Builder Assist Program Policy

The Builder Assist Program is primarily an educational experience for those who do not have the aircraft building experience nor the time in their busy lives to complete an airframe by learning the hard way. The program is available only as a package for builders willing to commit the time (three sessions of two weeks apiece) and the financial resources ($19,500) to complete the program. We invest much employee time and resources to set up for your building session. You must pay for one third of the program ($6,500) one week before the beginning of each session.

The builder is responsible for knowing the rules concerning amateur-built aircraft. There are some simple restrictions on who can help you build your aircraft, but the advantages, such as being able to work on your own airplane under a Repairman's Certificate and the liberty to use the latest avionics and building techniques, far outweigh the restrictions. Please refer to the following links to FAA material for details and explanation of the rules:

We take the rules seriously.

Building sessions cannot be run in parallel. We must have at least a two-week period between your sessions to make sure we have completed the preparation needed to make your next session a success.

We achieve our 60-hour Builder Assist work weeks by staggering the working hours and days of our employees. One will be there at 7 AM while the other will close up at 5 PM. There will be one Builder Assist employee available to assist you at all times. While you are busy on a task, the employees may be preparing for your next task, performing some finish work on your aircraft that is not part of the Builder Assist Program (billed at our hourly rate) or preparing for your next session. Our goal is to keep you, the builder, busy and productive at all times. When you are finished with the program, you will know you earned your Repairman's Certificate.

Finish services for the more critical tasks are available separately from the Builder Assist Program. Examples of tasks usually left to our factory staff are:

  • Installation of window glass and trim

  • Completion and closing of vertical stabilizer

  • Landing gear installation

  • Installation of fuselage extensions

  • Fiberglass body work to smooth joints

  • Primer painting of exterior surfaces

Flight training is not included in the kit price. Training is offered in our demonstrator aircraft at the factory for $95 per hour wet not including CFI. Our CFI's will arrange directly with you for instruction with the current rate being $35 per hour. You will find this rate to be competitive to flight schools offering a high performance aircraft.

We want to give you the most value for your aircraft investment. That means we must stick to doing what we do best, and that's build aircraft. Like the old saw, the bank doesn't build airplanes; and we don't give loans.  There are some things you should look for elsewhere. Our Links page is a good place to start. If you need help hooking up with a local Tumwater business, we would be glad to help.

Also, remember our people who you will be working with are employees who put in a very long work day, week after week, and have a family life of their own to go home to.

  • No, you can't stay at the home of an Express employee. There is very reasonable lodging at Guesthouse Inn close by.

  • No, you can't borrow our cars or trucks. They are our personal vehicles, and we depend on them to get to work. Rental cars are available from two FBO's right down the street.

    Gower Flying Service   360-754-4042

    Pearson Air, Inc.   800-562-6374

  • No, you can't park your RV next to our building. Express facilities are on airport property or industrial parks. We have been asked by our landlords not to allow this. The Olympia Campground is very close by.

  • No, you can't have a key to our facility. Again, our landlords have not allowed this. Besides our liability insurance does not cover EAC unless an EAC employee is present.

  • No, we are not available for Builder Assist on Sunday. You might see one of us in the facility on Sunday, but it's to make repairs or improvements that will require a shutting down of the BA facility.

  • Don't ask employees to do favors or run errands for you after hours. They are already putting in more hours than you see doing things like picking up parts or supplies for the next day or coordinating project deliveries with each other.

  • We don't provide shuttle service to Seatac. There are already several companies in that business such as Capitol Aeroporter.