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08/08 Meet your editor
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Meet
your new editor
By Patrick Panzera EAA 555743
I'd love to
introduce myself by writing that I have a
bazillion hours, every rating possible, military
and airline stick time, that I'm a DAR, Tech
Counselor, the winner of any number of the
prestigious EAA and military awards, and that I've designed,
built and flown my own experimental aircraft as
well as several other designs, but
the truth is, none of this is even close to
correct.
I'm certainly no
superhero but, as an EAA member and supporter, as well as the editor and publisher of
CONTACT! Magazine (an independent,
non-profit experimental aviation magazine
Read More), I was
absolutely thrilled when I met with Adam Smith, David
Hipschman, Mary Jones and Charlie Becker
to discuss my active
participation with EAA publications, namely,
this newsletter. With EAA's overt
recommitment to the homebuilder's segment of
general aviation, I couldn't be more honored
by being recognized and asked to help with this effort.
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So who am I? I'm
a 49 year old father of two, grandfather of two,
and I've been happily married since I was 20. I
met and wed my wife while I was serving a
single tour in the US Navy. I'm a California
native and was formally introduced to aviation when
I was 14 and had an opportunity to work as a
lineboy at the El Mirage gliderport. Aviation
was in my blood from birth but my first flight
wasn't until I was 14 or 15; still, I manage to
solo before I was 16. Solo was in a
Schweitzer 2-33 sailplane trainer but it wasn't
long after that when I transitioned into a
Schweitzer 1-26 single-place where I was content
to remain a student pilot (lazy teenager...
feared the written and practical).
As with
far too many of us who began flying at a
young age, my passion had to take a back
seat once I got married and started a
family, but about the time my kids were
young teens and my architectural
business was well established, I was
again in a position to slip the surly
bonds as it were; but this time with a
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Circa 1975
in a
Schweitzer 2-33 on low-tow behind a
war surplus Fairchild PT-23. |
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propeller
affixed to the business end of the craft
involved. I initially decided to finish
up my glider rating but after visiting
the local soaring club and running the
numbers for the club buy-in, the rental
cost of the ship, the price of the tow,
and the instructor fees, the cost per
hour exceeded powered flight. When I was
a kid, I really didn't realize how
expensive soaring could be as I received
a 40% employee discount off the cost of
the tow, plus the ship and instructor
were free. My new plan was to get a
power rating and add on the -G soon
thereafter, but once I started flying
power and realized that an airplane was
more than a toy, it was a tool (allowing
me to travel efficiently for my
business) I've not been back to the
gliderport and instead I've added an
instrument rating rather than the -G.
But someday.... |
No sooner did I begin my powered flight training
did I realize that I wanted my own plane, and I wanted to build it myself. I knew
vaguely of the EAA and had plenty of friends who built planes, and with
professional cabinet and furniture building experience under my belt, not to mention a strong
mechanical aptitude and some fiberglass tutelage from the A&P at El Mirage, I figured building a plane would be right up my alley.
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From the day I took that introductory powered
lesson, six months elapsed before I had my private pilot's
license and on the very day I got the ticket, I found myself at our local
chapter's (1138) first meeting where I became a charter member. That was over 10
years ago. Shortly after that I found and purchased a partially complete
Dragonfly project and began working like crazy to complete it. Not content with
the VW engine specified for the two-place, tandem-wing, all composite
sport plane, I decided to install a six-cylinder Corvair engine. With
precious little information or experience with the Corvair out there to
glean from, I ended up pioneering the installation for a Dragonfly and a
Quickie Q-2. Neither airplane ever flew as no sooner did I get engrossed
with the Corvair, the golden opportunity to become the editor of
CONTACT! Magazine Read More fell
in my lap (and my daughter started having children... a wonderful
distraction!).
Although the duties of
producing the magazine have taken all of my "spare" time (it's a
part-time volunteer gig with my architectural business paying my
personal bills), to the point that |
| Pat running his
Corvair/Dragonfly firewall forward on his engine test stand at a
tandem-wing fly-in, complete with telemetry for a vibration study. |
| my personal
projects have stagnated, I'm ok with that as my ultimate goal was to
become totally engrossed in aviation, any way I could. |
With help from my friends and loyal supporters of the magazine, I have successfully grown CONTACT!
over the years. It has taken me, every year, to all the major fly-ins throughout
the country, and many more local events, where I have developed deep
friendships with many of you and as a result, doors have opened. Now I find myself working
directly with the EAA, a major dream come true. I just hope I
can maintain my self-imposed high expiations for my contribution, and
with your participation, I'm sure we can
bolster the homebuilding community in a substantial manner.
I seriously look forward to serving in this
capacity for many years to come, and I would encourage you to check out
CONTACT! Magazine and see if it's a work you can support as well. |
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Pat's grandkid's early immersion into experimental aviation. They
are a few years older now than what this photo shows. |
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Thank you.
Sincerely,
Patrick Panzera
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