Victory Lap


Victory Lap

There are a couple of aviation terms that begin with "V", but I've already mentioned V.F.R. (Visual Flight Rules) as opposed to I.F.R (Instrument Flight Rules--see letter "I"--Instrument Flight Rules). The other aviation term beginning with V is VOR, which has to do with old radio technology that has become obsolete. There used to be a VOR tower in our area, but it's been gone for years.

Instead, I decided to share a picture that Mike calls his "Victory Lap." It took him six years to build the RV7 in his spare time. He flew its maiden flight, wherein he soloed the plane he had put his heart and soul into building, on December 21 of 2007.

Getting good flying weather around here in the winter is always iffy, but he was able to fly it again on Christmas day. Then, the weather got bad and stayed bad until March 6, at which time he flew his baby again --home!

As you can see, the grass is still brown and gungy. He landed it on our landing strip outside our back door, then came around the side lawn and parked it in the front yard.

Who else can say they built and flew their own airplane, and parked it in their own front yard? The plane looks much more beautiful now that he has painted it. And yes, like everything else done on the airplane, he painted it himself.




The picture above was taken on July 4, 2013, when we were flying to Saskatchewan. We had just crossed the Rocky Mountains and landed in Great Falls, Montana. Guys in red shirts rushed out to show us where to land, and then to fill our tanks with gas while we went into the F.B.O. (See letter "F", Fixed Base Operation).

If you're noticing the shoddy looking "N" number {N708X}, that was put there using duct tape, as a Quick Fix (see letter "Q", Quick Fix). In the U.S. "N" numbers are only 3" tall. In Canada, they must be 10" tall ... So Mike got out the duct tape and went to work.




Comments

  1. David P. KingApril 25, 2014 at 8:21 AM

    That is incredible. I'm not sure I would trust myself in a plane I built. :)

    ReplyDelete
  2. Silvia VillalobosApril 25, 2014 at 11:02 AM

    Very interesting. I am amazed by a person's ability to build something that soars to the sky. Beautiful colors.
    Silvia @
    SilviaWrites

    ReplyDelete
  3. Sharon HimslApril 26, 2014 at 12:57 AM

    That paint job sure made a difference!
    Shells–Tales–Sails

    ReplyDelete

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