So, what does one of these homebuilts look like?

Here's the current state of the art in Light Sport Avaition, Kit Plane construction, the Vans Aircraft RV-12 in flight. This plane, built primarily of riveted aluminum, carries two average people at 130+mph for five hundred miles burning 5 gallons of auto gas an hour. You can even take the wings off and trailer it home, and it weighs less than 800 lbs. All the parts needed to build and finish the plane, including the engine and instruments will cost a minimum of US$62K (2011 kit price, but builders are reporting actual total cost of about $75K, and construction time is estimated at 800 or so hours. Vans has sold about 500 of these kits, and many are already flying. For more information on Vans Aircraft and the RV-12
I have been reading about these planes for several years, and this week I ordered a set of plans and manuals to study. The plane is available as a series of kits; Empennage (the tail), the Fuselage (body), Wings, Finishing, Avionics and Instruments, so you can pay as you go and the factory will ship the kits to you as needed. In order to get the plane approved for flight you have to build the plane exactly as specified by Vans Aircraft.

Another order of business is where to build, and preparing a workshop, which includes getting the tools needed to work with aluminum aircraft construction. A two car garage is probably enough space, and the tools are available as a set for about $1,200. It would also be helpful to have a bandsaw and drill press for some operations. A nearby builders group would be nice too.