Bill Roerig’s 33 Year Long Sequoia Falcon Project Finally Flies
By Grace Huseth
EAA AirVenture 2015’s Homebuilder Review flight featured an impressive Sequoia Falco- with an even more impressive flight story.
The Ferrari of kit planes was built by Bill Roerig over the course of 33 years. A meticulous teacher of all things industrial arts, Roerig took a homebuilder’s attention to details to a new level by crafting his own tools to build each custom part. He finished the aircraft to the very best of his standards but never lived to see it fly.
“The Falco is known to be a sophisticated project. He set out on this journey to prove he could build every single part by himself,” Falco pilot Brian Lee said.
While a welding instructor at EAA’s student camp Air Academy in the mid 1980’s, Bill met fellow volunteer instructor Brian Lee. Lee said they found common ground, struck up a friendship, and learned all about his aspirations for the Falco. Twenty years ago Bill entrusted the first flight to Brian.
Bill’s sons Al and Michael Roerig explained that their father was a very intelligent man who needed a project that would challenge his crafting ability while creating a slick racecar-like image. With help from Brian and other EAA tech counselors, the process was reported, tracked and each detail got discussed over the lunch and dinner tables at Air Academy.
Roerig started his building process in 1982. It took him three years to build the metal parts, and after retirement in 1985 he flew out west to hand-pick his own wood and Sitka spruce for the spars. At the same time he was building his house in Wisconsin with two objectives: use his mechanical mind to build an energy efficient house and build a structure that could double as a workshop for the Falco.
“He designed the house and garage specifically to fit this airplane. He knew he was going to build this airplane and designed his garage a certain way so he could put a hole in the ceiling for the tail of the plane,” Al said.
His dedication didn’t stop there. Bill’s sons explained that he hand-formed the fuel tanks by jacking up the floor of the house and using its massive weight as a press. Each rib he bent and wooden piece he shaped required fixtures that needed to be built before even crafting the pieces themselves. He built all of the landing gear pieces from scratch including the oleo shock struts, the bearings and grooves for o-rings.
Roerig was finishing the plane right up to the end of his life. Al said his father started on the intricately stitched upholstery seats six months prior to his health declining.
“He specifically bought an old time Singer sewing machine for upholstery so he could build his own seats. He was very ‘do everything himself’,” Michael said.
In September 2014 Brian got a call from an insurance broker who said Bill wished to put him on the insurance. Brian assumed Bill was getting ready for the first flight, but in reality he was getting affairs in order after being diagnosed with stomach cancer. Then in late winter Bill’s wife informed her husband’s builder buddies that his health was declining more rapidly.
“I called another Falco builder and asked, ‘Do you think we should try to go right now and fly it past his window so he can see it?’ We agreed we would do that but he died three days later,” Brian said.
Al said his father, who died of old age at 91, was a strong Christian and wanted to ride out his last days and pass away at home. While he may have not been able to see the Falco fly, many people at EAA AirVenture 2015 saw it soar in the Homebuilders Review, appreciated his hard work, and were touched by his story.
Upholding his promise to test the plane thoroughly and ensure that the airplane was safe, Brian has taken the Falco on 31 flights and has logged over 42 hours of flight time. The Roerig sons are not sure what the future plans are for the Falco, but are determined to see it continue to fly. In the meantime the sons are enjoying the memorial to their father and are looking forward to an air-to-air photography session.
Brian’s Top Five Favorite Falco Details:
- Screw heads are exact same orientation
- Precise cut-outs around control surface hinge and nut reduces air drag
- Falco logo carved into brake pedals
- Falco logo milled into top of the stick
- Transmission housing for the landing gear retraction mechanism was cast himself (pictured)
“This is the first outing and there has been a big push to make it this far. We are going to let the dust settle a little and then try to formulate a plan. We are giving it some prayer to understand the best way to move forward. We would like to see it flown instead of in a museum,” Al said.
(Staff images)
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