If you’re wondering what kind of couple takes on such a project, we hope you will be happy to know that we are regular people! Undoubtedly the idea and primary motivation for our build come from my wonderful husband KC! He has a fantastic sense of adventure and that is one of the things that I love most about him. And me, well, I’m a huge fan of my hubby so it brings me a lot of joy to see him pursue and achieve his dreams. I have the blessing of coming alongside him and I am learning a lot in the process. So many amazing things can be achieved when you put your mind to it, and with homebuilt airplanes there is such a big community of people ready and willing to give advice or lend a hand.
After KC got his pilot certificate we started looking at options for owning our own plane. It didn’t take long to see how many benefits come with building. We started with a weekend EAA SportAir RV Construction workshop in Waco, TX. This was our first exposure to some of the hands on skills needed to build an airplane. Not long after the workshop we flew to Oshkosh, WI to attend Airventure in August of 2012. It was so exciting to see how many people from all different backgrounds have done it – built their own plane and now spend their spare time flying around the country and around the world! Initially we wanted a four seat plane as we look to the future and see our family growing, but after realistically evaluating our finances the roomy two seat RV 14 came out as the best fit for us right now.
After a few months of planning we placed the order for our wing kit. It arrived just before Christmas 2012. I have to admit that one of my fears about taking on such a massive project was that we would have no life apart from the airplane. So far, that has not been the case. In fact, KC’s father Dave made the first of many trips down for an extended build weekend. Father/Son time is priceless and it is one of the many blessings we have experienced since starting the build.
We’ve been working on the build for 7 months now and are expecting our first son next month. I’m sure that baby time will cut into building time but I can’t wait for the time that gets to “help” with the build and some day take a ride.