Fri, Aug 29, 2008
Meet Bill Scheltema... a Michigan man who spent 20 years
building his own airplane, and is justifiably proud of the result
of his hard work.
Last month at AirVenture 2008, Aero-TV Video Producer Nathan
Cremisino was walking through the homebuilt area... and stopped to
shoot some B-roll footage of a pretty low-wing plane with a
beautiful "pegasus" painted on its tail. Bill soon came over, and
started to point out some of the special features of his
airplane... so Nathan handed Bill a microphone, so he could give us
all a guided tour!
Bill's Mustang II shows incredible attention to detail, and
sports better fit and finish than we've seen on some far-pricier
certified planes. From the well-organized engine compartment
housing an IO-360... to the all-leather cockpit, fronted by a
wood-finished instrument panel, and the "escape hatch" Bill
designed himself... to a lockable tailwheel connected to the
plane's flaps through a special linkage Bill also fashioned... the
end result of Bill's efforts is an aircraft any of us would be
proud to have in our garage!
Yes, we said 'garage.' Bill says he considered other aircraft,
including certified planes like Bonanzas... but opted for the
Mustang II in part due to its folding wings that allows him to
"putter" with his plane at home, with A/C in the summertime and
heat in the winter. He then trailers the plane to his local
airport.
Bill's handiwork was recognized in Lakeland earlier this year,
where he took home the Grand Champion award for plans-built
aircraft. That follows the Bronze Lindy he received at AirVenture
2006.
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