I have been trying to figure out what to name my airplane. As many of you know, I am a criminal defense attorney. My dogs are named after Supreme Court cases (Gideon and Brady). Law practice has consumed much of my adult life. And law practice is what has made this airplane a viable reality. So a legal sounding name seems appropriate.

Why name the plane at all? Well, it’s going to take me four times longer to make than either of my kids (who were also made from scratch with tools found around my own home) and I named both of them, so it just seems like the right thing to do. I mean, it will be a part of the family.

I see this project, and eventually this plane, as an escape from the day-to-day practice of law and constant jury trials. It will be a machine that takes me literally off the planet where all of that takes place. If you have ever been a trial lawyer or around a trial lawyer, you know that the law is a very jealous mistress and you have to create ways to escape her grasp. That’s what flying is for me.

So, without further ado, I give you what I say at the conclusion of every case I have ever tried, “The Defense Rests.”

Now on to nose art.