When you can't afford a Corsair...

[Django]

Very nice!

[Rob Mears]

I just enjoyed one of the greatest Saturdays I've had in recent memory. Most of my extended family spent the day relaxing, enjoying the perfect weather,and playing at the folk's place out in the country. One the same day, my father's RV-4 finally left the nest where it began life eight years ago as a collection of raw sheet metal and a set of plans. We got her to the local airport and deposited the airframe in the hangar then rolled out the old mothballed Skybolt restoration project for the trip back to the shop. My father isn't one to let a single day pass without a project close at hand.







The empty nest waiting for the Skybolt fuselage to arrive.



The airport is currently closed while a new PAPI system is being installed, but that will allow for final assembly and testing time before the maiden flight. Super proud of my Pop for tackling this life-long dream and making it a reality!

Last edited by Rob Mears on Fri Mar 09, 2012 6:42 pm, edited 1 time in total.

[Scott Rose]

Congrats to you and your Dad! Looking forward to seeing more pictures and maybe video of her maiden flight!

[RyanShort1]

Looks great Rob! Hopefully someday soon we'll see some flying photos!

Ryan

[RV8er]

To quote thousands of teenage girls on facebook... OMG! Beautiful! Love the yellow flash on the nose cowling, it really ties the room together... now you just gotta pull 7-8 G's at the bottom of a loop to get the bent wing look! Seriously, that paint is gorgeous. What airport are you based near SHV?

My Dad was Navy from '62-'67; flew T-34B, T-2A, then switched to the multiengine pipeline in the TS-2A, P-2, P-3A. When tossing around ideas for a paint scheme for my RV-8 I considered painting it in the early T-34B scheme; all over yellow, olive drab glareshield with markings/numbers of the ship my Dad soloed in. I ended up with a standard civvie paint job, but often wonder how it would have turned out with Dad's Teenie Weenie colors.

Love my RV.

[Rob Mears]

I've flown in exactly one T-34 in my time and it was a beautifully executed yellow with the olive anti-glare - an A model painted like a B I believe. It was a fantastic flight from a private grass strip on the Red River just north of Shreveport. Up off the end of the runway, over the tree line and down over the Red. We went scud running for miles. I gained big respect for the Mentor that day.

My father would be thankful for the compliments on the paint. A lot of reseach went into the color codes and getting the scale right on the insignia. We just moved it out to Farmerville (F87) which is a little over an hour from here. It's a podunk little airport but I've watched no less than a dozen RV's built by the locals there over the last dozen years or so. It's a sleeper of a little hot spot. We got the wings on last weekend and hope to do engine runs in the next couple of weeks.

[Tulio]

Nice and neat little shop!!!


Saludos,


Tulio

[jaybird]

Awesome. Who gets to do the first flight? Did you sort out the N-number size & location question? Looking forward to seeing 1st flight pics and/or video. Mount a GoPro in the cockpit for the 1st flight to capture the memory.

Your Dad's RV4 looks fantastic.

[Rob Mears]

Jay, we're hoping to apply for the special exception mentioned earlier in th thread so we can include the N-number under the horizontal stab. If not, we'll have to come up with some creative way of adding the number in a way that doesn't detract too much from the existing scheme. Maybe moving it forward closer to the star & bar and depicting it in a subdued color of some sort if need be.

Anyway, she has wings! We spent this past weekend getting the wings, control surfaces, and a few other bits installed in preparation for the post-build inspection. My father will be the first to fly it of course, as I have some training in my near future with an RV instructor near Dallas to get my chops in order. All of my time to date has been flying a Grumman Cheetah so I've got a few hurdles to jump before I insert myself into this relatively hot little taildragger. I'm shooting to have myself up to speed by sometime this summer though if everything goes as planned.

[MitchB]

Is there any chance you could check and see if that SkyBolt is for sale?
I'm kinda looking for a nice Bipe.

TIA

Mitch

Nice looking airplane! Congrats!

There is a SuperSkybolt renting space in my hangar, and I believe that it is for sale...

Saludos,


Tulio