Thanks for the replies, good people! -- Yeah, I'm still having fun, and will be 79 years old in a week. The plane should be done sometime this coming summer, but I'll let Dr. Gill test it -- it's his dream-baby anyway, and I'm just helping him for the fun of it. Actually, I'm somewhat concerned because John is 84 years old now and that plane is going to be very tricky to handle. John has money up the Wazoo so he could build or buy anything he desires (his kid is an actual billionaire!) Anyway, it should be finished this year. I only work on it a few hours each week just for friendship, fun & experience -- I'm glad that I once wired central telephone switchboards for ol' Ma Bell & Company! Despite his wealth, John's just a good old farm boy from Brush,Colorado so we get along just fine.
My 99" honda was recently totalled when a Mexican woman rear-ended us at a red light -- the impact field-goaled us across the intersection (!) but we didn't get seriously injured. Now I'm driving a 2009 Corolla. Good car, great mileage. My fearless leader Gloria has me drive her to Black Hawk and Central City every week so that she may play the poker machines. I seldom gamble, but am reluctantly pestered to play free Bingo when the casinos offer it. For some reason, despite my dislike for that game, I'm usually very, very lucky! I won four times in the last three games for $150 total, which made Glo shake her head in disbelief... I only go the Black Hawk for the good and cheap ($2.99) breakfast buffets anyway. I druther watch tomatoes grow...
My Challenger still flies nicely and lands well in rough fields. I installed a spring nose gear and bigger tires. smaller main wheels would have made operations on grass and dirt strips very difficult. The picture of the cockpit area was taken while the Challenger still had those fancy wheel pants, and the other pic shows the 120 hp Australian-built "Jabiru" engine in John's new JN62YX -- isn't that beautiful CNC machine work? Much of the engine is machined from solid blocks of 6061- T3 aluminum!
Regards to all from Ol' Frank, a.k.a "Da' Geez!"
