Best two-seat homebuilts under $60k

The sixty-thousand question. Kit AIRFRAME prices are the headline number; the number that matters is COMPLETE-and-flying — engine, prop, avionics, paint, and the hours you don't pay yourself for.

Sonex (≈$25.6k complete floor per the factory's own costing sheet) remains the reference point: an aluminum airframe, in-house VW-based AeroVee or Jabiru power, and aerobatic capability at a price nothing certified approaches. Expect real-world builds at $45–60k with modest avionics.

Quicksilver MX II Sprint and the single-seat Part-103 set (Kolb FireFly, Aerolite 103) sit far below the line: $12–40k complete, at the cost of speed and weather-window. When 'under $60k' means 'flying this summer,' these are the honest picks.

RV-12iS flips the assumption that 'Van's' means six figures — the kit total includes the Rotax and the Dynon panel; still typically $150k+, so it doesn't make this list. The RV-7 kit at $48,300 can creep under $90k only because everything grows after the airframe — build cost honesty matters more than kit-cost marketing.