A little bit about the owner . . .

I've been 'doing' Grummans since 1978. First, getting my primary training and soloing in a 2-seater, then student pilot, and time building in a Cheetahs and Tigers, and finally getting my check ride in a Cheetah. Other than some odd hours here and there in something else, and 150 hrs in a Citabria I restored, I've only owned and flown Grummans. I have been flying about 70 to 100 hours per year since then. I have over 1800 hours in Grumman Tigers, Cheetahs, and AA1A/B/Cs. I bought my first airplane, a 1977 Cheetah, in October 1984. I sold it in Apr 2000. Here is a picture of me and my Cheetah in 1997. Here is a picture of me crawling out of the baggage compartment in Cody Wyoming in 1998. In May 2000, I flew into Reno and got this picture of me at the Reno airport. Just in case you're interested, here is my 2nd plane, a 1978 Cheetah, and my 4th plane, a 2001 Citrabria (there is another picture of the Citabria on the projects page.) I began working on my first plane (the '77 Cheetah) almost immediately after buying it. Why? Soon after I bought my plane, I was sight-seeing at a local FBO andI watched an "FAA" licensed airplane mechanic doing some really pathetic work on a guys plane and thought, "There is no way I'm letting anyone else touch my plane." I got my A&P (Airframe and Powerplant) mechanics license in 1995 and my IA (Inspection Authorization) in 2002. Airplanes were a natural progression. I had been a gear head since I was 10 years old and started tearing lawn mowers apart (much to my fathers dismay. I can still see the look on his face!). I bought my first car, a '52 Olds 88, at 14, for $25 and owned 10 more cars before I graduated High School (I went to Highland High School, Salt Lake City, Utah and graduated in 1969). They were a : '49 Olds 88 ($15), '49 Chrysler Windsor ($15), '54 Buick Roadmaster ($35), '58 Plymouth wagon ($50), '57 Dodge Coronet ($150), '61 Dodge Polara ($0, given to me), '50 Olds 98 ($25), '61 Corvair 4 dr ($150), '56 Ford Ranch Wagon (I paid $50 for this one, pushed it home and then I put a '62 406 CI big block Ford with three dueces into this one; Read about the Great Race), and a1969 Plymouth Road Runner with a 440 cubic inch engine and three two-barrel carbs. I've had 38 more cars/trucks, 3 motorcycles, and 4 airplanes since then. ... Want to see them all? No one was surprised when I started college (at the University of Utah) and majored in Mechanical Engineering. With a Masters Degree in Mechanical Engineering, my first engineering job was doing basic research in Combustion Instabilities in Liquid and Solid Propellant Rocket Motors at the Air Force Rocket Propulsion Laboratory. Really a bunch of inbreds. So, after putting up with ego-maniacs for eleven years, I transferred to the Flight Test Center at Edwards Air Force Base. While there, I worked in the 416th Flight Test Squadron as a Propulsion Engineer on F-16s. This was, without exception, the greatest group of individuals ever assembled in one place*. After five years in Flight Test, I decided to live out my passions. AuCountry Aviation brought together all of them: design, engineering, flying, working on planes, restoring planes, inventing better cowlings, wheel pants, eyebrows, and, well, anything to do with airplanes. Even though I had been creating AuCountry in one incarnation or another since 1984, 1998 became my official first year being self employed. I also taught Beginning and Intermediate Algebra from 1984 to 2004 at the Antelope Valley Community College. I got a lot of satisfaction out of teaching. I mean, I have a captive audience for all of my bad jokes. If you happen to fly through Auburn, stop by my hangar and say, "Hi." . . . . . . Maybe you'll see one of my projects in process. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ * A special thanks to Mindy Johnson, John Tallarovic, Dan Roth, Kelly Adams, Deborah Erdman, and ... well, everyone in the 16s. Even the instrumentation and control room guys all came together to make things happen. Really, a great group of people to work with. Thanks.