| Almost a year ago I decided to realize my dream to fly before I got any older. Step one of the process was to decide what type/style/catagory of craft would best suit my needs. It was clear to me that GA was out of the question. I realized that if someone GAVE me a GA plane I would be hard pressed to afford to properly maintain it. I started looking at UL's. Aside from being easier to afford and maintain I liked the idea of unlicensed flight, being able to do my own mods and repairs, etc. So, I made a list of, "must haves". 1-Fully Enclosed. 2-Trailorable. 3-Min 60mph Cruise. 4- Rotax 447 or better. 5-Tricycle Gear. 6- Stits or Metal..No Cloth/Pipe. 7- Three-Axis Stick Controlled. 8- Good Lookin' :) Not asking for much am I? As I searched the net looking for examples I ran across a pic of a Sadler Vampire. I did some research and found the Vamp fit all my critera and then some. Now all I had to do was find one. I got in touch with the fellow that owned the vamp in the pic I saw. It was for sale! Oh boy oh boy! We worked out a price and I started to figure out shipping right away. In the interum I started the Sadler Vampire Enthusiasts Hangar site. 2 weeks later the best deal I could find to ship her from Australia was 6,000US. So much for that! I searched the net some more...al lot more.. and found another Vampire pic with big letters at the top, "SOLD". Not sure why but I decided to contact the owner anyway. It was sold alright but......reposessed for lack of payment. Ok, I found my Vamp. Worked out a price and hadt it shipped from Ca. to Fl. I got a good deal on her for 2 reasons. 1- she suffered some hangar rash and needed work. 2- The owner Geoff Barnatt is a wonderful guy and we must have been close budds in a past life:) Geoff spent hours wrapping her up in prep for a safe trip to Florida. He threw in every extra goodie he could find in the cockpit...spare tires, BD-5 brakes, Megellan GPS, and more! A month later my Vamp was still somewhere on the road and I was beginning to suspect aliens had snatched it up and were long gone. I was wrong, she finally arrived. She took a beating on the road and had several new dents and dings. But, the structure and all else important was rock solid. Not sure when the next idea popped up but I decided I needed a private pilot's license just to get the training to be as safe as possible. I'm still in flight school but nearing the end. Unfortunately, it and the related studies have taken much of my spare time so work on #008 has been slow. Quality not quantity I decided. Along the way I have met perhaps the best friends of my life and all on the net...all vamp owners/enthusiasts. There's Vince, Paul, Bart, Ryan, Geoff, and Kirk just to name a few. These ppl would be and have been key to my information gathering and tech tips. Completely invaluable to me. Ok, remember the last criteria on my list....she has to look good? Well, she didn't with all the dings, dents, and ripples in the pod. I didn't want to start in on any skin replacement until I knew what I was doing and had all I need to start...still waiting:) But, I have some body work experience and decided to start on the cockpit. Step one was to pull the instrumentation and everything out of the plane. |
