It's been a while, so here is an update on the progress of Plan B. The airplane is in the factory in Sebastian and the repairs are completed.(Thank you Scott Swing) She has a brand new primer grey nose to complement the sickly green primer on the rest of the plane.
It was very costly to disassemble and transport the plane to Florida. I was able to convince the insurance company that it would be cheaper to pay to have the hours flown off by the factory and have me fly the plane home than it would be to truck it back. (all true)
The plan therefore culminates with factory pilot John Abraham doing the first flight and the entire fly off period at Sebastian, then me flying the plane home and getting it right into the paint shop for final paint in time to complete it for Oshkosh.
I am heading down to Sebastian later this week for transition training and have been getting ready by studying avionics manuals and flying a rental Arrow RG. It has the same pattern air speeds and a low wing, so it was as close as I could get in a rental. I hope that this week's flight was my last aircraft rental.
In the meantime, I'm cleaning the hangar and finishing out a few details.
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Here is the new data plate. I like the fact that it has the Velocity logo. One more little detail that only I will probably ever notice. I'll put it on this Thursday before the inspection.
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One last item to install- the ELT. I put a deposit on the ACK E04 406 ELT last year with Aircraft Spruce. It imports your position from your GPS and sends position data for a faster rescue time. It is also less than half the price of any other unit to do so. I was so sold that I bought and installed the remote switch for it in my overhead panel. Unfortunately, COSPAS is really dragging its heels in approving the unit. I decided to put a cheap 121.5 unit in until the fancy new one becomes available.
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Here is the log book all ready to go.I have all the paperwork all packed up.
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Here is the sticker I can finally add to my aircraft log on Thursday. I fly down to Sebastian Thursday/Friday for the airworthiness inspection, transition training and first flight. The DAR has already approved the paperwork. Since the plane has been checked out by a second time builder (me) and more importantly by the factory, I'm reasonably certain it will be found to be airworthy.
The first flight will therefore be next Friday. Velocity pilot John Abraham will do the first flight. I then have to come home and wait for several weeks for the hours to be flown off.
A business trip the next week takes me to Cincinnati overnight. Friends and fellow Velocity builders Brett and Elizabeth Ferrell have offered to put me up (put up with me) overnight. Another friend and builder, Andy Millin, and his wife will also be visiting that night by happy coincidence. Add to that the chance to visit Bob Buls and Jerry Brainerd in the area and we have quite a Velocity get together pre- Oshkosh. I'm really looking forward to it and will post some photos of their projects and the festivities.
After that, I head down to pick the plane up and fly it home. John is going to act as my babysitter- I mean safety pilot- on the way home. Then the plane goes into the paint shop at Lancaster Aero Refinishers for its final paint. Ken Baker designed the scheme for me and it is terrific. I'll post pictures when it comes out of the shop, but want to keep it under wraps till then.
Odds are good that I'll make it to Oshkosh. I can't wait to finally meet old friends and make new friends under the wing of my plane at the show. It's been 10 years since I flew my first Velocity to OSH. I will be there Tuesday through Saturday in the showplane parking area. I hope folks who have been following the construction will stop by.
More to come next weekend!
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