Stephanie Builds An Airplane

That’s right. I got hangar space! It’s not one of the swanky ones with an electric door. I am still on the waiting list for one of those. I will have to push my own sliding door open for now. But it is mine. All mine. I will be moving the airplane parts out of…

Shouldn’t the EAA Young Eagles program be called eaglets? I understand that children might not be as excited about that one, but it is the most descriptive. I was thinking about this because I just filled out all the forms to be qualified to give Young Eagle flights for my local EAA chapter. Maybe I…

This week, I signed up for a sheet metal class. It will be the first week in December. EAA does lots of these classes and I have heard nothing but good things. Bonus is that it is in central Texas, so I will be able to combine it with a visit to my mother. I…

I am a woman of many interests. Because he turned out so darn cute, today, instead of airplanes, here is a picture of the little zebra I made for the soon-to-be-born son of one of my flight instructors. Because after the week I have had, I just needed to post something fun.

Right now, the airplane parts are in my garage. I am planning some real work this weekend, so of course last night when I got home, the garage door would not open. Seems I have a broken spring. I will fix a lot of things myself, but I think this is beyond my expertise. The…

I have gotten over my temporary freak out. For now. The world is calm and just as it should be. The metal pieces are shining brightly. The rivets are sorted and resting safely in their labeled containers. I had to order two tiny little parts from Van’s for the two that were damaged. Out of…

I am thinking of changing the name of this blog from stephbuildsaplane to stephstaresatapileofmetalandrivetsandfeelsoverwhelmed. Seriously, what have I gotten myself into?!?! OK. Deep breaths. Maybe some yoga. I can do this. Right? RIGHT???? I have to think that everyone who decides, hey, you know what might be fun? Building an airplane, must hit this point…

Building an airplane may be less about the skill of building and more about the skill of organizing. Time, resources, but most especially, tiny little parts. And so I have found my dream hobby. My label maker and I are in heaven. This is the start of the rivet and hardware organization system. A place…

I have started counting the rivets. I should not have started counting the rivets. Amazon should be delivering the dozens of small boxes I have ordered to organize and store the rivets. Did I mention there are a lot of rivets? I have taken the day off from inventory. It is now done. I spent…

I spent almost two hours uncrating and inventorying my empennage kit. what I have learned so far: airplanes have a lot of parts. It’s a good thing I own a coffee company (www.rockymtnroast.com if you haven’t discovered our Pilot Fuel coffee line yet). I am going to need a lot of caffeine. Prying the top…