SANDPOINT, IdahoWhen the bright red Turbine Lancair IV-P airplane thats being built here finally gets aloft later this summer, it also could give flight to a startup venture owned by father-and-son aviation buffs Don and Buck Simmons.


The Simmonses have spent a good deal of the past two years building their airplane from a kit, and in doing so have designed and fabricated a number of custom fittings and components that they plan to market to other kit builders under the name Simmons Ventures LLC, Buck Simmons says.


The business is based in the Bonner Business Center, a small-business incubator owned by the city of Sandpoint thats located at 804 W. Airport Way.


When the aircraft is done, the father and son, who have two employees working with them, hope to get news coverage of itand of their componentsin aviation-enthusiast magazines. Then, the theory goes, anyone who buys one of these airplanes would probably call Simmons Ventures for the fittings and other components the Simmonses have designed for it, Buck Simmons says. The company also will market its products over the Internet and through referrals from the manufacturer of the airplane kit, Lancair Inc., of Redmond, Ore., he says.


The idea isnt far-fetched: Another Lancair customer, Joseph Bartels, formed a company called AeroCool LLC to sell to others the air-conditioning system he developed for his plane, according to the Lancair Web site. In addition, Bartels recently purchased the kit-plane division of Lancair from its founder.


Among the components the Simmonses have designed and fabricated from polished aluminum are an air-conditioning and an anti-icing system, and most of the harnesses and all of the mounting brackets needed on the plane, Buck Simmons says.


The Lancair kit doesnt come with any of those fittings or components, forcing kit builders to look elsewhere for those pieces or, like the Simmonses, to fabricate their own.


We make things from scratch to hold just about everything on the airplane, he says.


The market for Simmons Ventures products will be rather smallLancair recently sold 13 kits in a month for its Turbine IV-P plane, for examplebut Simmons says some of the products theyve developed also could be used in other kit-built aircraft. Their products couldnt be used in commercial planes because theyre not certified by the Federal Aviation Administration for that use, he says.


So far, the duo has invested more than $600,000 in their venture, which includes the price of the kit, the value of their time, and the cost of developing and manufacturing their parts, Simmons says. Don Simmons is a retired building contractor, while his son, Buck, is a health-care consultant.


Buck Simmons says the plane should be done later this summer, at which time Simmons Ventures will switch gears to begin manufacturing the parts and components in its location at the Bonner Business Center. No prices have been determined for the various components, but the air-conditioning system could be priced at more than $10,000, he says.


Simmons says he hopes the high-performance plane will be ready for the big Experimental Aircraft Association AirVenture show, in Oshkosh, Wis., at the end of the month, but confesses some doubts that will happen.


We could have been done in eight months but its been over two years, because he and his father enjoy the work so much, he says.


I just came from a family that loved to fly recreationally, he says, adding that his father owns and operates a 1948 Grumman Mallard, and he has a six-seat Maule float plane. In a way, the Simmons look at their current project as a vehicle to pay for another airplane.


He hastens to add, however, that their Lancair craft isnt just another airplane. Its a souped-up version of an already high-performance aircraft that is to small planes as a Porsche is to the family car, he says. Lancair planes have been well-represented among the winners of an annual race that takes place during the Oshkosh air show.


When its ready, the Simmonses 750-horsepower turboprop should be capable of speeds of 400 miles per hour, and should climb to 6,000 feet in a minute, Simmons says.


The planes cockpit is pressurized, and its computerized instrument panel rivals anything you can get in the military, Simmons claims. The plane is controlled via four computer screens made by Boise-based Chelton Flight Systems Inc., which generate a real-time view of the outside world, including three-dimensional terrain, towers, obstructions, and other air traffic, according to the manufacturer. When visibility is obscured due to clouds, precipitation, or darkness, this synthetic vision provides the pilot with situational awareness, Chelton says on its Web site.


The computer panels take all the guesswork out of flying, making the four-seat aircraft easier and safer to fly than planes that dont have the same level of technology, Simmons asserts. An added benefit, he says, is that, Anywhere you go, its an airplane that will turn heads.


Simmons says he cant wait to start showing off the new aircraft.


Its just the most amazing airplane, he says.