The order from Quad City Ultralights:

I ordered the kit from QCU through a dealer.

Challenger 2 long wing

electric start (so I can explore soaring)

strut fairings (ditto)

no instrument panel

no brakes

6" wheels (which I've got for sale since I decided to get the Hegar wheels, brakes and fiberglass gear legs from Mike Harrison)

White Mylar wing fabric (which has visible rip-stop lines along the length of the wing - after seeing the sample fabric I thought about it for a week before deciding to get the Mylar sailcloth anyway to save weight (10-20lb.) and ease construction)

Rotax 503dcdi engine.

Standard nose since I weigh 270 and want to keep the nose light but I'm waffling on this decision.

no brakes (got hydraulic from Mike Harrison)

Options ordered:

Hegar spun aluminum wheels, hydraulic brakes and fiberglass gear legs from Mike Harrison

The Stratomaster Extreme instrument system from Aerial Adventures

I bought a used, (needing repacking (which I didn't know at the time - duh)) BRS-5 900lb vertical launch parachute.  Even with the repacking cost, I'm about even in value/$ versus buying new.

I already have an intercom and headsets from my Coupe. Need a new radio, though.

Oil injection

A local pilot who has a different kind of ultralight (pres of local ultralight club) recommended I get oil injection. He had a sudden engine stoppage when he added oil on a cool (cold?) day and it didn't mix. He still had runway left and coasted in to the FBO.

Researching this on the Challenger mail list brought comments from Rotax mechanics saying they had each seen oil mixing engine stoppages but none had seen an engine stoppage due to the failure of oil injection.

It turns out that Rotax agrees and the oil injection is included in the price of the Rotax 503. QCU doesn't include the oil injection because it doesn't fit, as is, on the Challenger. However, there's an adaptor kit from third party suppliers.

I e-mailed Dave at Quad City Ultralights and he said I could have the engine with oil injection for no extra cost so I changed my order to include the oil injection from QCU. I've still got to get the adapter kit.

Received the after-market oil injection kit to fit the oil injection on the electric starter.

I'm researching strobes. I'm also watching the recommended radio thread on the Challenger list.

I've received the tail kit which includes the instruction book for the whole plane. I haven't put anything together, yet, since I'm still working on collecting tools and making my garage into a work area.

In a few weeks I'll start getting more kit parts and construction will have to get going.

So far, I'm satisfied with QCU and the Challenger building process. It's amazing how many hours I've soaked up reading e-mails and websites to shop and plan. Buying a ready-to-fly plane sure looks good from this perspective, though. :-)