After 4 and a half years, the day of the big move has finally arrived. One might suppose that an auspicious day such as this might bring more excitement, but to be honest, my feelings lie closer to the bitter sweet end of the emotional spectrum. On the one hand I am inching ever closer to the big day -- the day I actually fly her. But on the other, I look at my empty shop and I am struck by how big it looks, and how empty it is. I guess you can't have your cake and, blah, blah, blah.
Before I moved the plane to the airport I still had one test to perform. A test to verify that the plane would continue to run while inclined at a climb attitude. It's simple enough, just jack up the nose wheel and crank her up.
While it's going, I switch tanks and check the fuel flow the the boost pump on and off. No trouble feeding from either tank and we're good to go...
This is the last photo I took with my plane in the shop I built, to build it.
Now, I take the tail feathers and wings off. I moved the vertical and horizontal stabilizers in the back of my pickup. I made some supports to span the bed for the wings to ride on.
The actual move was a non event. The fuselage went on the back of flat bed auto tow truck. This might be the smartest $150 I spent all year. In five minutes the driver had the fuselage safely loaded and we were on our way the the airport.
The trip lasted all of 15 minutes and covered about 7.5 miles.
And so here we are at the airport. Everything intact, no new damage. Whew!
At this point I only have a few days to get ready for my FAA air worthiness inspection. There is not much time in my schedule to think about the great big hole left in my shop where an airplane used to be.
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