Experimenter

January 2014

Experimenter is a magazine created by EAA for people who build airplanes. We will report on amateur-built aircraft as well as ultralights and other light aircraft.

Issue link: http://experimenter.epubxp.com/i/247918

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HOMEBUILDER'S CORNER Jerry Paveglio and Charlie Becker working on the EAA staff build Zenith CH-750. Goals, Not Resolutions Starting the new year off right BY CHARLIE BECKER EVERY JANUARY THERE IS always a big push toward New Year's resolutions. Unfortunately, New Year's resolutions are mostly forgotten by the end of January. Goals, on the other hand, are real targets to accomplish. So I'm going to encourage you to set some goals around your homebuilding. Here are some suggestions. GOAL: START YOUR PROJECT Sometimes we hit a technical issue that saps our confidence and makes us back of the project. If you're stuck, call your local technical counselor to come over and help you develop a plan for overcoming that hurdle. All the problems that come up in a build can be overcome with some help. Technical counselors love visiting projects and take great joy in helping other builders overcome roadblocks. They want to see you succeed as much as you do. If you have been dreaming of building an aircraft, now would be the time to turn that dream into a reality. Make 2014 the year you start your project. Starting can be anything from working through the selection process, to taking an EAA SportAir Workshop, to learning the necessary skills, to taking delivery of a kit. You have 12 months to accomplish this goal. Define it however you want, but make a concrete step toward accomplishing your dream of building an aircraft. I can tell you that building is a fun, frustrating, challenging, and incredibly rewarding activity that I wish I had started much earlier in my life. Don't put it of; my guess is you'll wish you had started years earlier, too. My personal goal for our EAA staf build project, a Zenith CH 750, is that it will be flying by EAA AirVenture Oshkosh 2014. We are in that 90 percent done, 90 percent to go stage now. It looks like a finished airplane to the uninitiated, but we have a lot of important, detailed work to go. The panel needs to be installed, the controls rigged, engine hung, etc. Lots of little details to make it airworthy. We can see the finish line, but it still seems a long way of. Keep putting in the time, and little by little you'll be closing in on the finish line. GOAL: FINISH THAT PROJECT GOAL: RESTART YOUR PROJECT GOAL: BUILD AND FLY SAFELY Many of us already have a project going, but maybe it isn't in the active state right now. If you're stalled out, why not commit to restarting the project. If you simply got out of the habit, commit to specific dates and times that you will work on it. You'll be surprised how enjoyable it is to get back in the groove. Try making a commitment of at least 10 minutes every day on the project. It can be as little as reviewing the plans or organizing the shop. This will keep your mind engaged, and you'll be amazed at how 10 minutes turns into an hour of productive shop time. No matter where you are in your project, schedule a technical counselor visit to inspect your work. We all get so close to our project that we often miss issues that a tech counselor will catch immediately. The best way to preserve the incredible freedom we have to build aircraft is to have a solid safety record. Do your part by using the EAA Technical Counselor and Flight Advisor programs to demonstrate your commitment to safety. Well, now that I've told all of you that your EAA staf is going to have the CH 750 flying by AirVenture, it is time to get back out to the shop! 4 Vol.3 No.1 / January 2014 Photography by Jennifer Bowen

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