My hangar mate, Bill, and I have been in a friendly competition to see who would finish first. Crazy enough, we both got our airworthiness certificates on Saturday, March 8th. I asked our DAR, Keith Serkes, if he ever remembered such an occurrence and he couldn't...this has to be pretty rare I'm thinking...and pretty cool. Here is a shot of Bill doing his paperwork, as he went first and passed easily.
After my song and dance, here is a shot of me...with that hot little pink slip in hand! In the eyes of the federal government, I now have an actual "airplane", rather than aluminum parts. I cant even tell you the relief and excitement of holding that piece of paper, it was quite surreal and still is. It was the culmination of almost 5 yrs (1 month shy) and 2779.0 man-hours of very hard work. There were times when I thought this day would never come, but it was, oh so sweet, to accomplish this. This is a feather in my cap, that will be hard to ever top in my lifetime.
My DAR, Keith Serkes, for the ceremonial picture as he offered his congratulations.
One with my Dad, who slaved away with me for the previous 9 days to get her to this point. Without his help, I wouldn't have been ready by Mar. 8th...that was instrumental in me getting my airworthiness and owe him a debt of gratitude.
After the inspection, we reassembled the plane for the most part and we did a taxi test together. My way of saying thanks. Unfortunately we didn't get a first flight in while he was here. I decided not to rush into that and wait until next weekend. More on that topic later.
Lastly, one with Sheryl, who surprised me with her presence just as we were finishing up. Fellow builder, Sean Thomas, brought down some champagne and we all toasted Bill and I's new airplanes.
As for my inspection, really it was uneventful. Very minor squawks...only one FWF, a fuel line could use another support to
prevent rubbing/chafing. Beyond that it was non-flight critical stuff...My data plate didn't match EXACTLY to my registration, I left my middle
initial off (need to get that fixed).
Really, that was pretty much it. I had several people go over it before he
came though and caught a few things. I will go over it one more time myself
before first flight as PIC to see if anything slipped through. But all in all,
I’m feeling pretty confident she’s ready to go.
All in all, I actually liked the guy. We heard plenty of horror stories
beforehand, but I thought Gary Zilik’s assessement was right on, “he is
thorough, but fair”. He did a good job looking over the plane and I got the
feeling he wasn't there to fail us, per se, but to help us have a safe airplane. Quite
honestly, most of his input was advisory. I would recommend him to other builders in the area. He charged us a
flat rate $500.
One last shot (taken by Sean & Diana) of Bill and I...that's not something you see everyday! I may have to get this one enlarged and framed for the office. Next up, first flight!!
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