Pietenpol project update as of October 2007

Work on the Pietenpol has slowed over the past couple of years, and I was about to throw in the towel until Craig Lawler showed up at our EAA fly-in and offered me a ride in his Piet.  Here is a picture of me working my way into the front seat.  Craig's Piet flew great.  It was only my second open cockpit flight and it was fantastic.  I'm now inspired to continue on and try to complete my Pietenpol project.  Craig is a really great guy and I want to thank him for helping get me back on track.  Below is a picture of my Piet with one wing attached.  The other wing is done too, but I only had one lift strut available.

It is really starting to look like an airplane but there are lots of things remaining to be done.  The engine test runs are very promising and I think it should perform nicely.  Next projects include the fuel tank, which will occupy the widened wing center section, and the actual lift struts.  The lift struts shown in the picture are just furring strips.  The real ones will be the large size aluminum ones from Skytek.

OK, here's the picture that will raise some eyebrows.  I have built the Piet with a folding wing to allow storage in a shed.  The folded wing is less than 10 feet wide and will not require disconnecting of controls.  It took a little while to work out the geometry, but it seems to function just fine.  It looks like it belongs in an aircraft carrier.

I love this shot.  It shows off all the woodwork on the Piet.

One final shot from the front.

Below is a picture of friend and fellow EAA'er Bob Grove's Kolb Firestar.  I have had my eye on a Kolb for a while now and Bob was kind enough to let me fly his at our recent EAA fly-in.  The Kolb leaps off the ground and is very docile in the air.  This thing is an absolute blast to fly.  I've got to get one.  Thanks Bob.

The only thing that rivals the view from the Kolb is the view from my ASW-15 below.  (The trailer gets almost as much attention as the glider)