B

bunkie

I'm New Here
Hi Everyone,

Scott's newbie thread seemed like a good reason to introduce myself. I've been a lurker for about a year now and have really enjoyed the site. Yesterday I decided to pony up and contribute for the year, so I did and created my profile.

It has been the dream of a lifetime to learn to fly, one that I completed in late October of this year at the youthful age of 58. I blogged my experiences on the eaaforums.org website here: http://eaaforums.org/showthread.php?3831-90-Done-50-to-go

It has been the dream of decades to build my own airplane, one that has been frustrated by the limitations of living in a Manhattan studio apartment (although my wife and I do have a weekend house, albeit without a suitable building space).

Any way, I'm happy to be a part of this noble enterprise even if I probably won't have much to contribute.
 
Welcome

Welcome Bunkie.
Fellow PM.
I too dreamed. I finally got my license at 49 and started the dream of building a couple years ago. I can tell you it's worth it. Building has it's moments but no one but another builder knows the same pride and satisfaction. Build on.
 
Building

Building is just solving one problem after another. Sounds like your first problem to solve is where to build. A challenge no doubt, but like all the problems, not insurmountable.
 
Thanks, everyone, for the warm welcome.

Here's a little more about me:

I work in financial services doing IT work of various sorts. I'm currently employed by a large private equity firm.

I'm an amateur musician and a woodworker. I have no fear of large projects with long timelines. I rebuilt the kitchen in our weekend house, making all the cabinets from scratch. I'm also a former electronics tech and amateur speaker designer.

My dad worked for a European airline and I practically grew up at Kennedy Airport, eventually working there in the summers while in college. My first time in the left seat was when I was 9 high over the Atlantic in a DC-8. Let me tell you, a DC-8 isn't very light on the controls! One of my greatest complaints about our post-911 world is that Captains can no longer invite children into the cockpit, that's a damned shame. One of my earliest memories is standing on the ramp near Hangar 2 at Idlewild and feeling the prop wash of a DC-7 doing a post-maintenance check. I joke that I have Jet-A in my blood.

A couple of years back, I got to appear on Jeopardy (another life-long dream where I came *this close* to beating the champion) and, inspired by the experience, I decided that I had waited and dreamed for long enough, I wanted to fly!

The future is taking an interesting turn as my company has offered me a position in our Dublin, Ireland office which has certainly complicated my flying. I may well have to wait until I retire in about 6 years before I can pursue building an airplane. We'll see.
 
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