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Which mission to satisfy first?

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Blueberry

Member
Joined
Sep 13, 2020
Messages
20
Location
NC
Hi guys, I am glad to have finally begun this process and I must say that Covid-19 was the final straw that pushed me over the cliff to start this insane journey. I became a pilot several years ago as a gift to myself for my 50th birthday. I've been renting occasionally and kept fairly active but not enough to get really proficient. I am a consultant for a living and travel almost every week on commercial. My original thought was that I could get my license, buy a nice Cessna or Piper and fly myself. So I got my license and started looking. That's when reality hit me with a 4x4. That "nice little Cessna" that would meet my needs doesn't exist and those certified planes that do meet my needs are far from practical cost wise compared to flying commercial. Yes, I know, time is money and all that but according to my accountant (wife) my time ain't worth that much money!! I considered building but at the time I was home around 48 hours a week and know that would never get it done. So I have kept racking up those frequent flyer miles year after year. But my role has changed a bit, I still travel every week, but have much more flexibility on when and where. I also have more time at home that I could use to build. I love craft work and have taught myself to be a 1/2 arse machinist (bought a Smithy 1340), some blacksmithing, and metal forging (yes, i have a small blast furnace). I have always enjoyed wood working and have made several pieces of furniture over the years. So then along comes Covid-19 and the changes it has wrought to our world and in particular my job. Virtual consulting is much more accepted now and surprisingly, at least to me, fairly effective. Still have to see the client face to face occasionally, but much can be done virtually. Then there are the airlines - 1/2 as many flights, no services, terrible flight attendants, etc. (No offense meant to the airline pilots out there, but on my side of the cockpit door, things have gotten horrible).

So anyways, this all got me to seriously thinking about building again. My first problem to solve is which mission do I want to solve for? I have 2 basic missions that I want to fly - Cross country for my job and back country bush hopping for my other passion - wilderness backpacking and fly fishing. As best I can tell, these 2 missions are, from a practical standpoint, mutually exclusive. Fast cross country planes that are economical to fly do not tend to do well landing on a gravel bar in the middle of mountains. So i have to make that decision. Without a doubt, I am going to do both, just which one do I do first? If anyone has a candidate aircraft that meets both needs please let me know. From a practical standpoint, its a no brainer, I live in the South East with little access to back country flyable terrain. So I would be limited to some low and slow flying around the country side on the weekends except for a couple of times a year when I can take a couple of weeks to fly out west and get back country. Not that there is anything wrong with that, its just that it doesn't light my fire.

Right now I am 75% sure that I am going to go with cross country fast. I've ruled out full kit build in favor of partial scratch build, just for the fun of it. Next question is wood, rag or AL? Right now I am pretty evenly split between wood and AL. Considering the Thorp T18 or the Mustang II on the AL side, and either GP-4 or Falco on the wood side. Does anyone know where Falco plans can be had (other than from the Russians)? I know you can get the Kit but haven't seen plans offered legally.

In any case, its nice meeting y'all and look forward to sharing my story as it unfolds.
Blue
 
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