A while back, traveling on another business matter, I ended up at the home of ViperJet. The ViperJet is one of those things that when you see it you just have to see more . When my business was done, I went back and spent several hours with a very cordial man named Dan Hanchette and his equally cordial brother Scott. Two men totally immersed in the love and excitement of what they were doing.

I was impressed by the simplicity of the systems and manufacturing concept which I found there. What was important that day besides my intrusion was making sure the crating and the shipping was done on a gorgeous yoke assembly to one of the first 10 eager builders who had already purchased their ViperJet Kit.

Most of the components of this aircraft are built just like the big jets are built. The kit parts are produced buy an excellent team of subcontractors and engineers who are highly specialized in aerospace and their area of expertise. This approach has resulted in a high quality well designed product with superb performance numbers.

As we talked and toured the facility and ogled the aircraft it became clear that this was my kind of operation, a no frills operation that was totally committed to excellence in design and quality kit manufacture.

I was invited to slip my 6'1" frame into the front seat and for the first time experienced the comfortable thrill of sitting in an affordable jet fighter. This is the stuff dreams are made of. Its 100% business with excellent visibility from the bubble canopy. It begs you to take off at stunning climb rates and do some aerial maneuvers. I put the helmet on and told my "REO" to check our six. Alas, my time was limited that day, the adventure in this flying prototype will have to be yet another time. Very soon I hope.

We were told the next 10 kit positions are now available for production slots. Since my visit to Viper they have moved to their larger facility and have announced the new kits will soon all be available with full pressurization system which will grately improve the utility and creature comfort of the aircraft. All of this for less than the price of a good used twin and some fun time building it.