Greetings,
Just an introduction, some remarks, and a couple of questions. I have been planning to build a Cozy MkIV for about 1 year now but am holding off for a little while. Here are my reasons for holding off and how I plan to proceed. If any of you builders care to comment on my plan I'd really appreciate it.
1. I really want to build my own airplane but would like to give my son the opportunity to participate in the project too. He's three right now so maybe he's a little young to start doing lay-ups (and, I know, he may not be interested in this sort of thing later). Ideally, I'd like to complete the project before he finishes high school, so I've got some time to play with here...
2. I'm not an engineer, builder, electrician, machinist, or an A&P. I'm a professor of Old Testament. I'm handy around the house and have a basic mechanical aptitude, but I'm no Cozy Girrrl.
3. I'm a relatively low-time pilot (180 hours) and figure that I need to keep flying in the mean time.
4. I've got an upcoming Iraq deployment in the Fall.
Given these three realities, here's my plan. 1) Keep flying, 2) Join forums like these and read regularly 3) Join EAA participate in the local chapter and take a few sport air workshops 4) find a local builder and see if he or she would let me sweep the shop and maybe learn some skills on the side. 5) in a couple of years...start building.
I figure my learning curve is going to be pretty steep given my background but I want to stack the deck for success as much as possible. Any thoughts?
Best Regards,
Nathan Solomon
Alexandria, VA