A chronological listing of progress in making our lifelong dream a reality!
January 1, 2016 to July 10, 2016: 267 Hrs - Firewall Al Chute Straps Milled, Skim Coat Underside Strakes & Fuselage Sides, Port Riser Valley Cut, Riser Foam Covered & Glassed (3 BID), Glass (17 BID) Inside Firewall Flanges, Finish Glassing Carbon Tube (17 BID) Front Seat Back
2015 - 526.0 Hrs - Headrest cutout of fuselage; carbon tube and flange boxes installed and glassed in (17 BID); Riser Valley; Skim coat top Strake
2014 - 120 Hrs - LEXAN IP Template transferred to cockpit IP. Buy BRS Parachute
Instrument Panel Assembly
2013 -
2012 -
2011 -
2010 -
2009 -
2008 -
2007 - 4.0 Hrs - Landing Light & Panel Layout
2006 -
2005 -
2004 - 0.0 Hrs
2003 - 36.5 Hrs - Canard Cover & Fire Wall Engine Mounts (Zaugg Resort - July 27 + Spaceship 1 at Oshkosh)
2002 - ? Hrs - Chart Calendar smudged beyond recognition?
2001 -
2000 - 87.0 Hrs - Brakes & Lycoming Engine (RJS)
1999 - 107 Hrs - Port & Starboard Strakes (Fuel & Baggage) (CLS & END)
1998 -
1997 -
1996 - 120.5 Hrs - Craig helped with Port & Starboard Winglet/ Rudder fabrication.
1995 -
1994 -
1993 -
1992 - 16.0 Hrs - Glass & Knife Trim Canopy (JMS & Al Townsend)
1991 -
1990 -
1989 -
1988 - 15.2 Hrs - Fabricate Canopy Hard Points (Disney World - April 5 through April 8)
1987 -
1986 - 9.0 Hrs - Pour Foam Canopy (April 23 start 21 Day Stryker Fst)
1985 - 64.3 Hrs - Green Foam Canopy & Cut off of Fuselage, Fab Rudders, COM Antenna (JMS)
1984 - 191.1 - Roll & Pitch Trim, Control Stick & System, Spar Fabricated & Mounted, Canopy Mounted to Fuselage
1983 - 493.9 Hrs - Glass Port Wing, Winglet, COM Antenna, Port and Starboard Ailerons. Fabricate & Mount Fuselage Control System, Pitot Tube Htr. & Firewall (Ryan Born Aug 4)
1982 - 181.4 Hrs - Carve Landing Light in Nose, Glass Starboard Wing and Winglet & Install COM Antenna. (JMS & RAS)
1981 - 389.5 Hrs - Main Gear, Nose Gear, Speed Brake, Wing Cores Hot Wired, Nose Sculpted & Pitot Tube Instld, Canopy, Moved Fuselage to Attached Garage (Duke) (Mark Born Jan 27)
1980 - 373.0 Hrs - Finish Rear Wings. Fabricate Fuselage Bulkheads, Seats, Sides and Glass. Fabricate Spar.
1979 - 29.95 Hrs - Rear Wings: Fabricate plywood wing jigs.
1978 - 424.00 Hrs. - Purchase LongEZ Plans at OshKosh. VariEZE Canard interchangeable with LongEZ canard, after trimming 2 inches off both ends. Fabricate masonite rear wing templates. Hot wire cores. Cut cores. Layup wing spars. Jig leading and trailing edge cores together and glass outside surfaces with 3 layers BID. Cut out ailerons. (Ericka born Oct 8)
1977 - 142.5 Hrs - Canard Fabricated
1976 - 96.5 Hrs - Buy VariEZE plans at OshKosh. Clean basement. Build table. Read plans. (Craig born October 27)
Burt Rutan & Mike Melville demonstrating basic construction techniques of laying up hot wired foam cores:
August 1976 - Long Table Constructed for creating our Canard, Wing and Fuselage
Wing Jig Table built straight & level was first major project of building our plane. Craig was born in October of 1976; and the reason that we purchased our home at 2424 E 91st.
I purchased VariEZE plans during my visit to EAA's Oshkosh Home-built Aircraft Convention in July of 1976; and proceeded to build the canard. In 1978 I upgraded to LongEZ plans because the LongEZ was longer, wider and a better cross-country plane than the the VariEZE. Fortunately, by trimming a couple inches off of each end of my, already built VariEZE canard, it became interchangeable with the new LongEZ canard!
