A machine to fly me.

When I was young I was always watching the airplanes flying overhead, my grandparents lived a few blocks away from an active private airstrip where I would go after Sunday church and lay in the weeds at the end of the strip on my back and watch the planes come and go. Fast forward 30 years I decide it’s time to get my license step 1 for me was building a plane. There wasn’t a bicycle that I owned that wasn’t disassembled at some point only to end up with a pile of parts trying to figure out how to put it back together, this progressed to my father’s new lawn mower. That didn’t go over very well! Then to my first V8 engine at 12 years of age, dirt bike engines, and building rockets, you can see the progression. For me it’s about the mechanics of things, It is how they tick and all the intricate parts, that when they all act in sync, make an awesome machine.

I figured if I was going to learn how to fly, I first needed to know how the machine that was going to suspend me in midair was going to work. My first ahhhaa moment was when I first received my plans. I was completely amazed how the very plane I was going to build was exactly like the model remote control planes I had built as a kid. IE my first lesson in scale. My second lesson was that every part of the process was dependent on the last. If corners were cut the end product would be sketchy. Since this this was to remove me from the earth and bring me back to it, in one piece that was not an option.

Flipping thru the 60+ sheets of the 4’ x 4’ plans was very intimidating. I could look at the plans and plan, or get to work building the darn thing. To get started I picked the smallest section which was the tail section I figured it was a flying surface and would serve me well when it came to building the wing. The tail piece taught me how to use quite a few of the tools I needed to build this machine, and was intricate enough to teach me to stay focused and on task. After completing the tail section I knew I could do this and the rest went like clockwork.

Here lies my fascination with real estate for me the mechanics of it all directly translates to every lesson I have learned building machines. I can’t wait to finish that “tail section” lesson and build this machine, and see where it can fly me!