I love flying the Piper Cherokee, and I have flown the 140, the 151 Warrior, and the 180. I am wondering two things.
1. What are the rules on converting a certified aircraft into an experimental, if it can be done at all?
2. If that can't be done, are there any experimental aircraft base on the Cherokee design?
The reason I ask is that I would like to fly a Cherokee but with a glass cockpit and without having to spend more money on the glass cockpit than the aircraft is worth. ($20,000 of glass avionics in a $30k aircraft doesn't make sense, financially.) I'd also like to do the majority of work on my own aircraft, not only to save money but mainly because I just like the idea of working on my own stuff. I work on my own car, so why shouldn't I be able to work on my own aircraft? There's also the fact that I'm hoping at some point Lycoming will release a engine with fuel injection technology and I'd like to be able to swap engines when that does happen.
Thoughts?
Thanks for your help!
1. What are the rules on converting a certified aircraft into an experimental, if it can be done at all?
2. If that can't be done, are there any experimental aircraft base on the Cherokee design?
The reason I ask is that I would like to fly a Cherokee but with a glass cockpit and without having to spend more money on the glass cockpit than the aircraft is worth. ($20,000 of glass avionics in a $30k aircraft doesn't make sense, financially.) I'd also like to do the majority of work on my own aircraft, not only to save money but mainly because I just like the idea of working on my own stuff. I work on my own car, so why shouldn't I be able to work on my own aircraft? There's also the fact that I'm hoping at some point Lycoming will release a engine with fuel injection technology and I'd like to be able to swap engines when that does happen.
Thoughts?
Thanks for your help!