Brodhead Pietenpol Association

Original Posted By: Andimaxd(at)aol.com
reportJust a few questions from a soon to be first-time builder:1. Is there a general consensus as to which spruce supplier providesthe best materials and customer service at the best cost? Cost isimportant to me as I'm a Junior-Grade Warrant Officer in the Armylearning to fly choppers and I've got a stack of student loans to pay!!However, quality is even more important to me and I will gladly scrapetogether extra pennies to guarantee I get quality materials.2. I know I'm in for a heck of a learning experience being a first-timebuilder and choosing a pure plans-built machine as my first project (dueto cost, no prefab parts for me). I've bought the Tony Bingelis bookseries as well as Sport Aviation magazine from the beginning to 2001 onCD-Rom to study anything I can find on the type of constructiontechniques I will run into on the Piet. I've also been reading anyonline builder logs I can find trying to glean as much info as possible.That being said, is there anything else I can do to better preparemyself mentally to tackle the Pietenpol?3. A former GN-1 builder and current Hatz Classic builder over athomebuiltairplanes.com sent me his GN-1 plans to take a look at while Iwait to get my Pietenpol plans. This way I can get a taste of what I amin for. For those of you who have seen both sets of plans, are thePietenpol plans similar or do they have a different degree of detail?Has anyone written a builders manual to accompany the plans? Anydetails would be much appreciated.4. I would also be very interested in hearing any other advice youthink I should hear.Thanks in advance for your help and I look forward to your responses. Jake Crausewww.homebuiltairplanes.com________________________________________________________________________________

Original Posted By: "Jake Crause"
Subject: Re: Pietenpol-List: First-time builderJake:Where are you stationed? You may have someone building a Piet right in your back yard.MaxArlington, TX.________________________________________________________________________________

Original Posted By: Andimaxd(at)aol.com [mailto:Andimaxd(at)aol.com]
reportRight now I'm stationed at Ft. Rucker Alabama which is located in theSoutheastern Corner of the state. I'll be finishing my training aroundthe first of the year but don't have a clue (besides Iraq) where I'll besent from here. Jake Crause -----Original Message-----

Original Posted By: Jake Crause
Jake: One of the nicest Piets I've ever seen is about 20 minutes from Rucker.Don Hicks has a beauty just south of Dothan, I forget the little town.There is another really nice one in Quincy Florida and I have a GN that's justabout to taxi.E-mail me off list if you want more info.Bert ----- Original Message -----

Original Posted By: "Jake Crause"
Jake,I bought raw spruce and am cutting all my material my self on a table saw tothe designated dimensions. I got a price from Aircrft Spruce for thePietenpol kit and buying the precut kit was over $800.00. That much moneybought me enough raw spruce to have loads left over when I get throughmaking everything. Got it from McCormack's Lumber in Madison, Wisc.Carried it home on racks I made that bolted to my bumpers.Alex Sloan----- Original Message -----

Original Posted By: Jake Crause
Ft. Rucker huh?! That's where I was born...... right there at Lyster ArmyHospital. My dad was an Air Traffic Controller at Hunt, Hanchey and Hatch Stagefields.... he's got lots of stories about guys learning to fly those whirlybirds.I got excellent spruce from Aircraft Spruce but the wait is usually pretty longfor large orders. Wick's also has great wood and the wait it shorter.You picked the perfect first airplane.... a simpel plane to build with no needfor too many special tools.If you haven't already, check out my website/construction logwww.imagedv.com/aircamperSo..... where's the place to party in that area?! used to be the bars in Enterprise.....DJ VeghN74DVMesa, AZwww.imagedv.com/aircamper ----- Original Message -----

Original Posted By: Don Morris

Original Posted By: Don Morris

Original Posted By: Clif Dawson

Original Posted By: "Jake Crause"
Subject: Re: Pietenpol-List: First-time builderJake....I saw Bert Connoly's mention of my Piet in reply to your post. As he said, we are very close to Fort Rucker. I would be delighted to help in any way I can. You can reach me at _www.waytogopiet(at)aol.com_ (http://www.waytogopiet@aol.com) or phone me at (334)588-2422. Welcome to Alabama and the Piet community. Don Hicks ________________________________________________________________________________

Original Posted By: del magsam
reportEveryone: Thanks for the great response! I can tell I've chosen theright design, not only because of its great looks and other qualities,but because it has a great group of builders willing to help folks likeme. Several builders have contacted me on the side to offer support andthe opportunity to look at their projects. A newbie like myself cannotask for more than that.DJ: Your site was the first I read from front to back. Veryinformative and easy to read -thanks for taking the time to put it onthe web for the rest of us. As far as party spots here at Rucker? Wedo manage to have a good time now and then, but mostly my head is buriedsquarely in the books. Don Morris: Thanks for the advice on buying a partially completedproject. I'm sure I could save a ton of money but I think I'm going tostick with building everything myself. The building process is as muchof the destination for me as the flying and I really look forward to theday when I can point to my Piet and know every part of it is mine.However, after I've got 500 hours into the project, I may change mymind. But, for the moment, I'm feeling pretty idealistic. :>Don Hicks: I'll contact you off list. Thanks!Jake________________________________________________________________________________Date: Sat, 17 Jul 2004 08:15:43 -0700 (PDT)

Original Posted By: "rod wooller"
reportI had quite the enjoyable experience today and I would like to publiclythank Don Hicks for spending 5 hours out of his day to give me a crashcourse on what it takes to build an Aircamper. He patiently took methrough the ins, outs, pros and cons of building the Piet and also gaveme the opportunity to drool over his nearly finished Model A poweredbeauty. Thanks Don for the great hospitality and education.Thanks to all of you who emailed me off and on-list with great info andpointed me in directions I didn't know existed. It was those emails andDon's hospitality that made my decision to purchase the plans, glidermanual, and Mike's video this evening a very easy one. Not only is thePiet a great looking and, reportedly, flying aircraft, it's got one ofthe best group of builders I've seen. Thanks again.Sincerely,Jake Crause ________________________________________________________________________________