I made it to Oskosh for the first time and what an amazing week! I was lucky enough to make it around the show and talk to different vendors and meet some amazing people. A lot of the things that really caught my attention were both the move to remove lead from avgas and electric flight. I will cover it more in the firewall forward section but I learned this week about DeltaHawk Diesel Engines. They make a 160hp motor that might work in my project and I will be discussing more options about it as time goes on.

Build Area



So this is the garage that I will have to build in. My goal is to organize and clean the left side so we can still park on car on the right side. I will be painting the sheetrock and putting extra lights in to turn it into a workable area.

Workshop

My friend and mechanic mentor Fred lets me come out to his shop and use his tools and has let me help on the RV-9 that he is building right now. Fred helped prepare me for my A&P oral and practical. His shop is awesome and he has years of experience around both small and large aircraft.

Finally Started

Now that I finished my A&P I can get started on the practice project. Without the proper tools all I could get done today was to take all the plastic off the pieces, label them, and trim the aileron stiffners.

Flying in the Mean Time

Tuesday this week I got checked out to rent this Cessna 172 for the next few months. It is crazy that the same O-320 in an RV-4 will go so much faster.

First Package from Vans

Yesterday I went up to Oklahoma City for the refresher course for my A&P, I will return in a few weeks for the Oral and Practical. After seeing what it is going to be like I feel more comfortable. They sent me home with a study packet and all the hands on items were fairly simple.
The box of items arrived today that I ordered from Vans. The preveiw plans, practice project and info pack were all in one box but as I searched the info pack the DVD was missing. I called Vans and they told me that they would send it right out to me. I will most likely put the project together this weekend or sometime next weekend.

Great looking build

Todds Canopies website has this picture listed as a Harmon Rocket but the cowling is from an RV-4. I really like the tinted canopy and the extra fairing for the vertical stabilizer. I think this is one of the best fastbacks that I have come across and would love to find the owner and ask them a few questions.