I was encouraged by local builders and my inpsector to enter the judging competition at the Light Aircraft Association Rally at Sywell with minimal expectation. Jill did the bulk of the polishing as I chatted to prospective builders and we left the Rally to visit my father and brothers in my home town of Bridlington, East Yorkshire. The following morning I received an email to say that I had won:
The RAA (Canada) Trophy - Best Kit Aircraft
The Nowicki Trophy - Best RV Aircraft
I was genuinely shocked about the awards. When I started on this amazing journey I never set out to build a show plane but one that I would enjoy flying in and one that would hopefully be pleasing on the eye for the majority of people and, more importantly, one that would be easy to clean! Mick Allen (the painter) has certainly played a big final part in putting some of the icing on the cake and the more I see the plane the more I love the scheme.
It still feels all surreal that I have actually built her and now these awards have just added to that feeling. To have your peers say you've done a good job on this once in a lifetime project is very humbling and at the same time gives me a great deal of pride.
The final icing on the cake will be when I can have an air to air photo by Ed Hicks, a highly respected UK aviation photographer. As a starter Ed took the photos on this page, though the log photo quality does not do them justice. Post Note See Air 2 Air Shoot
Final photo is by Martin Wren (Right Click Open In New Window)
The RV grin just gets bigger all the time and to those of you slaving away with the debur tool or primer - trust me it all so worth it. Keep going.
