That's Jeff. No, not the guy in the plane, the whole picture is Jeff. These are the wings he built himself and he has now spread his new wings and flown.
Ya want to know how it feels to fly? Check out the smile after the first landing.
Well done, old friend. Well done indeed.
Thank you for the complements, but I really don't think what I do is all that special. I just have a wife that lets me do it because she knows it makes me happy. I guess the special part is the knowledge I have accumulated after 35 years of flying, building and fixing planes.
ReplyDeleteOf course I only do this because I love it. I get a tremendous sense of accomplishment from building a plane. Completing the construction, then getting in the first flight on each plane has a euphoric feeling similar to the birth of each of my children, except the gestation period is usually measured in years and I had to do the labor while my wife patiently waited. :o)
And how did we celebrate? I dusted off the old grill and rolled it out of the corner of the hangar to grill up some brats and sausages for the hangar rats. The fridge is full and the coffee is on again...
One of the things that makes you special is that you don''t think you are. Here are some figures.,
ReplyDeletePopulation of USA 308,745,538 - number of active pilots in USA 594,285 See? You're already one in 520. Nobody, not even the FAA, has a clue how many A&P mechanics there are in the country (I find that amazing but it's true) so let's use what we know best - the numbers in Los Alamos. What are there, 4 or 5 A&P's in a pilot population of 117? To be safe, let's say 1 in 12 pilots holds an A&P license. Now, you're one in 6234. And, of those A&P's in Los Alamos, how many have built several airplanes and can cook up a decent brat?
Uh - only one I can think of. Man, wish I could have been there for one of those brats!