It was never my intent to build a plane…
There are those that make it their goal to build their own plane and there are those who really just want to fly the plane of their choice. I fit the latter of the two groups. This may be because the farm takes most of my time and has no respect for my weekends, holidays or evenings.
My wife and I looked for the type of plane we thought was the best choice for the use we had in mind… A full sized four place that could fly off the dirt road on the farm, land nearly anywhere and had the capability of making cross country flights. Simply put, it had to be rugged, stable and the slowest landing plane I could find that would still turn in a respectable cruise. The Tundra had actually exceeded the numbers I was looking for and after flying it I realized the honesty with which Dream Aircraft had spec’d this plane. It beat the cruise numbers, it beat the stall numbers and the eight foot wide Grove gear allows stable transition to ground handling with ease.
Still, it was never my intent to build a plane…
That’s where the builder’s assist program fit in.
By substituting dollars for the time involved in building a plane completely from its parts, I could have the performance I wanted and still meet the FAA 51% requirement with the additional benefit of professional help and advice to do it. Sure it would cost more, but in my thinking that translated into the confidence that comes with knowing that it was done right. That confidence may even carry over to the second owner if ever there is one. At that time I believe I will call that resale value. So, builder assist program it would be, and we signed the dotted line on a hot July day at Oshkosh ‘06.
November 26th seemed to come around pretty quickly and I headed off to build my Tundra. I have to say at this point that I did not know what to expect of this program and the company itself had only one other customer build before mine and I suspected it would be a learning program for both of us.
I was impressed by the metal working capability of the shop on the first floor that supplied the parts for the Tundra aircraft. D & G (Desmarais & Gagné) Machining was well equipped for the job. CNC punches and computerized presses that promised each part will fit from the factory and that each one is like the next, a good thing to know if parts for my plane are ever needed.
On the second floor was a well-lit shop with ample work space and a friendly crew that would help me build my plane over the next two weeks. Make that three, as I had asked for the third week so that not only the airframe would be completed but the panel and engine would be installed also. As it turned out the engine delivery was delayed several days and during the third week we were unable to complete all the installation that was planned. To the credit of the Tundra crew, they continued to work on after the third week to reach the level of completion that I had asked for.
Because of this, not only the performance of the Tundra exceeded my expectations but the performance of the build program exceeded them as well.
So thank you Luc, Yvan, Robert, Jason, Patrick, Sebastian and Rosaire for making this happen and for making me feel at home during my stay. You helped put the quality into the plane that I never really intended to build in the first place, but am so glad I did.
Lynn Sanderson, Conde, South Dakota |
