more... Hangar Flying

April 6, 2025
       It's been a while...

I'm back at it again, ALMOST...

Pretty much settled here in Boulder, CO. Everything that can be unpacked from a large townhouse into a small two bedroom apartment is unpacked... which isn't much.

We are handling the entire experience well. How can't we! We can see the mountains of the Rocky Mountain National Park from our livingroom and bedroom windows! Sa-weet!

The place that we have set up camp for a while is just about under the final approach for Boulder Municipal Airport (BDU). Nice for me. Not so much for Fernanda. It's a Love Hate relationship. I Love it. She Hates it.

The only obstacle that I have run into is the waiting list for plane owners and hangars. Everything thing from Boulder, to Loveland, to Greely, CO is backlogged anywhere from 8 - 10 years! YIKES! Everything we own is here in Colorado EXCEPT BIG ASS BIRD! She's still on the east coast.

Now that we're settled in I have started to reconnect with the flying community. I've been in touch with several of the EAA Chapters since before moving here. I had the chance to attend Fort Collins/Loveland 515's meeting this past Tuesday. Great bunch of people.

I spoke to several of them before the start of the meeting (they've got quite a few airplane builders in the club; a few RV's, and a CH 750 that I know of so far). After the end of the meeting I went up to Adam, the president of 515, to introduce myself. I mentioned that we had a few emails back and forth... and that we moved here from New Jersey. He remember our emails and asked if I was going to fly the Skybolt to CO. I said that I was still waiting to find a hangar or place to unpack it before sending it out this way. And with that he said, Ted here has a hangar that is available.

Long story short... we went out to look at the "hangar" that night. I again went out this past Saturday to confirm a few of the measurements, talked with both Ted and his wife Mica about the local area, and took a look at his Beech Debonaire (sweet looking plane!) Before leaving I said I'd like to rent the place and so here I am now... a place to put BIG ASS BIRD for the rest of the build. (Put all things in God's hands and you end up just where you need to be when you need to be!)

If you noticed, I put hangar in quotes. It's not a full size hangar, it only has a 12' wide overhead door for access with a smaller conventional door to get inside. Plenty big for BIG ASS BIRD to have both the wings and tail feathers attached, and engine/prop hanging on the front. Just what I was looking for. AND, all my tools/machines are right there on the same floor. There's also a nice big loft for storing plywood, tubing, and my stack of already made parts, etc.

I've already instructed POD's to ship the 16' container out here. And also spoke to Ted about being able to set the POD inside the fence so that it can be easily emptied.

It won't be long before I'm back working on her again...

A quick layout of the hangar
to make sure BIG ASS BIRD fits.

 

 

More hangar flying to come.