Author: The Flying Dutchman

I am a man who loves Christ, loves my wife, loves my family, loves my church, and loves aviation. In that order.

The RV-7 may soon have a new home

On By The Flying DutchmanIn RV-7Leave a comment

Life has been a litte intense lately so I thought I’d write on a lighter topic.

I have an offer on the RV-7 kit.  The gentleman should be here in a few days with a cashier’s check in hand to pick up the kit.  I am sad to leave the world of Van’s aircraft because I’ve met a lot of really great people along the way.  But in a way I’m excited to enter a new phase of my aviation avocation.  There are new people to meet in this world too.

I’ve enjoyed planning the new aircraft and there are new challenges this time around.  On the other two airplanes the challenge was to incorporate the most state-of-the-art components I could find.  The challeng this time around is to keep costs to a minimum.  This is actually a fun challenge; more an exercise in in what I can do without.  It’s actually been very good for me.  It’s a skill that can help in all other facets of my life.

Of course there is one more step to take before I can get going on the new airplane.  I have to sell the RV-4.  That will be the next big challenge.  I’ll document the preparations and sale in future posts.

Prayer Answered

On By The Flying DutchmanIn Faith2 Comments

God always answers prayer.  It is not always the answer we want.  I try to remember that our God is far more merciful and gratious and loving than I can conceive in my feeble, mortal brain.  I have faith that God does what He does for the most merciful and compassionate reasons.  But, they aren’t always apparent to me.  Why does He take one and leave another?  Only He knows.

Praise God.

Coming to grips with reality

On By The Flying DutchmanIn Rans S-6ES Coyote, RV-4, RV-7Leave a comment

Reality really stinks sometimes but it’s all we have. I’ve come to the realization that I am not going to have the money to finish the RV-7 so I have made a painful decision. I will be selling the RV-7 kit. I will use the proceeds to finish off my RV-4 by having it painted and then I will sell the RV-4 as well. This hasn’t been an easy decision but it is the right decision.

Why? Well, my son for one reason. He is going to be needing some specialized therapy very soon and that costs money. Money that I can’t keep pouring into airplane projects. However, this doesn’t mean my aviation avocation is at an end, I do intend to reinvest some of that money into a lower cost aircraft so that I can continue to fly while not draining my family’s funds by operating an expensive aircraft.

So if anyone knows of someone who wants to get a jump on building an RV-7, send them my way.

For the curious, here is what I am planning on for the next airplane:

Rans S-6S Coyote II

RV-7 Update Christmas 2007

On By The Flying DutchmanIn RV-71 Comment

I finally found time to work on the RV-7. Between family, church, and work I have had very little free time. To date I’ve prepped both spars, assembled the skeleton of the left wing and begun to test fit the top inboard and outboard wing skins. This kit is incredible. When I compare the amount of work to get my RV-4 wings to this stage and what I’ve done so far it’s…incredible.

I still have to drill out and redrive some rivets on the right rear wing spar. Once that is done I will begin fitting the wing skins on the right wing. If I were to work on this project every day, these wings would be complete by summer. They go together just that fast. We’ll have to see how much time I actually have to devote to it.

To progress beyond the wing stage I will have to sell my RV-4. Before I do that I will need finish out all the minor squawks that I never have completed. I will devote some time during the annual condition inspection to do this. I’m hoping to paint it just before I sell it. But that will be dictated by finances.

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Putting main top skins on.  Held on by clecos.

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Bottom of wing view showing ribs.

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Obligatory “ribs disappear into infinity” photo.  Everyone does them so here’s mine.

A faithful God

On By The Flying DutchmanIn RV-7Leave a comment

I’m not always faithful to God.  But He is always faithful to me.  The past month has been very trying on a personal level; trials at church, trials at home, trials in the workplace.  There were times where I was thinking some not very nice things.  However, God has shown us His faith and love and a lot of little ways.  A family showing up at my home, singing, and leaving gifts at precisely the time my wife needed to be cheered up.  A good friend giving me workplace advice at precisely the right time.  My wife left her purse in a shopping cart on Christmas Eve in a parking lot frequented by lower income people (one of which, we are) and a good samaritan finds her purse, calls our bank and informs them she found the purse.  She waits until my wife arrives and returns the purse and then disappears asking for no reward whatsoever.

Life hasn’t returned to normal just yet.  But my faith has grown through the last month so much.  Our God is so faithful, and now He’s teaching me to have more faith than ever.  How did I come to be so blessed?

In the quiet stillness

On By The Flying DutchmanIn Faith2 Comments

Sleep well my friend, once you awaken you will never know I was here.  You will not remember the Psalms I read to you.  You will not know the prayers I said in the dim twilight of the room.  But what you will know is the abundant love, mercy, and grace of our sovereign God.  Be still and rest, God has you in His hands.  You will awaken soon enough.

Waiting quietly…

On By The Flying DutchmanIn FaithLeave a comment

Let him sit alone in silence when it is laid on him; let him put his mouth in the dust-there may yet be hope; let him give his cheek to the one who strikes, and  let him be filled with insults. For the Lord will not cast off forever, but, though he cause grief, he will have compassion according to the abundance of his steadfast love; for he does not willingly afflict or grieve the children of men.

Lamentations 3:28-33

Attack!

On By The Flying DutchmanIn FaithLeave a comment

Our church needs prayer again. We have an otherwise healthy man in the hospital struggling for every breath with no discernible cause for his condition. We have a child diagnosed with diabetes, the second child diagnosed in this otherwise healthy family. We have a woman who is on forced bed rest so that she will not go into early labor. We have a young man with a pacemaker. Several people with chronic back problems that prevent them from leading normal lives much of the time. Others are sick with colds, fevers, and boils. All this in a church numbering no more than 120; over half of whom are children. It just feels like an attack.

But the same God who healed a woman in our church with a rare form of cancer, can breathe for the breathless. The same God who blessed a woman with a child to immediately replace the child He called away from her can preserve 100,000 children with diabetes. The same God who regenerated my heart can heal the heart that doesn’t beat on it’s own. The same God whose back buckled under the weight of the cross, can make straight the backs of the afflicted who believe in Him.

I know God is sovereign and everything is unfolding according to His plans. I will trust and persevere in faith. But in the mean time, please pray for our church.