We spent the week at OSH and mingled with a few Panther builders while we were there – and it is awesome to get first hand feedback on how their projects are coming along. We hear about how things are going, how they are working through things, how normal life things are getting in the way of their passion for building and how they are pushing through. It is an amazing time for real people to get together and talk about their life experiences and how they are coping with them, and experimental aviation is there for them as a release – and a safe shelter, to get through this thing called life that we all go through. We all have obstacles – job changes, loss, relationship issues, financial changes/problems. None of us is impervious to these things – and we all deal with them. Experimental aviation is a glue and a bond that brings us together and makes us able to relate.
Imagine this – a person walks into the booth and asks us about something they are working on – and we engage them with “so how did you handle that?”, or “Here is what we tried, did you try this yet?”, or “That is no big deal, don’t worry about that and focus on this..”.
These are examples of the encouraging things that happen to most people at OSH – the biggest airshow in the world. Between talking to vendors about things, seeing the newest technology for avionics, lights or navigation and/or learning a new skill in the forums area – this is where the bonding happens. You ignite or rekindle that fire that people have about building their own aircraft.
So back to Pix’s airplane. ‘Pix’ is a Panther builder and his project is powered by a Franklin O-235. This is the first, and only to date, Franklin powered Panther. He is building the LS version of the Panther and is almost complete. Pix is no stranger to home building, as he built a Thatcher CX-4 before the Panther. Pix was very happy to share that he is awaiting his inspection for the Panther and the paint job, that he did on his own, turned out great (in our opinion, however he was very humble about it). He used Nason paint and here are some photos that he shared. We offer the Panther logo vinyl decals on our web store. You can see he installed LED landing light/anti-collision strobe in the air inlet.
We are very excited for Pix and happy that he shared not only his progress but these photos with us. Way to go, Pix!! WooHoo! Great job.
PIX – PS – We will need more photos when the wheel pants and exhaust are installed. Along with some engine install photos!
