience and experience using specialized tools,” he adds, adding that a detailed “Ikea furniture guide with accompanying drawings” “Type of Instruction Manual” was explained. along with the kit.
“Generally speaking, I think anyone can participate in this type of construction.”
Aliceril completed the work himself and drafted with Abhilasha to assist with some of the sections that required multiple hands. His eldest daughter Tara, now 9, was involved in removing plastic from each part.
By the end of summer 2020, Aliceril had assembled the tail and wings. He began assembling the fuselage section in October when the next part of the kit arrived.
Aliceril had originally planned to hire a workshop to build the aircraft, but he feels building a workshop at home is a better option.
“I just had to go into the shed and work,” he says. “Even though we had limited space, just having everything in the backyard really helped.”
Each phase of the project must be approved by inspectors before they can move on to the next one, and the Light Aircraft Association has completed approximately 12 inspections in total.
Once most of the components were assembled and it was time to assemble the aircraft, Aliceril moved everything from his home to a hangar near Cambridge for final assembly and engine installation. The aircraft passed final inspection several months later.
This was one of the first Sling TSi homebrew aircraft built in the UK. G-Diya, named after his youngest daughter, was approved for its first flight in January 2022.
Aliceril recalled waiting anxiously on the ground for the plane that test pilots had spent 18 months building to take to the skies.
“He did it for about 20 minutes, then came back,” he says. “It was such a relief.[During the test flight]I couldn’t lift my head to see what was going on.”
That first flight was significant in many ways.
“With a construction project like this, everyone calls it a project until it flies for the first time,” he explains. “Once you fly it, it’s always called an aircraft. You don’t call it a project anymore. It’s a big step psychologically.”
When flying the plane himself for the first time, Aliceril was accompanied by another experienced test pilot.
Although he admits he was clearly being cautious, the test pilots were “throwing the aircraft around as if it were a race car.”
“I was very nervous, and I didn’t want to put any extra stress on myself,” Aliceril explains. “But (the test pilots) were really pushing the limits, and it was good to experience that. We know (the aircraft) can go this far.
“When we landed,[the test pilot]clapped his hands and said, ‘Congratulations, the plane you built has landed.’ It was a great feeling.”
G-Diya, which has a range of 1,389 kilometers, underwent several more test flights before being granted a flight permit in May 2022.
The following weekend, Aliceril flew to the Isle of Wight with his wife and five-year-old daughters Diya and Tara, taking a short taxi ride from the airfield to the beach.
“The kids were really happy,” he says. “You have that freedom, too. And the fact that I could do it on a Saturday and still be back by 4 p.m. was a great feeling.”
They continued to travel together around the UK, flying to the seaside town of Skegness in eastern England and the village of Turweston in Buckinghamshire, until Aliceril felt comfortable taking them a little further afield.
Last Easter, the family chronicled their trip on their Instagram account. Should I go home or go somewhere else?Aliceril described Bergerac, France as their “most memorable” trip together.
According to Aliceril, G-Diya has flown more than 300 hours in the past two years, flying as far as Norway.
For Aliceril, one of the main benefits of the plane, besides the freedom it affords him and his family, is the friendships he forms with other pilots.
He had always been aware that owning an aircraft could be a financial burden, but he could work around this problem by coming up with an arrangement where three other people shared the aircraft. It’s done.
“Obtaining a private license costs a lot of money,” he adds, adding that many of those who have worked on similar projects have since retired or have lost the “time and financial resources” to fund the process. He pointed out that there are people who have a situation.
“I knew that from the beginning, so I decided to take that risk and try it myself,” he says. “I knew that once it was done, I would be able to easily find someone to share the cost. And it worked out very well (for me).”
“It becomes a communal thing,” he says. “If your family isn’t there, you always have someone to fly with you. Also, having a pilot friend allows you to learn from each other.”
Now that the plane can be split evenly between four people, “it costs about the same as an SUV,” Aliceril adds.
“It’s more fuel efficient in the air, requiring only about 20 liters of unleaded fuel per hour of flight time,” he says. “So the cost of fuel is about the same as driving a car.”
As for production costs, Aliceril says the kit cost around £80,000 (about $91,000), but additional costs such as avionics, the plane’s Rotax engine, propellers and other consumables cost more. The total amount was approximately 80,000 pounds (approximately $91,000). 180,000 pounds (approximately $203,000).
There was no hangar space at the airfield near his home, so Aliceril decided to build a new hangar for his planes at Essex Airfield. The new hanger will be completed in early 2023.
Aliceril said he hopes to see more young people working on projects like this in the future, looking at shared ownership of aircraft as a way to be more cost-effective and form connections in the aviation industry. I mentioned it.
This article was first published in 2022 and updated in 2024.
