Everyone has their list of airplanes they “must fly” or dream of flying someday. Some of these are out of sight for most mere mortals. Airplanes on that list might include the ‘stang, the 787 Dreamliner, and pretty much anything in the previous or current US military inventory. But I’m a realist. I don’t envision…
When the group (Blogging in Formation) settled on this topic for June I wasn’t sure what to write, but after some some introspection the choice was clear – the first flight in my RV-8 topped the charts as most memorable. Get a cup of coffee this is a long story! One of the things that…
Earlier this week I had the opportunity to fly with my buddy Tom, who built his own RV-4. Tom is a former Air Force instructor, now turned corporate pilot. He built his RV-4 13 years ago and been loving it ever since. He can’t bring himself to park it long enough to paint it, but…
Some of the folks that frequent this site will know that my RV-8 has been down for maintenance. Luckily that has been remedied (more on that in a future article) and I am once again back flying my favorite airplane. Conveniently I needed to test fly both the airplane and my new GoPro. The images…
If you frequent this website, you might have noticed that the cadence that I post articles has slowed over the last month or so. That is because I’m working on a couple of side projects. The first one I would like to tell you about is called FIXEDWINGBUDDHA.COM Unusual name right? The theme of the…
Pilots are not unique when it comes to the state of euphoria that accompanies getting something new. Recently, fellow builder and close friend, Greg Schroeder, had the experience of having a brand new Lycoming IO-375 show up on his doorstep. Greg is building a Sportsman 2+2 so this engine was a welcome sight indeed. He…
Setting Aviation Goals: The SMART Approach Having goals is something we should always endeavor to do. Not just for flying, but since we are talking aviation that will be the context for this article. Certainly these ideas can be applied to anything else in life. When President Kennedy announced in 1961 that we would put…
Bob’s Wings Saturday a contingent of friends and fellow builders descended upon Bob’s T-hangar to assist in the permanent installation of the wings on his beautiful RV-10. Although there were twice as many people as needed it was fun to see everyone together on a sunny, but cool day in early February. It only took…
I want to build another airplane It seems like around this time each year I get the craving to build another airplane. It must have something to do with the long winters up here in Ohio. This affliction even affected me during the last winter of building my RV. In spite of the fact I…
Building my RV-8: the video This is just a small sample of the thousands of photos taken during the construction of my RV-8 aircraft. I plan to write a series of posts regarding the milestones and notable encounters during the build. Check back for those. For now here’s the video set to music by Tommy…