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/271000
20 Vol.3 No.3 / March 2014 A PEREIRA GP-4 "AVIATION LITERALLY SAVED ME. For one thing, it forced me to conquer words. As a kid, I was an undiagnosed dyslexic and was well into high school and still couldn't read. Then I discovered airplanes, and my life began to change." That's Mike Mahar, EAA 508055, talking, and as he spoke, he was sitting in front of his gorgeous GP-4, designer George Pereira's contribution to the world of incredibly sexy-looking, super-high-speed airplanes. Mike said, "When I was a kid, the words on the page made no sense to me, so I had no interest in them. No matter how much the nuns beat on me, words just didn't work for me, and I was going to make no ef ort to fi gure them out. Numbers, on the other hand, were easy. Numbers made total sense, so I gravi- tated to them and away from words. Then I saw a Piper Cub, and my life began to turn around. When I learned that I could actually learn to fl y the Cub, it dawned on me that I could do something that was really cool, and that appealed to me. But to realize that dream meant I had to make friends with the writ- ten word, something that wasn't at all easy for me. However, fl ying hung out there like a carrot on a string, and I was willing to do whatever it took to get it. "I soloed the local Cub when I was sixteen, and it was and still is one of my proudest moments. Among other things, it meant I was gaining on reading." When Mike graduated from high school, his problem with reading narrowed his job prospects, but his folks found him a job in a tool-and-die shop with about 200 employees. Mike said, "I was such a natural with numbers—I was quick- ly helping machinists by fi guring out the numbers for what they were machining. That led to promotions until I was the company's numbers guy. "Outside of work, I got into Dragon sailboat racing and kept pushing my fl ying. That was about all I did until I got married and the kids came along. I know it's a cliché, but during that period of time, there just wasn't enough money to do it all." In everyone's life, there is a blurry, foggy area that is fi lled fi rst with homes, kids, mortgages, long workdays, and the feel- ing that you'll never get far enough ahead to be able to fl y again. As witnessed by the different cowlings in the following photos, Mike Mahar's GP-4 will always be a project in process. Mike had built a Lancair IV and Legacy, but picked the all-wood GP-4 because he could scratch-build it and keep the cost down. The airplane fl ew with a temporary panel and interior for several years, while Mike fi gured out exactly what he wanted. E A A E X P _ M a r 1 4 . i n d d 2 0 EAAEXP_Mar14.indd 20 3 / 3 / 1 4 1 0 : 3 1 A M 3/3/14 10:31 AM