10 or 11 years ago
When I lived in California my neighbor brought a friend to see the airplane I was building in my garage. The fellows name was Ken Knowles. I did not know him but before his retirement he and his wife had been in business some time previously selling Thorp T-18s, kits or materials. Ken was around 80 at the time. Unbeknownst to me Ken ordered an RV-6A kit and I received a check in the mail from Vans. I do not remember the exact amount.
Ken and I ended up doing our final assembly in the same large hangar at Chino. He powered his with an Egg Subaru engine and flew his before me. He is quite a remarkable man. His wife had a stroke during this time and could not walk or talk but he would bring her to the airport and lovingly care for her as he finished the airplane. His wife died and he sold the RV-6A to a nice guy up by Edwards AFB - I rode with him on the delivery flight. The last time I talked to him he lived in Prescott, AZ and he was building a Sonex airplane that he planned to fly as an LSA.
Bob Axsom