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You're in a rush, or Something interrupts the flow of your pre-takeoff checks, or You are distracted by family problems, or You, personally, don't lock the controls like this but someone came by when you weren't there and was worried because the control surfaces were being batted by the wind...

Probably thinking of SEA99FA105, an RV-6A at the Arlington Fly-In in 1999. IIRC, the fly-in and EAA were hit by a multimillion-dollar judgment that was eventually set aside. Did lead to the end of EAA involvement in local fly-ins. The plaintiff's major claim was in regard to allegedly tardy...

Exactly..... Ron Wanttaja

There are almost 2,600 DJI drones listed in the FAA registry. Does the government plan to reimburse these people, or...? Ron Wanttaja

That's the CJ-3B. Sold a lot of the military model to Japan, you see them in Godzilla movies. Willys quickly switched to the CJ-5 configuration to use the F head engine. Ron Wanttaja

Like most social media nowadays, the AvWeb comments are getting a lot of political and borderline-racist commentary, with specific groups of people facing off on the same basic subjects with the same boring insults and sneering commentary. No reason AvWeb should have to host that, or WANT to...

Never had a hard top for mine...again, a bit of a downer in a North Dakota winter. My first Jeep, a CJ-2A, didn't even have a heater. Usually would park the Jeep in the winter months, driving around the edge of the house and setting it on the concrete-slab patio. Oddly enough, my second...

Especially in North Dakota. Sad snow tires for one reason: They were free. My dad replaced the tires on his Pontiac, and they went on the Willys. Had better tires later, for running on sand. Ron Wanttaja

Friend of mine and his wife flew their Super Cub around the world ~40 years ago. Said they wore flight-crew shirts whenever operating in some of the smaller countries on the way. The people there may not have understood General Aviation, but they did recognize airline pilots..... Ron Wanttaja

My dad's name was "Willys," pronounced exactly like you describe. However, his nickname WAS "Willie....." Had a '46 CJ-2A, then a 51 CJ-3A, when I was in high school and college. Used it with the CAP. Ron Wanttaja

Yes, good point. Guess I'll have to sell that R-985. :) Ron Wanttaja

Depends on your capitalization. The airplane could be considered "amateur built," since it was constructed from a kit by an amateur. What it WASN'T was an Experimental Amateur-Built airplane. It had to follow the Experimental Light Sport Aircraft rules, rather than those for Experimental...

The aircraft would have required a DAR for the initial certification inspection (which counted as the first Condition inspection). Beyond that, once he had received his Light Sport - Repairman certificate, the builder, owner, inspector, and pilot would all have been the same person. I...

No. This was a kit-built ELSA. Builder cannot perform the yearly condition inspections. However, in this case, the builder did take the separate course that allows an ELSA owner (not necessarily the builder) to perform their own condition inspections. Ron Wanttaja

The trouble is, for the large number of light aircraft, this is impossible. Most aircraft have pitch trim (mine doesn't), some aircraft have rudder trim, but trim controls for roll are relatively rare. And if you're flying solo in an aircraft where the seats are side-by-side, the airplane is...

Favorite example came around here a few decades back. Two of our local guys built two Thurston Seafires; think a Lake with a tractor engine. The shop where these two planes were being built was hounded by local EAAers, and the FAA brought a couple of guys around to sign off on the two...

Had occasion to review some of my statistics on builder error. About 22% of the cases involve the control system, about the same as cases affecting the fuel system. Engine-related cases are the "top scorer", but not by much. Interesting to compare the lethality of the cases: Airframe-related...

I flew with Cecil once. When he was coming in on final, we were offset to one side. I said, "Hey, Cecil, you're lined up on the edge of the runway, not the centerline." He replied, "I like the contrast between the grass and the asphalt." Seems his cataracts were interfering with his vision...

Yup. Usual practice during a BFR is for the CFI to point at the circle (obscuring the rest of the name) and ask what it represents. They used to use a more-circular font. Ron Wanttaja

Do a Google search on "wanttaja kitplanes". Most of the articles I've written are online. Also, I've given talks online for the EAA Homebuilt Week. These were recorded. If you are a member, you can watch the videos. Ron Wanttaja