Big changes!

So things have been moving along. I got a bit stalled when the plane got upside-down. The landing gear went okay, but I was having a hard time getting started on putting the wings on and finishing the bottom. I just couldn’t figure out how to get a wing on and without a crew of people to help. But I was getting there. I built a jig to hold the plane at the correct position and was getting ready to attach a wing.

And that’s when my lovely wife told me she was being relocated back to the Atlanta area. Now I was okay with that. The only reason we were up here was her job and it will be nice not having to plow the driveway a couple times per year and get sweet tea, BBQ and grits.

 But then it occurred to me that I had a purpose-built workshop and that we may not find a house in Atlanta that had a workshop to hold the plane. So we made a scouting trip down and I discovered two things:

1. The chances to finding a home with a suitable workshop were almost non-existent.
2. The population of metro Atlanta has exploded in the 11 years we’ve been gone. It’s just plain DENSE with people.

And add to that, Ann got an offer that would allow here to work from home most days and she could live anywhere.

So the bottom line is; We’re moving… Again.

Which means that I went into warp drive trying to figure out what to do with the Velocity.

I could rent commercial space or get a hangar to build in. Either of those options would cost something per month but my biggest issue is that I would no longer be able to walk into my shop and spend 30 minutes on something. I would have to drive somewhere which would be at least a 30 minute round trip commute. I would also have to move all of my tools there so when I needed to do something around the house, I’d have to drive 30 minutes to get a wrench! Plus, no internet access (you’d be surprised how much time I spent in my shop looking something up on the internet while building).

So renting space looked like a no-go.

Which brings me to Hangar 18. Malcolm Collier (who I’ve mentioned before) is a professional builder who has built numerous Velocities (He’s been my “go to” guy when I have a question). That’s his business. People buy the kit, ship it to Hanger 18 and spend time there working with Malcolm building their Velocity.

But the economy has been hitting everyone. Malcolm finished his last project almost a year ago and his new builds kept getting pushed back by their builders while they wait out the economy. So he made the decision to shut down Hangar 18 and go to work with a startup company developing a new airplane. Which kept getting pushed back. So I asked if he was interested in “one last build”. And he agreed.

I’m really excited about this for a couple of reasons.

1. I’m going to have one of (actually THE) best in the business looking at everything that I’ve done. If there’s anything that isn’t right, it’ll be made right.
2.  No more scratching my head for 2 hours trying to interpret the manual or figuring out how to do something. Now it’s “Hey Malcolm. How does this go together?”
3.  Labor. There will always be at least 2 people around so when something needs to be moved, lifted, etc…
4.  Labor (again). Nothing is as tedious as filling, sanding, filling, sanding, filling, sanding. With Me, Malcolm and his worker, it’ll go much faster.

Of course, the downside is I’ll have to spend a couple weeks a month in Greenville, SC. And I’m now going to have to pay for Malcolm’s time and his worker.

But then again, I’ll probably be in the air sooner.

So I’ve spent the last month getting ready for the move. Disassembling some things, packing, organizing, etc.

On July 22nd, Dan Fast (same guy who brought it up 2 1/2 years ago arrived to take it down to SC.

On the trailer and ready to go.

I got a call from Malcolm on the 23rd that the plane arrived and had been offloaded.

Now I’m looking for a room in Greenville where I’ll spend a couple weeks per month. For now there’s a bunch of filling and sanding and I’ve got to do “real” work for a good part of August so I probably won’t get down there until September.