Airplanes

[GolfNut]

I was going through my Photobucket albums tonight and ran across a couple pictures of airplanes we've built.

We spent from 2000-2008 working with a gentleman restoring old Supercubs, various other tube & fabric planes and building new Challenger ultralights like the one pictured here. This one was fully decked out with amphibious floats & water cooled Rotax engine. The other is one of the cubs we restored.

Suzanne was the fabric & paint specialist and did incredible work. She earned quite a reputation for finicky and precise work.

If I can find more pics, I'll add them. We did quite a few planes as well as ran a flight school.
I enjoyed the heck out of flying. Haven't been up in a couple years though. We had a little Cherokee that we flew to see family when the kids were small enough to fit in the back seats. Fun times.

[GolfNut]

Here's another cub we did.

[WyoBob]

I can't pass up an airplane thread. I owned 7 airplanes over a 25 year period. I built one of the first Glasair's (a real pain in the rear) and a RV6. I helped build around 10 other RV's (with various stages of involvement) and was an EAA Technical Counselor . I also spent a year building a Glastar with it's owner in my shop before moving to Wyoming.

In the 90's I helped rebuild two Piper L18-C's (90 hp Super Cub, no electrical) that were in Italy for 30 years and then bought one of them when we were done. I used it to check cattle, mineral and windmills on my ranch turning a 12 hour drive in the truck into an hour of great fun in the Cub.

The top picture is my RV6, the next a RV6A I helped build in Gillette and the last is a RV6A I helped with in Spearfish.

I sold my RV6 in 1999 and haven't flown since and can no longer obtain a medical or justify the expense of airplane ownership.

WyoBob

[Superbad]

Wow! I would love an RV6. I loved to fly and was working on my private pilots license. Then my instructor got an airline job, and I shelved it for a while. The flight school has since closed. I am also a paraglider pilot, I really love that.

[billybarue]

I love the look of the RVs, especially RV8.

Sorry about not flying Bob. Impressive work on those RVs. Only way I can think of justifying present day ownership is fractionalize. Which, of course, carries with it a whole slew of other issues.

I know very little about GA flying, but have been tempted to get into it lately. Especially seeing floats on an ultra light!!

Couple things are really peeking my interest. Have you seen the specs on the "carbon Cub". 17' takeoff roll - no kidding. I think it has 2100 FPM to 8-10K. for the non-licensed it is the new light sport class so you can get into aviation without the hassle.

The other interesting thing I saw is with a 5 yr tail-to-spinner warranty on purchase of a new Cirrus (which I think includes inspections). We are talking automotive-like warranty on a plane. Haven't seen this before.

I don't know how you guys scrape the time and have the patience for an airplane build. I have been sitting on a 65 mustang convertible and can't finish that thing up. A plane - I could never get that done. Nor would I trust myself in doing it.

Cheers and happy holidays,

BB

[benedic08]

Very Nice GolfNut! Maybe i should visit you sometime and get some flying lessons with you. LOL! I only have 1 hour flight experience back in the Philippines with an instructor in a Cessna 172. But i do have maybe around 1000+ hours in flight simulator.


This is my current setup. Some of the payware planes actually comes really close to the feel of the real thing.

[GolfNut]

That is AWESOME!

[WyoBob]

Originally Posted by billybarue

Couple things are really peeking my interest. Have you seen the specs on the "carbon Cub". 17' takeoff roll - no kidding. I think it has 2100 FPM to 8-10K. for the non-licensed it is the new light sport class so you can get into aviation without the hassle. I haven't kept up with anything aviation related.

I don't know how you guys scrape the time and have the patience for an airplane build. I have been sitting on a 65 mustang convertible and can't finish that thing up. A plane - I could never get that done. Nor would I trust myself in doing it. I built my airplanes mostly in the winter. In the spring, summer and early fall, I ran a yearling grazing operation which kept me busy. Of the 7 airplanes I owned, the one I had the most confidence in was the RV6. All I did on the plane in 475 hours of flying was change the oil and filter and put new tires on it. Never had any mechanical problems, not even cracked baffling. I just sold my 1972 Grand Prix that we bought new ($4,560). I was always going to restore it but decided building new airplanes was a better idea than restoring a car that got 10 mpg.BB

WyoBob

[CRIMPS]

Very impressive. I have a passion for aviation as much as someone can that doesn't own a plane.

Someday, I plan on having something similar to a Cessna 185 on floats. I always joke with my wife that "I am in the market for a plane".

I just need to move first... oh, and be able to afford a new toy.

Someday...