experimental airworthiness category<\/a> where special airworthiness certificates can be issued to kit built aircraft. <\/span><\/div>\nAmateur-built airplanes in the UK are investigated by the CAA, who will issue a “Permit to Fly” once satisfied that the aircraft is fit to fly.<\/span><\/p>\nAlthough the start of the build was delayed slightly due to the Covid-19 restrictions in place in the UK at the time — the Light Aircraft Authority inspector assigned to the project was required to visit his working space beforehand — Aliseril was able to begin in April 2020.<\/span><\/p>\nWhile he notes that his engineering background helped in some ways, he believes that it was actually his home improvement experience that proved most useful while constructing the aircraft, which has a length of 7.175 meters and a height of 2.45 meters.<\/span><\/p>\n“These aircraft kits are designed for any amateur to build, provided you’re a bit hands-on and you’ve got experience working with some specialist tools,” he adds, describing the detailed “Ikea furniture type instructions” with drawings that came with the kit.<\/span><\/p>\n“I would say generally, anyone can get involved in these sorts of builds.”<\/span><\/p>\n<\/p>\nLockdown project<\/h3>\n
<\/span><\/p>\n
\n
<\/div>\n
He built a shed in his garden to complete the build.<\/p>\n
Courtesy Ashok Thamarakshan<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
Aliseril completed the work himself, drafting in Abhilasha to assist with some of the sections that required more than one pair of hands. Their eldest daughter Diya, now seven, was on hand for tasks such as removing the plastic from each of the components.<\/span><\/p>\nBy the end of summer 2020, Aliseril had built the tail and the wings. He began constructing the fuselage section in October, when the next part of the kit arrived.<\/span><\/p>\nAlthough he’d initially planned to hire a workshop to construct the aircraft, Aliseril feels that creating a workspace at his home was the better choice.<\/span><\/p>\n“I could just step into the shed and work on it,” he says. “So having everything just in the back garden really helped, even though space was tight.”<\/span><\/p>\nEach stage of the project had to be signed off by an inspector before he could move onto the next task — the Light Aircraft Authority completed around 12 inspections in total.<\/span><\/p>\nOnce the majority of the components were constructed, and it was time to put the aircraft together, Aliseril moved everything from his home to a hangar near Cambridge for the final assembly and engine fit. The aircraft passed its final inspection a few months later. <\/span><\/p>\nIt was one of the first Sling TSi homebuilt aircraft constructed in the UK. G-Diya, named after his eldest daughter, was signed off for its first flight in January 2022.<\/span><\/p>\nAliseril recalls waiting on the ground anxiously as a test pilot took the plane he’d spent 18 months building up into the air. <\/span><\/p>\n<\/p>\nTaking flight<\/h3>\n
<\/span><\/p>\n
\n
<\/div>\n
The aircrraft, which has a range of 1,389 kilometers, was issued with a permit to fly back in May.<\/p>\n
Courtesy Ashok Thamarakshan<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
“He took it up for about 20 minutes, and then he came back,” he says. “It was a big relief. I couldn’t lift my head up to see what was happening [during the test flight].”<\/span><\/p>\nThat first flight was hugely significant in many ways.<\/span><\/p>\n“With these build projects, everyone calls it a project until it’s first flown,” he explains. “Once it’s flown, it’s always called an aircraft. You never call it a project anymore. That’s psychologically a big step.”<\/span><\/p>\nWhen it was time to fly the aircraft for the first time himself, Aliseril was accompanied by another experienced test pilot.<\/span><\/p>\nWhile he admits to being decidedly cautious, the test pilot was “throwing the aircraft about as if it was a racing car.” <\/span><\/p>\n“I was feeling very nervous, I didn’t want to put any extra stress on it,” Aliseril explains. “But he [the test pilot] was really pushing it to the limits. And it was good to experience that. I know that it [the aircraft] can handle this much.<\/span><\/p>\n“Once I landed, he [the test pilot] clapped his hands and said ‘Congratulations, you’ve just landed the plane you built.’ That was a great feeling.”<\/span><\/p>\nG-Diya, which has a range of 1,389 kilometers, went through a number of further test flights before it was issued with a permit to fly in May 2022.<\/span><\/p>\nThe following weekend, Aliseril flew with his wife and daughters Diya and Tara, four, to the Isle of Wight, where they took a short taxi ride from the airfield to the beach. <\/span><\/p>\n“The kids were really happy,” he says. “So that sort of freedom. And the fact that we could just do that on a Saturday and still be back by 4 p.m. That was a great feeling.”<\/span><\/p>\nOver the past few months, Aliseril and his family have flown back to the Isle of Wight, and have also made trips to Skegness, a seaside town in eastern England and the village of Turweston in Buckinghamshire. They’ve been documenting their trips on Instagram<\/a>.<\/span><\/div>\nIn June 2022, he took a one-week trip around northern Europe with a pilot friend, and flew to the Czech Republic, Austria and Germany. <\/span><\/p>\nWhile Aliseril stresses that he’s still a relatively new pilot — he currently has around 125 hours of flying hours under his belt — his confidence is growing with every flight and he’s working towards flying to Europe with his family.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/p>\nFamily trips<\/h3>\n
<\/span><\/p>\n
“That’s the plan going forward,” he says. “We can take trips within the UK on a weekend, when the weather is good. And in the summer holidays, we can book out a week and then fly into Europe.”<\/span><\/p>\nFor Aliseril, one of the main benefits of the plane, aside from the freedom it provides him and his family, is the friendships he’s formed with other pilots. <\/span><\/p>\nHe was always mindful that owning an aircraft could become a financial burden, but has been able to get round this by working out an arrangement to share it with three others.<\/span><\/p>\n“To get your private license, it costs quite a bit,” he adds, before noting that many of those who’ve taken on similar projects are either retired, or are people “who have the time and financial status” to fund the process. <\/span><\/p>\n“I kind of knew that from the beginning, and thought I’d take that risk and try to do it myself,” he says. “I knew that once it was done, I would easily be able to find people to share that cost. And it’s worked out quite well [for me].” <\/span><\/p>\nNow that the aircraft is split equally between four people, “it’s only costing us around the price of an SUV,” adds Aliseril. <\/span><\/p>\n“It’s more fuel efficient in the air — it only takes about 20 liters of unleaded fuel per hour of flight,” he says. “So the fuel costs are pretty much equal to driving.”<\/span><\/p>\nThere’s currently no hangar space at the airfields close to his home, so Aliseril is building a new hangar for the plane, which is still based near Cambridge, at an Essex airfield.<\/span><\/p>\nAs for the cost of the build, the kit was priced at around \u00a380,000 (about $91,000,) according to Aliseril, while added costs including avionics, as well as the plane’s Rotax engine, propeller and other supplies, brought the total up to around \u00a3180,000 (around $203,000).<\/span><\/p>\nHe hopes that more young people will take on projects like this in the future, and points to shared aircraft ownership as a way to make things more cost efficient, as well as form connections in the aviation world.<\/span><\/p>\n“It becomes a communal thing,” he says. “You always have somebody to fly with if your family is not available. Also, having other pilots who are friends — you learn from each other.”<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n