Man spends nearly four years building aerobatic plane from scratch

By Josh Brady via SWNS

An aerial photographer spent three and a half years building his own aerobatic plane - from scratch.

Roy Ben Anat, 34, has always wanted his own aerobatic aircraft, but with prices as high as $480,000, he found the easiest way to obtain his own flying machine was to build it himself.

He began building his plane in a workshop in 2019 and after three and a half years of hard work, he set off on his first successful test flight on 11th August 2022.

In total, he spent about $110,000 - a huge saving.

Roy, from Alfe Menashe, Israel, said: "The first test flight was extremely busy, first to make the airplane fly straight.

"It rolled to the left right after take-off, then learn the controls, monitor the engine data and also be aware of traffic and manage the communication

"I couldn’t find the time to be excited before take-off.

"I was pretty nervous but when I pushed the throttle, I could only think about flying and landing safely."

Roy wanted to confidently test his plane once it was built and obtained his license in June 2018.

He spent the next five years flying various fixed-wing such as a Cessna, Pitts S2A, Extra EA-300, and a Rihn DR-107.

Roy found his love for aviation after seeing his father, Aluf, an ultralight aircraft pilot, flying powered hang gliders, also known as trikes.

When the dad-of-three was first considering building his own plane, he knew he would need help, so he approached his father.

"I couldn’t do it without him, there are many things you need two people for.

"He is an amateur carpenter and his experience helped a lot when we worked on the wing (made from wood)."

Roy did everything with Aluf except the build plan, build strategy, and fitting composite parts.

"There was one thing I didn't want to do, and it was cutting with the disk, I hate it! So he did all the work with the disk.

"We found the problems would become more and more difficult to solve the closer we came to finishing the aircraft

"The engine bay was the most challenging part to work with, lots of small components, but it was important to stay motivated."

When the COVID-19 pandemic hit, production was drawn to a halt, with a lack of funding and difficulty sourcing parts.

"Lack of work would lead to lack of funding and production slowed, luckily I had many supportive family members that believed in my project and wanted to help out."

In August 2022, Roy traveled to White Waltham Airfield, UK, for an intensive nine-day training course with Ultimate Aerobatics, an aviation training institute.

"It was very intensive, three flights a day, take-off and landing training, spins and recovery, and aerobatics."

Roy has already planned on going back to Ultimate Aerobatics to complete the advanced aerobatics training course.

"The service I got in Ultimate Aerobatics was great and the instructors were super professional, thanks to them I did the first flights safely."

Roy built his aerobatic aircraft to bring the airshow culture to Israel.

"We have airshows but they are mostly military, not civilian aircraft.

"I’m trying to show that owning/building an aerobatic airplane is achievable and you don’t have to be a wealthy man or an engineer to do that.

"Everything including help and knowledge is online you just need to follow your dream."

Now, he will continue to fly his aircraft, taking two flights a week so that both himself and the aircraft will be ready to perform daring stunts and stun onlookers.