It seems like only yesterday that David Maib walked up my driveway, introduced himself, and checked out the RV-7A project in my garage. He was thinking of building an RV airplane. At the time, I don't think the RV-10 had been announced yet but it shortly was and David and Mary pitched in. And how, they pitched in!
"I decided this wasn't going to be a 10-year project and that if we were going to build an airplane, we really were going to commit to it," he told me this evening when their RV-10 was rolled out of the Wipaire paint facility and a reception was held.
Rare was the time when one or -- more often -- both weren't at their hangar at Fleming Field in South St. Paul. And in a little over two years, they finished their airplane. They'll fly it out Monday or Tuesday to their new home in (if memory serves) New Smyrna Beach, Florida. Minnesota will wave a fond farewell with one last night of -15 temperatures.
No matter, the RV-10 is tucked safely into Wipaire's huge hangar, between a couple of Beavers and a Caravan. Their new airplane puts the others to shame, which is saying something since the other planes are darned beautiful in their own right.
Mary came up with the paint design. "I wanted gold flames," she told me over the summer and again tonight. Wipaire's artist presented her with some drawings and she said they were perfect.
The hardest part of the building process? "Writing checks," David said.
You can see the new plane at Sun 'n Fun in Lakeland Florida in April. They probably won't make it to Oshkosh this year.
I look forward to seeing them again. Building N614EF won't be the same without having them nearby.
(Click the images for original size)
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