October, 2010

©Ian Coristine/1000IslandsPhotoArt.com

Pick an island. Any island.
They are all stunning.

The brainiac

Well it’s official. Kid # 4 is a university graduate. Mandy has graduated with her Bachelor’s degree in European law with a minor in Art law from the University of Maastricht in the Netherlands.

She completed her classes in late July but just recently received her final grades. As she had intended on continuing with a Masters degree, she began some of her advanced classes months ago while completing her undergraduate work. Then a funny thing happened.

Back in March she competed in a ‘moot court’ in Vienna and was invited by faculty to apply for a slot for an International Commercial Arbitration Masters degree (Masters in Legal Science) in Stockholm, Sweden. Realizing that this would be a step up from her current study path, she did and was accepted. Only then did she find out that there had been 1000 applicants from 40 countries with only 30 of them being accepted. She now lives in Skarpnäck (Stockholm) and will graduate in January.

Well done, grasshopper. We are all very proud of you.

Cancer 2.0

For the past month Janice has been going to her daily radiation treatments (5 days per week). Initially, our plan was to drive to the hospital on Mondays with Janice staying over for a couple of days and for me to pick her up and take her back home for the week-end. It was a very practical plan except for the part that it meant we would not be together a few days each week. Clearly, that was not going to work. Besides, undergoing the treatments away from home is bad enough without having to deprive her of husband adoration time also.

Playing in the islands

The new and improved plan was to simply drive her to Syracuse for her treatment on Monday, take her to the Sarah house where we are staying during the week and drive back to the islands to the hangar to work on the plane for 4-5 hours then return for a late dinner. It makes for a 200 mile round trip daily, but it is the best compromise that allows us to make lemonade out of a lemon of a situation. By the time we are done next week, the daily commute will have been the equivalent of having driven from Los Angeles to New York….and back.

It was interesting that after a few months of back and forth with the insurance company over the issue of allowing us to return to France for the winter to complete Janice’s treatments, the solution ended up being so simple. At first we tried to explain that we had no other option as we could not stay at the island for the winter because it freezes over. They didn’t care, that was our problem.

Then, we suggested that since treatments are cheaper in France they could save money. HA! we thought, that will get their attention. Wrong. They didn’t care, the rules are the rules and they didn’t want to be confused with the facts. Finally, we just cried and begged for mercy and asked for a compassionate waiver. "Denied", they said, mumbling something about ‘feeling our pain’ for not being able to stay at the island or returning home in California, but having to return to our home in France…

“Hey….wait a minute”, they said. “You have your home in France? So, you are ‘moving’ there and it will be your ‘residence’, albeit only for a few months? Well then, since you have an international health plan, we will cover you 100% wherever you ‘move’ to. And, when you notify us that you have moved back in May, that will be your ‘new’ residence and your coverage will be back here.” So for insurance purposes only, we will be ‘moving’ a few times a year.

Thanksgiving?

Canadian Thanksgiving

Canadians have the habit of celebrating holidays on different days but when in Rome, we play along. I mean Thanksgiving in October is so...uhh...un-American but most years we end up being invited to my aunt and uncle's summer house on the lake in Quebec Canada. It is becoming a really fun fall tradition, marking the beginning of the end of our time on the East Coast for yet another season.

We get to spend time with cousins that we did not see much of when we were younger, play corny games, tackle a project or two to be helpful and generally eat, drink and be as merry as we can. It is a great time to be in the countryside as it is the peek of color for the fall leaves and the area is truly beautiful.

Are you done yet?

Does this guy look like he has a
clue as to what he is doing?

So why does it take so long to build a stupid airplane? When I first explored the idea that I would assemble this ‘kit’, an obvious and often asked question was “how long will it take?” The factory answer was “under 200 hours”. “Cool”, I thought. Then a friend who knew better said “plan on 300-400 hours”. I figured that I am a smart guy, I won’t mess around and I will punch it out in less time than most. Isn’t it great when we are all ‘above average’? Then, the 17 boxes were delivered, one being the size of my car.

Do you see anything wrong here?
Speak up now or I will forever hold the pieces

The instructions were simplistic and were written for someone who had built 20-25 of these and knew every step forward and backward. They were more like notes to remind yourself of some of the steps. Clearly I had homework to do. The first thing I realized was that the factory was right. You ‘could’ build the plane in under 200 hours. It would be safe and would fly right. But it would look pretty rough. More like a lawn chair strapped to a balloon. Nothing painted, nothing smooth, nothing pretty, few instruments, no doors…heck, it would look like an ultralight!

The extra hundreds of hours are what turn it into a plane to be proud of, a real airplane with little conveniences and creature comforts built in. Like an intercom system so that the pilot and passenger can talk to each other, or doors that you can choose to fly with if the weather is cooler or to make a passenger feel safer being enclosed, or take them off if you want that Red Baron open cockpit feeling. It is similar to someone asking “how much does a car cost?” It can vary from $500. to $100,000. They will both take you from point A to point B but it is a different ride…



I completed the electrical work this past month and without the engine mounted, tested as much as I could. Aside for a hiccup in the intercom that my friend Wayne helped track down, everything was a go. Wayne is one of several friends and family members who have told me in no uncertain terms- some quite vehemently- that they will NEVER fly with me. Some don't like to fly, some don't trust the plane, some don't trust me, some...well... all of the above.

I have waited my whole life to do this

The engine is not installed at this point because the fuselage must be painted first and I don’t want to get paint all over it. Don’t worry, it will be put through its paces in due course. Elevators and rudder were fine tuned and I even started covering the fuselage which is quite a milestone. The weather is closing fast and the clock will soon run out for this season.