http://www.sun-n-fun.org/content/
It took an hour to get from the road to this point. Due to a weekend of rain, the grassy pasture that serves as the parking lot had turned into a muddy bog.
First I headed for Paradise City, the ultralight area, to look about. There were significantly fewer exhibitors/vendors than in past years.
I’m not interested in the trikes, parasails, and the like. Here’s one of the few that caught my attention: the parts are manufactured in the Czech Republic and assembled in Italy.
The price also caught my attention: $70 k.
Seven or eight years ago I decided I had to have my own aircraft, and the only way I could possibly afford one was to build it myself.
Considerable amount of time and effort went into narrowing down the choices for one that would fit my needs. I wanted one that was a side by side two-seater, aluminum skinned, tricycle gear that could handle off-airport take offs and landings.
This was the one, a Zenith Ch701:
In fact this is the same aircraft I flew when I visited the Zenith factory in Mexico, Missouri.
As many would be builders find out, the cost in time and money far exceeds one’s expectations. After seven years, I realized I wouldn’t live long enough to complete the project.
As I recently sold the building I was using for a workshop, I decided to pass the airframe kit along to a friend who could continue my efforts.
This plane was creating quite a buzz over at the Cessna exhibit:
It’s a Cessna Skycatcher, an updated version of the old Cessna 150.
Hopefully it will bring Cessna back into the manufacture of small GA aircraft that liability lawsuits had put an end to.
Here’s me, on the right, accepting the keys to my new Cessna Skycatcher:
….. I wish.
Cessna currently has over 1,000 pre-orders for the Skycatcher. The first one will not to be delivered until 2009. And the 2010 production is sold out.
Looks like a success to me.
Here’s a few more that caught my eye, and wouldn’t mind having, if it weren’t for my “economic conditionsâ€Â.
Aviat Husky:
Glasair Sportsman, a decendant of the Glastar kit I once lusted after:
Eurofox, a KitFox lookalike;
And just for fun, A B-25:
And an AD-5 Skyraider…. I love a woman in a uniform, or in a flightsuit.
jb
