Completions

Builders share their successes.

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Marin Streeters BushCaddy

I started my project on December 28, 2006, and N620MP received its ELSA airworthiness certificate on August 24, 2009, after 735 hours build time in 2.5 years. First flight was on September 10. The engine is a Jabiru 3300 turning a ground-adjustable Whirlwind prop. There’s a Grand Rapids Technologies Sport for glass panel and EIS, Microair radio and transponder, Alpha RLI, and the paint is Stewart Systems two-part waterborne system. The BushCaddy is an all metal airplane. I received my Sport Pilot certificate in 2006, and it is the new rule that got me started flying.

I have 11.5 hours on the BushCaddy, and it has turned out to be a great flying machine. Thanks to my wife for her support and to all the friends I have met through this project and their help, including John Morrisey, Ron Shannon and Jim Scott. I even talked with a great man, Stan Shannon from Texas, who was building a BushCaddy ELSA. Every day you meet great people as you take on this kind of project, and that is something you do not expect. See the whole build log at www.mykitlog.com/marin.

Silvana, Washington
[email protected]

Kurt Klewins Vans RV-6A

N85KC was started in 1999 and completed in 2004. It is powered by an Aerosport Power O-360 and Sensenich prop. Built a bit prior to all of the latest glass, the panel is old school with a Centry 2000 attitude indicator, HSI and autopilot. I also have an RMI encoder and micromonitor, Garmin GNS 430, and WX 950 StormScope. We have taken the plane on several trips to Montana, North Dakota and the Bahamas. The paint was done by Calvin Gillis of Tuttle, Oklahoma. Thank you, Van, for a great design, and thanks to my wife, Carol, for putting up with the garage plane all those years.

Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
[email protected]

Bob Carsons Sonex

Sonex N754TA took 2.5 years to complete, and it first flew in September 2009. This is my first build and the construction went smoothly due to the design and great kit offered by Sonex. Special thanks to my wife, Lourdes, for her patience and support during this great adventure.

N754TA is propelled along nicely by a 120-hp Jabiru 3300 engine. The instrumentation includes a Stratomaster Enigma EFIS for flight information and engine monitoring, XCOM radio, Becker transponder, AOA indicator and Trio Avionics two-axis autopilot. It also has LED landing and position lighting.

I started this project during my Sport Pilot flight training and finished it just after getting my tailwheel endorsement. I flew the test flight with a total of about 50 hours of flight training, which included only about 2 minutes of Sonex stick time. The test flight was also the first time I had a chance to solo a tailwheel aircraft. The first flight was exhilarating, but all went well and I think that first landing has been my best so far as I was really focused.

Highland Village, Texas
[email protected]

BUILDERS SHARE THEIR SUCCESSES

Submissions to Completions should include a typed, double-spaced description (a few paragraphs only-250 words maximum) of the project and the finished aircraft. Also include a good color photograph (prints or 35mm slides are acceptable) of the aircraft that we may keep. Please include a daytime phone number where we can contact you if necessary. Also indicate whether we may publish your address in case other builders would like to contact you. Send submissions to: Completions, c/o KITPLANES Magazine, 203 Argonne Ave., Suite B105, Long Beach, CA 90803. Digital submissions are also acceptable. Send text and photos to [email protected] with a subject line of Completions. Photos must be high-resolution-300 dpi at a 3 x 5 print size is the minimum requirement.

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Mary Bernard
Mary Bernard - The product of two parents with Lockheed Aerospace careers, Mary grew up with aviation, prompting her to pursue pilot training as an adult. Her father, a talented tool-and-die maker and planner, instilled in her an abiding interest in how things are built. For more than a decade, she has been a contributing writer and Managing Editor for KITPLANES®.

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