2 meter plans
Dollars....that's a good question. It really depends on the equipment and the finish. The wood and parts are a few hundred bucks. After that it just depends on what you put into it. It can come out anywhere between $900-$4000 by the time you are finished. Do you want decent coreless servos, or top of the line digitals? A $250 engine or a $1000 EFI? Rocket city linkages or MK ball bearing all the way? A $5.00 home made mount or a $200 ARI Hyde mount? A $20 aluminum wing tube or a $50 carbon one? A $60 MVVS pipe or a $230 ES carbon pipe?
Generally speaking, you get what you pay for. The good stuff costs big bucks. The more you spend, the better the plane in the end. I know people who will debate that, but here's the facts.
Let's look at the pipe. With a 1.40 sized 2 stroke, an aluminum pipe is anywhere from $60-120. It weighs about 6-7 ounces. An Es carbon pipe is about $230, but it is about 2.5 ounces. That's almost 1/4 of a pound difference.
The wing tube. An aluminum tube with sockets is about 7 ounces. A carbon tube is about 3.5.
The linkages....the MK stuff is about the best there is. it lasts forever, and it's smooth as glass and never develops any slop. It's very secure. It's also over $100 to outfit an entire plane with bb ends and c/f rods.
Now that being said, there are plenty of areas you can cut back if you want to. You just make a judgement call on what you're willing to spend vs what you want. That leaves a lot of room for the price tag to move up and down.
A&P- Structures and composites. Heavy jet stuff. Mostly C and D checks, with heavy sheet metal work. Lots of standard A&P line stuff too, but mostly ripping a 35 million dollar plane to shreds and rebuilding it =) Mostly 727,737,757,767, DC8,9,10. One stray A-300, and it sucked. Only the French would glue the crown skin on.
-Mike