Received the kit the day after my 50th birthday. What a present!!!! Had to sell my three Corvettes to satisfy the other half(read wife). Went through that $$$ rather quickly,with lots of assistance I might add. Don test flew the A/C the day before Fathers Day (his birthday) and I took my first flight on the 25th of July after cleaning up some glitches from the first test flight. Finished the 40 hour FAA req. on the last Friday in August, took a short trip that weekend to visit my brother-in-law and then departed the next Wednesday with my number two son for the Labor Day Fly-in in Redmond. Haven't had this much fun since I bought my first Corvette. If you need any help with your project give me an e-mail. I LOVE THIS STUFF!!!

Incidentally the CR in the side number just happens to be my lovely bride's initials!

I am working alone and have found construction to be reasonably straight foward, but it essential to be thinking ahead to later steps in order to to make things "easier" down the road. Factory support has been super (Carsten asked me to say that.)

Building what will be a Canadian registered aircraft in the USA has been an interesting but painless experience- so far. With a lot of luck and the odd minor miracle I hope to be flying by the end of the year-yes this year, not next year or the year after that or------.

I'll be glad to respond to other builders or potential builders. The easiest way to reach me might be through E-mail, but can also be reached at home at (972)355-3909.

Building at work in L.A., corner of 14K sq ft whse. Would like to find someone near to copy missing LNN issues. Avid shutterbug, have lots of pix to put together for "primo" Lancair. No more talk, time for action. Attended Redmond '97 & will be at Redmond '98. Plan to fly to OSH Y2K. Look for me leaning in your cockpit with my Pentax or Nikon.

My super ES was first flown on 12-13-99 and the flight test hours were completed in Feb. I have since flown it on some small trips and have done a round trip from Indiana to Sun N Fun 2000. Airplane flies really nicely and performs to expectations as well as bettering the factory numbers just a tad. I am very happy with the plane and as soon as all the glitches are worked out of the panel, I will be even happier.

The budget I had set for the project was not reasonable and was exceeded by a considerable amount. I have become much more a realist as far as costs are concerned now that I see all the little expenses that can eat you up. It depends entirely on one's goals for a project and what level of quality and what amount of "toys" one feels is necessary to make one happy.

I displayed at SNF. Didn't win anything but had a great time being there. Good luck to all the rest of the ES builders. You won't be disappointed. It's a great plane.

I would be happy to answer anything that I feel I know about. Thanks for the list.

11/9/00 Address:2155 Eaglewood Dr. Newburg, IN 47630. The airplane was completed and flown 12-99. Charlie Kohler did the test flights and transitioned me into it. Did a very good job. I now have about 115 hours on it and am still working the minor bugs out of it. Plane flies very well and performs just about the way Lancair said it should. 65% cruise at 7000 gets about 190ktas on 15 gph.

As for the budgeted amount listed originally, just say that I was way beyond naive to think I could have the plane I now have for that amount.

(the following was sent 9/1/02) Now have about 380 hours on it. Very happy. Made OSH for the first time this year. Was fortunate enough to garner an honorable mention award for Outstanding Workmanship. Quite surprised and very flattered. Lots of very nice planes there this year.

Plane continues to perform as advertised (or at least very close to the factory figures). Has been through two annual inspections with very little that needed to be addressed. Finally bit the bullett and installed the Goodyear tires and that eliminated tire wear and bounce. Those tires work very well.

Replaced brake pads this spring and am still not thrilled with the brake performance. I am thinking of installing the HD brakes from the IV. Vern says that should help.

Very happy with the avionics with the exception of the Arnav MFD. Will probably replace it with an MX20 fairly soon. Just waiting for performance reports on the Merlin WX service and how it works with the MX20.

In general, I am able to load two couples with weekend luggage and 75 gallons of gas and make nice little 450-600 mile trips. What fun that is.

Would love to give any other builder whatever knowledge I may have about things. I have experience in heat problems, OT problems, engine mount droop, and many other glitches that I have had to address. Be glad to share.

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I had heard all kinds of stories about how the Continentals were not getting past 600 hours or so without a cylinder overhaul. After asking alot of owners what settings they were using for cruise I had a hunch that the typical 2400-2500RPM @ 30-32"MP was a little too much to get to a greater than 1500hr TBO. So I decided to keep my settings always below 2400RPM @29"MP and also on the rich side @ 1650 max TIT @ 18-19Gal/hr. This has resulted in this particular engine being in perfect shape at 900+hrs. Oil tests are done every 50 hours and a commercial-type inspection is done ever 100hrs. Like every thing in life you get back what you put in. In a pinch on a FLL to LGA flight on IFR I will go lean of peak and get fuel down to 15-16 gal/hr for a part of the flight until the shadin says I have a 45min reserve. The engine has seen less than 5 hrs of this fuel setting.

The reduced MP that I run does result in a slower TAS of about 10 knots (250 TAS typ. instead of 260 TAS that others claim), but this is only an additional 10 minutes or so in a 4 hour flight! Big Deal! I'll take the long lasting engine! This plane is for sale because I just took the first flight of the new IV-P we built in Jan. 2000! Asking $350,000 and believe me it's one of the best built, cleanest, best maintained, and most reliable aircraft I've ever flown. E-mail me if you know anyone who may want to buy her or just to ask questions. Good Luck everyone!

(update 2/6/00) N335DF was inspected and test flown by Charlie Kohler on September 22, 1999. Total time to build was in excess of 7,000 hours with at least 95% of the work having been done by myself. Friends helped close the wings and fuselage halves. Casey Lewis provided professional help with the door and engine cowling. My wife Karen provided moral and financial support.

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