kgwilson

I think we all have expectations of what a "Kit" entails when deciding to build an aircraft. I got quite a shock to find the manual was almost incomprehensible. The manufacturer who wrote it had very poor written expression skills, could not spell & missed a lot out. The saving grace was I went to the factory, got to know him & he was always happy to respond to even the most mundane questions & sent the missing bits immediately (He'd even forgotten to include the seats). He'd had the plans done by a professional which was good even though they were for an earlier fabric covered model. He did provide lots of construction photos & a video. Nothing in my kit was pre-drilled, cut to size or bent to shape and there were wrong sized bolts as well as missing bits. It was just a pile of extrusions, rolls of alloy sheet and some fibreglass mouldings straight from the mould. I guess I am different as I really enjoyed the challenge of doing things I'd never done before. The build took 4 years.

Hang in there, it isn't what you expected but once completed I am sure you will look back with pride as to your achievements.

Well that is unfortunate news. When something like this affects one of your main passions in life it can be quite upsetting. It must also be a bit of an issue with your management of the websites too.

Four years ago I had a BRAO (branch retinal artery occlusion) in my right eye. I suddenly lost all sight in the right eye. I had no idea what was going on & then it slowly came back only to disappear again for about 70% of that eye. It is caused by a bit of plaque usually from the carotid artery finding its way to the artery that feeds the retina & blocks it. The retina is starved of oxygen and the part fed by that little artery dies. My biggest fear was I would not be able to fly, followed by not being able to drive. I was lucky as I still have some vision out of the right eye & my brain has compensated for the change. I also found out that there are plenty of one eyed pilots & drivers around.

I am thankful that I can still do both but I know one day I won't be able to. It is sad that your day has come sooner than you wanted it to.

Unrelated but a statement that has always stayed with me is "One day you will walk out to your hangar knowing that this flight will be your last or one day you will walk out to your hangar not knowing that this flight will be your last. You will not do both"