Jake's New Hand Controls

[kaweeka]

Inspiring, wonderful story. If Jake ends up in the Sacramento area, my plane is at KLHM . He has a house to enjoy, hot meal to eat and warm bed to sleep. We have plenty of extra room for guests. I don't however, have a car with hand controls but would be happy to chauffeur. We can even go for a flight in my -9A.

[rv6ejguy]

Great job to both of you! Very heartwarming story.

[jfrank71]

Great Story. Made my day better for sure. Please let us know if you make it to Texas. Would love to say hello.

[rascalf16]

WOW! Determination and Dedication! Inspiring for sure! A great team! I've had the pleasure and honor of meeting Jim and Jake as my wife and I travel to Orange Beach in our RV8 fairly often. They are even more impressive in person! Hope we can fly some formation in the future; would love to be your wingman anytime! Fly Safe, Johnny (Rascal) White

[alpa]

Well done! I am also quadriplegic and flying a -7 with hand controls. Enjoy your plane and fly! If I manage I'll post some pics of my cockpit and of HC.

[videobobk]

Impressive! If you are ever in South Central Indiana (OVO, BAK) I would love for you to meet "my kids." I teach aircraft construction at two schools here, and we really love for significant people to stop by. I try to teach out-of-the-box thinking while they build RV-12s, and you obviously live that philosophy.

Also, if you are at Oshkosh, I will have students there from several states, and would love for you to join us for an evening.

Bob

[N941WR]

What a great story and well done mods to allow your son to fly it on his own!

I hope to see him here in the Carolinas!

[Azjulian]

What a great example of innovation and the ability to modify an experimental plane for a specific purpose. Really impressive work

[joedallas]

Ditto
I love the engineering
The hand break is like what we used in drag racing
Great Job

Joe Dallas

Originally Posted by Azjulian

What a great example of innovation and the ability to modify an experimental plane for a specific purpose. Really impressive work

[Canadian_JOY]

For those who haven't been exposed to hand brakes, it's very easy to get into the mindset that hand brakes must be terribly difficult to use. Our "flying" aircraft has a single handbrake lever controlling both wheel brakes. When we purchased it, that hand brake was the top item on my "must be replaced immediately" list. A person much wiser than I suggested I just live with the hand brake setup for a while before investing in making changes. Well, more than a decade later that hand brake is still in place and now I wouldn't think of changing it. It just works - simple, light, easy to use.

One of my questions is whether or not there is a hydraulic parking brake valve used in this installation. That's a huge upgrade for a handbrake-equipped aircraft, freeing the hands for engine run-up tasks.

I'll second Mike S's comment - this is a totally obvious choice for the front page. I would even suggest a new category in the forums for "Deeply Motivating Stories", with this story taking first place.