Fellow Pilots? Anyone else who "flys the coop"?

[Mac in Wisco]

I've been wanting to build a Pietenpol Aircamper. I bought the plans years ago and have a Corvair engine that I built up for it crated in the garage, just need some time and space to do it.

 

[Texas ChickenZ]

Whoooooa! Very nice Mac. That will be beautiful and fun. Get busy building it and show pics as you go.

 

[Mac in Wisco]

The plans for this plane were first published in Mechanics lllustrated in 1929. Bernard Pietenpol built the first one with a Model A engine and later used the Corvair engine in a few models. One of my great-grandfathers was from the Spring Valley, MN area where Mr. Pietenpol was building these planes in his backyard. I always wondered if my g-grandfather had seen the original planes buzzing around there in those years.

 

[ArizonaDesertChicks]

My husband is also a corporate pilot and flys a citation X and a legacy with a company based out of Phx. He's not the one into chickens, but has built us a nice coop for them.

 

[seismic wonder2]

I think most of us, at one time or another, want to build a plane. I have plans for a LMA-1 (J3 cub replica just a little smaller) lying in wait in my garage. I've read the manual about 10,000 times even went so far as to make a full sized mock up of the fuselodge out of duglass fir (non aircraft grade spruce) just to get the hang of the construction techniques and see how I'll fit. Even with regular lumber and epoxy it held almost 500lb before stressing. I was very impressed.
The old time methods of construction with wood and canvass still have a place in my world.

 

[Texas ChickenZ]

Quote:
Well at least he built the coop. I'm trying to get my wife more "into" the chickens, but she hates the idea of getting attached to them and then having to cull them (we have a lot of roosters). Ask him if it's true what they say about the Citation X- It's the fastest business jet between service centers!

 

[Texas ChickenZ]

Quote:
I must say I wouldn't want to fly anything I built myself. I'll leave that to the experts. I admire those who do though.

 

[Mac in Wisco]

Quote:
I must say I wouldn't want to fly anything I built myself. I'll leave that to the experts. I admire those who do though.

I get that reply from a lot of the pilots around here, although there are a few who are building from kits in their garages. I know one who is living in the corner of his hangar at the airport while he is building a Harmon Rocket, but some don't even care to fly general aviation at all. The ones that I find strange are the ones who had very little exposure to aviation before they became military pilots. Somehow they fell in love with the idea of being a military pilot, a Tom Cruise, Top Gun kind of guy, but aren't really aviation enthusiasts otherwise.

 

[Texas ChickenZ]

"The ones that I find strange are the ones who had very little exposure to aviation before they became military pilots. Somehow they fell in love with the idea of being a military pilot, a Tom Cruise, Top Gun kind of guy, but aren't really aviation enthusiasts otherwise."

Those guys aren't any fun to fly with after they get out of the military either. The opposite end of the spectrum are the guys who are 'aviation enthusiasts', but don't have any business being pilots- not professionals anyway. I've flown with some of those types too. Nice guys, just not cut out to be corporate pilots. Shame too, because it's doing something they love. Post some pics if you ever get started on the Pietenpol.

 

[cindydj]

My hubby isn't a pilot but is a controller......