Saturday 9/21/13, N942 Papa Tiger flew for the first time. Slow build took 9.5 years but there was another RV9A (N942WG) that was built during this same time frame by Todd and I. Special thanks to Todd Wiechman, aluminum guru and top mechanic that checked every rivet twice and made me do many tasks over and allowed me to use his large garage and tools when I moved two times due to work and Kraige McElroy, who created the wiring diagram for the instruments that I purchased without his knowledge and watched with careful eyes on each pin that I crimped. Yes, we even painted the plane ourselves which took 613 man hours of prep, paint and clean up.
My father helped work on the wings when he visited in 2004 and he got pretty quick with clecoes and deburring. He felt better when he was doing something like this but he unfortunately passed away before we could finish the project. He wasn't too keen about flying in such a small plane by his standards and I am not sure I could have gotten this WWII navy vet in the plane for a ride. I did pin his Klamath County Oregon Sheriff's Deputy badge to the co-pilot seat for my first flight momento.
First light took place at Mid-Continent Airport, Wichita, KS. Here is Todd before first flight. Todd was chief ground crew for first flight. His daughter Selena took video.
Wichita tower allowed me to complete an orbit in the pattern, at pattern altitude to confirm everything was in the green. I then released to the west practice area for a total of 1.1 hour flight.
Pat Garboden
RV9A Flying!
N942PT
Katy, TX
Dues paid.
My father helped work on the wings when he visited in 2004 and he got pretty quick with clecoes and deburring. He felt better when he was doing something like this but he unfortunately passed away before we could finish the project. He wasn't too keen about flying in such a small plane by his standards and I am not sure I could have gotten this WWII navy vet in the plane for a ride. I did pin his Klamath County Oregon Sheriff's Deputy badge to the co-pilot seat for my first flight momento.
First light took place at Mid-Continent Airport, Wichita, KS. Here is Todd before first flight. Todd was chief ground crew for first flight. His daughter Selena took video.
Wichita tower allowed me to complete an orbit in the pattern, at pattern altitude to confirm everything was in the green. I then released to the west practice area for a total of 1.1 hour flight.
Pat Garboden
RV9A Flying!
N942PT
Katy, TX
Dues paid.