Matt's RV-7 Project

Well… I am just now getting over whatever it was I was sick with for the last week-plus. I missed four days of work last week and I didn't touch the airplane at all until today. And all I did today was string a few more wires, so that's not very interesting.

We also found out this week that Mary did in fact land the postdoc residency she wanted – it's close enough that she'll be able to commute from home, which means we won't have to worry about moving for another year or so. Still, I need to hurry and get this thing finished before the clock runs out!

Does two years in a row count as a tradition or just an encore? Anyway, this is what happens when you have two geeks who're married to each other and Valentine's Day falls on a weekend… more Chocohans! (follow the link if this makes no sense to you)

We still have the molds from last year, so all we had to do was melt up a whole bunch of chocolate chips:

We have two molds, and we can do a full casting cycle about every 40 minutes. In between is TV and video games.

Half are plain, and half are crispy:

He should be quite delicious… if he survived the freezing process, that is.

Another beauty shot of Mary modeling Chocohan. I'm telling you, this version of Valentine's Day is way more awesome than what they show in jewelry commercials.

During the course of the day we made two dozen Chocohans. Also, our fridge has a lot of booze in it. Who's to say whether or not these two facts are related?

We now return to our irregularly scheduled airplane blogging.

Went on a week-long trip to Florida, so I didn't get any airplane building done. However, I still managed to expose myself to all kinds of interesting aviation stimuli. Click here for photos.

Click image for photo gallery

On the way home from the grocery store this evening, I got a call telling me that a friend from work was killed in a plane crash earlier today. Jerry was one of the nicest and most energetic guys you'd ever hope to meet, and one of the best stick and rudder pilots I've ever known. I talked to him on the phone just this morning, and he was his same old self – eager as ever to get back into the air. It's far too early to know what happened, but the weather all across the midwest was pretty crummy today.

In 2005 Jerry and I flew his Super Decathlon to Idaho and back, a trip of 3000 miles in a single week. We went into a lot of the back-country strips and high-altitude airports, and he taught me a lot about taildraggers and mountain flying. The memories from that trip are ones I'll never forget.

Then the next year we went to Florida together to earn our seaplane ratings, which was another unforgettable experience. He got a real kick out of flying a J-3 Cub off the water. I remember we went to this really terrible fish restaurant one night to prepare for the oral exam and checkride, and spent as much time laughing as studying.

Mary and I had planned to spend last weekend at his place in the Ozarks, but I begged off at the last minute because I was tired from getting over a cold. Now I wish I'd gone anyway, but I'm glad I at least had the chance to talk to him a couple times this week.

Jerry was a teetotaler, but you can bet I'm having a drink for him tonight. He was one of my heroes and I'll miss him.

Sorry for the interruption. I promise the next post will not be such a bummer.

I bought a pair of custom carved teakwood grips for my control sticks. These are made by a guy in Washington state who, as far as I know, does nothing but turn out these amazing pieces of airplane sculpture. He might also practice zen meditation and catch flies with chopsticks – I really can't be sure. No website, but if you know how to contact him, he can make you a custom set of grips to your specifications. Super nice guy too.

Then I gave them to a friend from work, who very generously ran them through his laser and engraved labels for the switches right onto the wood. It turned out looking great:

The passenger's stick has a push-to-talk (PTT) button and a four-way trim switch. The pilot's stick has switches for PTT, trim, autopilot disconnect, and engine start. Yes, I am putting a start switch on the stick… with a fuel-injected taildragger, you normally need three hands to start the engine: one to turn the key, one to monkey with the throttle and mixture, and one to hold the stick back to keep the airplane from going over on its nose. Since I'm not a Hindu deity I can't manage this very easily, so I will put the starter control right on the pilot's stick grip. There will still be a key switch in series with the button for safety, so you won't be able to accidentally engage the stater if you bump the stick with your soda.