speyers
Well Known Member
After last year's Oshkosh, my wife and I decided it was time to start working on a homebuilt. We had seen lots of different models and options and decided we would shoot for a single place but if things got away from us a two place would work out just fine as well. My wife comes from a homebuilding family where her brother has already completed 3 projects so she had a good idea what we were getting into.
It did not take long to get started and by Christmas we had already done some preliminary testing and laid out two parallel lines on a test strip which assured us we were positively on our way. Bit by bit we were able to see the project grow during the following months, slow and steady wins the race.
My March it was evident to the rest of the neighborhood what we were up to. You can only keep a homebuilt a secret for so long before people start asking all the normal questions. "When will you get done?" Thursday. "How fast will it go?" Very fast, it has 4 valves per cylinder.
Thanks to some 3 and 4D computer imaging, we were able to nail down the design. A single place, dainty nose dragger was what we settled on. I got to work painting the bits and pieces the right color in the shop, and my wife also pitched in with odds and ends, she called it "nesting". Women are so wierd.
After more visits with our tech counselor we knew we were getting close to the 90% done, 90% to go part. As our homebuilt got bigger and bigger, it became a little more difficult to find any free space for it. They say these things become all consuming, and they are not kidding!
After more than 6700 hours of built time (equivalent to 40 weeks nonstop) finally, the big day arrived. In the end, the final push only lasted 15 minutes. With the help of the local DAR (Delivery and Recovery) we held the fruit of our labor in our hands. As many of you know, words can not express the joy, excitement, and satisfaction of seeing that completed project for the first time.
Pertinent stats are as follows:
Weight: 7 lbs 9 oz.
Length: 20 inches
Date of completion: August 21st
Type: Experimental Aircraft Speyers (or Emily Anne Speyers)
I have assumed the role of doing all the preventive maintenance, oil and filer changes, while my wife is keeping her all topped off with fluids. For those who are still on the fence about homebuilding, I can't recommend it enough, it is exhausting at times, you lay awake in the middle of the night thinking about it, but in the end, it is worth it!
As you do not know the path of the wind, or how the body is formed in a mother's womb, so you cannot understand the work of God, the Maker of all things.
-Ecclesiastes 11:5
It did not take long to get started and by Christmas we had already done some preliminary testing and laid out two parallel lines on a test strip which assured us we were positively on our way. Bit by bit we were able to see the project grow during the following months, slow and steady wins the race.
My March it was evident to the rest of the neighborhood what we were up to. You can only keep a homebuilt a secret for so long before people start asking all the normal questions. "When will you get done?" Thursday. "How fast will it go?" Very fast, it has 4 valves per cylinder.
Thanks to some 3 and 4D computer imaging, we were able to nail down the design. A single place, dainty nose dragger was what we settled on. I got to work painting the bits and pieces the right color in the shop, and my wife also pitched in with odds and ends, she called it "nesting". Women are so wierd.
After more visits with our tech counselor we knew we were getting close to the 90% done, 90% to go part. As our homebuilt got bigger and bigger, it became a little more difficult to find any free space for it. They say these things become all consuming, and they are not kidding!
After more than 6700 hours of built time (equivalent to 40 weeks nonstop) finally, the big day arrived. In the end, the final push only lasted 15 minutes. With the help of the local DAR (Delivery and Recovery) we held the fruit of our labor in our hands. As many of you know, words can not express the joy, excitement, and satisfaction of seeing that completed project for the first time.
Pertinent stats are as follows:
Weight: 7 lbs 9 oz.
Length: 20 inches
Date of completion: August 21st
Type: Experimental Aircraft Speyers (or Emily Anne Speyers)
I have assumed the role of doing all the preventive maintenance, oil and filer changes, while my wife is keeping her all topped off with fluids. For those who are still on the fence about homebuilding, I can't recommend it enough, it is exhausting at times, you lay awake in the middle of the night thinking about it, but in the end, it is worth it!
As you do not know the path of the wind, or how the body is formed in a mother's womb, so you cannot understand the work of God, the Maker of all things.
-Ecclesiastes 11:5
