A Family Project?
Posted: Sat Nov 14, 2020 11:38 am
Dear all,
We're a little family of 5, currently living in France after 7 years in the US.
I got my private licence in 2014 in the Bay Area and I kept working on my ratings (IR, multi, commercial) while taking trips with the family. In 2015, we got an Aztec that we refurbished in Montana (I spent 9 weeks working with the shop) and that we flew back to France in 2017. More recently I got involved in ultralight helicopters and I am building a Mosquito XE285 (it's "just" missing the engine at this point, covid has been delaying the project by a few months).
I would like to figure out a way to share my passion for aviation with my daughters (they are currently 8, 7 and 3). They enjoy flying (the eldest has clocked 100+ hours) and I believe that they are interested in aircraft.
Now stop me if it sounds really crazy, but I was thinking of starting a homebuilt with them. We have plenty of time to get it finished before they can legally tackle flight training and, living in the Toulouse area in France, we have some support readily available (actually there is a shop dedicated to wooden aircraft near us, in Montauban).
Do you know of any stories of father/daughters Falco builds?
Also, I'm a bit confused as what exactly is available these days. Is there currently a company supplying kits? The girls have been building ribs for model aircraft in Balsa; could a good first step be to build some tail ribs?
Thanks in advance for your insights,
Blue skies,
William
We're a little family of 5, currently living in France after 7 years in the US.
I got my private licence in 2014 in the Bay Area and I kept working on my ratings (IR, multi, commercial) while taking trips with the family. In 2015, we got an Aztec that we refurbished in Montana (I spent 9 weeks working with the shop) and that we flew back to France in 2017. More recently I got involved in ultralight helicopters and I am building a Mosquito XE285 (it's "just" missing the engine at this point, covid has been delaying the project by a few months).
I would like to figure out a way to share my passion for aviation with my daughters (they are currently 8, 7 and 3). They enjoy flying (the eldest has clocked 100+ hours) and I believe that they are interested in aircraft.
Now stop me if it sounds really crazy, but I was thinking of starting a homebuilt with them. We have plenty of time to get it finished before they can legally tackle flight training and, living in the Toulouse area in France, we have some support readily available (actually there is a shop dedicated to wooden aircraft near us, in Montauban).
Do you know of any stories of father/daughters Falco builds?
Also, I'm a bit confused as what exactly is available these days. Is there currently a company supplying kits? The girls have been building ribs for model aircraft in Balsa; could a good first step be to build some tail ribs?
Thanks in advance for your insights,
Blue skies,
William