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     Phil & Margie Hodge New member Username: N410mp Post Number: 33 Registered: 01-2000 |
We started building Dora in 1993. “We” included: me, Phil, a structural engineer with an interest in computers and electronics and the belief that there were better avionics waiting to be invented; girlfriend Margie with a keen eye and hand for finishing details; and friend Joe, a retired airline mechanic. At that time we all had lots of time and few hobbies other than aviation. Building a plane was the logical thing to do. By the time Larry started the builder assist program, almost everything had changed. Joe was having trouble staying on his feet all day, while Margie and I converted “friends” to “marriage” and bought a farm in Tennessee. Margie was now self employed full time raising horses, leaving no time for fiberglass. And my engineering business was going full bore providing me with the need for more speed than my faithful Archer could provide, but also no time. And of course the avionics geeks from other shops and garages were starting to turn out the stuff I had planned on tinkering with after Dora was built. So we trucked the over 51% airplane to Olympia, spent a few weeks in the builder assist program to make a clean transition, and hired Larry&Co to finish her. We still wanted to do the paint and interior ourselves, but the good folks at Express did a wonderful job of getting her to flying stage. She first flew in 2001, and the next 2 years were a blast, racking up over 200 hours wizzing around the country at 180 kts. Some of you know the feeling, the rest will when you shut off your computers and go back to building. However, three things were happening. Hand/eye/foot coordination has never been my strong suit, and as I’ve gotten older that has not improved. So I never really got comfortable in her. I flew OK, but found there were flights I almost dreaded, sometimes looking for an excuse to fly the Archer or airlines. Secondly, as my business continued to grow Dora was still not fast enough, there were trips I had to take that involved a 6am flight out, returning at 10 in the evening. Not a good prescription for single pilot even under the best of conditions. Finally, again due to my work load, I was unable to take advantage of my special mechanics license and do my own maintenance. No time. So Margie and I had a series of long heartfelt discussions, and decided that it really made sense to recognize all this (not an easy thing to do) and go back to our old staid vanilla comfortable Archer. Airlines when necessary, Archer when possible, and admit that I’m not going to spend the time and energy necessary for this old pilot to be comfortable in the new fancy Express. Bottom line? Dora is for sale. She is too good an airplane to languish here, on the ground. We know we can never recoup all the money invested, but that’s OK. We had fun getting here. I’d love to take her to OSH to sell, but will be reinforcing a building in Miami that week. So there’s an ad in the OSH editions of “Trade-A-Plane”. If she doesn’t sell during August, the plan is to place a few ads in September, coordinated with an ebay auction, and get her into someone else’s hangar before winter. Specs follow, pictures will be on http://www.joistdesign.com/express shortly. She’s still in prime paint with loose cushions for an interior, so you get to finish her yourself. If anyone here is interested, please contact me via email or 423-365-4684 office or 423-309-8271 cell. 2001 Express CT 245 hours total time Continental IO-550N MT 4 blade propellor Apollo GX60 GPS/Comm Apollo SL30 Nav/Comm Apollo SL15M Audio panel Apollo SL70 Transponder S-Tec Auto pilot 4 fuel tanks I also have a Strikefinder waiting to be installed. | ||
| Phil & Margie Hodge New member Username: N410mp Post Number: 34 Registered: 01-2000 |
I'm serious about selling my Express. She's listed on eBay with NO RESERVE: http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=4589321511 Someone's going to get a heck of a deal!  |