So this happened. A great week at Airplane Build Camp. Now the real work begins.

Sexy. This must be the BeechTalk After Dark that was suggested recently.

I know you don't want to fly your first one so call me when you're done and I'll test it for the first 1000 hours.

That looks fast sitting there.

That is really cool. Congratulations!

Are you adding a de-ice system?

Very very very nice!

And, I got your thread header too...
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[youtube]https://youtu.be/BGLGzRXY5Bw[/youtube]

Very cool.

What engine?

That is the dream.

Piston or turbine?

Congratulations!

This one. PT6A-135A. Amazing that they ship in a cardboard box. I'm sure it's very well-built cardboard but still...

Thanks and yes. I got the "joggled" wings, with a little depression in the leading edge (visible as the gray shim in the picture) that a deice system fills and brings the contour up to design rather than sticking out. Boots on a regular wing are reported to cost about 12 kts, on a joggled wing it should be considerably less. I'm planning on using an electric system by Villenger, it looks very promising but so far it's in flight test on one Evo and hasn't seen ice yet so no word on effectiveness. If it doesn't work out I'll backpedal and go with boots. Gotta have deice when based in Seattle.

Personal rocketship ftw.

why not a -42?

as a future evo buyer, the -42 is the only build i'd consider- curious of the mindset of spending more for less with the -135?

congrats on the build, we will all just live vicariously through you like Gerry's thread

Wow. Very cool

For much the same reasons Austin Meyer regrets going with the -42. http://austinmeyer.com/2016/06/14/844x-ups-and-downs/
Gerry and I have different priorities, the missions I want to do require range and payload so I value light and efficient more than going a little faster. I'd rather arrive a few minutes later with a lot more reserve, while avoiding fuel stops.

The cost difference was smaller than I expected since Pratt was having a sale. Add in new w/ warranty vs. used, lighter, and the cheaper overhaul reserve and I was sold.

interesting note on the piston option.
the Evo can have a chute too.........

pro's/con's to them all.........

The piston and chute go well together, the extra weight of the piston up front balancing out the 80 lb. chute in the tail. The chute is harder to balance with the light PT6 up front, and arguably harder to justify with turbine reliability. Few turbine builders have opted for the chute.

The piston does make an attractive package, though. Incredible range, great efficiency offset by slower climb, making the flight levels less usable which was a big factor for me. The decision to use the new Lycoming iE2 engine delayed the program by several years and it's still not fully sorted (you'll see a new cowling for the piston soon, they were working on it in a corner of the shop). It's also a very expensive engine, for a piston, and brand new so no reliability history and no overhauled units available. So far, hard to see the appeal over a TCM TSIO-550 but I expect the iE2 has more future potential. And Garmin won't let them use the GFC700 autopilot with the piston.