Bill Northwall and his hope for a Viper Jet
First, a little about me; I'm 65, from Omaha, and soled in 1960 in an Aeronca Champ. I've flown Cessna 150s, and 172s and a Tripacer, then owned a Piper Cherokee, a Piper Turbo Arrow, and then an A36 Bonanza which I flew for 25 years. I'm a private pilot with an Instrument Rating.
My longer trips include Chicago, Dallas, San Diego, Bend, Oregon, and Sarasota, Florida. I had a very difficult instrument approach into Montgomery, Alabama for fuel.
I've been to Oshkosh about a dozen time, starting with flying into Wittman field and pitching a tent. I've taken the EAA course on fiberglass construction.
But I've always wanted a jet, so when the Viper prototype on return from Oshkosh made and emergency landing in North Platte, a hundred miles from where I lived, I drove over and spent about 2 hours pouring over it. I was hooked. I visited the factory of two brothers in a hangar, at Pasco, Washington, and then went to the carbon fiber builder in Scappoose, Oregon. The carbon fiber plant was doing multiple projects, and it was very labor intensive. The Viper had about 600 molds, jigs, and other apparatus.
I put a down deposit of $15,000 in February, 2004. I was kit number 18, but none had been completed, and the prototype kept getting rebuilt, and hadn't flown yet in its final configuration. The airframe was to cost $276,000 which included a quick build version and pressurization. The engine was a 70s era GE 610 (or J85 military version), refurbished. It went in the first Lear jets; 17,000 were built, with 2 thousand pounds thrust, and a reliable track record. The engine cost $100,000. I estimated that I could finish the plane for $5-600,000. I was told that the kit came in 2 boxes, and the landing gear, canopy, and tail empennage bolted on with hand tools, and wing attached with 4 bolts; and that I could do it myself in my Omaha hangar.
Then I traveled to Bend, Oregon to meet a factory authorized builder assist person already doing 2 Vipers. The complexity was mind boggling; none of the carbon parts fit precisely and needed much additional carbon fiber cloth and epoxy, then much sanding. The wing weighed 900 pounds, and the builder made a big wheel to hold it so he could move it into any position to finish it. I gave him $10,000 to hold a position to build the 3rd Viper for me. Then he charged me $8,660 for ¼ share of wheel he invented. Then he designed a device to hold the fuselage, and again charged me 4,260 for ¼ of that. Then there was a $3,000 charge to take his trailer to Scappoose, about 250 miles away, to pick up the parts. There were other miscellaneous charges to start the build process. I ended up paying him a total of about $47,000.
Then I got a letter from the factory that due to a flame-out on take-off, they had redesigned the fuel controller, and these parts could be order through them for $19,000. At that point I contacted both AOPA and EAA to seek insurance, and found that with no jet time, and not enough PIC hours, I couldn't get insurance. I also worried about the 51% rule and what the FAA might do in the future to restrict the experimental category when the majority of the work was done by a professional. After talking with the 2 Viper builders whose planes were at Bend, it became apparent that the cost was going to run well past a million. At that point, I called it quits, and with the help of an attorney, got the factory to resell my kit as a used kit (Boeing and Airbus bought out the carbon fiber supplier and the new stuff and to be retested), making my kit less than a brand new kit.
It was fun spending a week with the test pilot in Pasco (a Navy trained test pilot on the F18) and watch him go through a very meticulous set of tests before first flight. As follow-up, the two guys having planes in Bend are now totally discouraged at the cost and the time-delays due to complexity and some parts still being designed, and the builder told me I did the most sensible thing by bailing out early.
I spent a total of $423,000 and got out for $250,000.
So here are some questions for the next would-be builder to ponder:
- How many planes have been finished, certified, and flying?
- Does the manufacturer have good control of his suppliers without extended delays?
- Can you be certified to fly it when finished?
- Are you insurable?
- How is the safety record (3 kits I previously looked at killed 3 test pilots)?
- Ask for a list of buyers and interview them (Viper wouldn't give me a list)?
- Ask how complete the list is, and what is missing, and what the missing parts will cost?
Details on the Viper can be seen at www.viper-aircraft.com.
