We're Definitely Into Autumn!

Well we're seeing shorter days and cooler weather, and the good news is that we're also seeing spectacular sunsets, as Raquel mentioned in her submission. You might need to get out a bit earlier than you used to to enjoy the spectacle. Where I live we've already lost about 100 minutes of evening daylight and we're not close to the darkest days yet.

This is also the time of year when builders start planning quality time in their workshops, whether that's at an airport or in your basement. My friend recently realized that he would make a lot more progress on his build if he took his kit to his home and started building there. He lived 90 minutes away from the airport he was building in, so it was a round trip of almost three hours. My basement was certainly the way I built mine. It took about six years in my (fortunately) unfinished basement then six months in a hangar to get my RV-9A flying. If you're reading this and planning to build your first airplane, I'd highly recommend your basement as your first choice. A heated garage or workshop at home would be second with a distant hangar being much poorer for the majority of the build time.

Benefits of building in your basement include continuous warmth, easy access to bathrooms and kitchen, contact with your family, and so much more. If you have children of the right age, you can also get them interested in what's going on and maybe even get them to lend a hand occasionally. Who knows, they might wind up passionate about building an airplane, too. Even if you plan to do the vast majority of the work yourself, there is always that moment when an extra pair of hands can be vital to getting those darned rivets in place. In my case, it was the ones to secure the section of aluminium in front of the canopy where it joined the sides. Your experience may vary, but that was certainly a two-person job for me.

We're always looking for new writers with interesting stories. If this has provoked you to write about something related we'd love to hear about it...

As always, please don't hesitate to contact me, Ian Brown, with comments related to our newsletter, or with an article you would like to submit by sending to newsletter.eaacc@gmail.com. If you have a presentation at your local chapter that you think might be of interest to a wider audience, why not send me a copy?