Building an Aircraft

I grew up in Oshkosh, Wisconsin, population 54,000. I moved away to finish school in 1978. Oshkosh is home to the largest airshow in the world, the annual EAA Fly-In convention, now called AirVenture. To pilots, the word “Oshkosh” means an event, not a city. To me it’s still my home town with siblings and lots of family still there. What does any of this have to do with business? Read on.

After years of spending my week at the EAA convention in Oshkosh, attended by ten thousand planes and a half million spectators, I often dreamed of building my own plane, but the time commitment and skill necessary to build something from a basic kit made it seem far out of reach. I loved seeing the incredible aircraft people dreamed up, and the amazing fit and finish of some builds. Some flew better than others yet they were all about the same thing, building your own plane and flying your dream. I often thought about what it would take to build something safe, that actually looked good upon completion. It was a project I wanted to pursue. When I was thinking about my life and my goals, I realized that if I didn’t build it now, I would probably never do it, and that was reason enough.

My hands are still sore after spending almost three weeks working very long hours. Most of the work is done by hand. We were working in a hangar at a very remote location outside of Boise, Idaho on a runway/private road called “Touch and Go Avenue,” about thirty miles out of town. I was completely focused on the assembly that often required your hands to go into sharp places or to pull wires, hoses, and other parts into place. It was physically demanding work and I have the scrapes, bruises, bumps and burns to prove it. To see just how remote this place is, I suggest a Google.

I was building a Calidus gyrocopter, and to be specific, a two-seat tandem new generation craft, with a Rotax 914UL engine, fully enclosed, modern cockpit. This was not the Bensen copters of the 60s. This is something born from new technology with the first flying in 2009.

I picked this aircraft over others, because when I flew R22s in the 80s and 90s, I was practicing hundreds of autorotations and so I thought it would feel familiar and the short landing would grant me access into the smallest airports in our area. The Calidus safety record is also very impressive and I want to fly with my dog and not have her sit next to me where she could potentially bump something important at the worst possible time. This ruled out an R22 and besides, I still liked the idea of building something. For a guy with no kids, it would be hard proof that I was here.

The Calidus has some impressive specifications and they have become extremely popular in Europe because of their capabilities and their quiet operation. AutoGyro has built nearly 2,000 of all models since their first machine and well over 500 of the Calidus alone. The aircraft is type rated in Europe and so they are not a well-structured company for kit assembly. To bring this aircraft into the US requires that 51% be assembled by the owner and recorded as the builder. I can’t hire someone to build it for me, nor is it something I would do.

Before I placed my order, I watched every video of a Calidus on YouTube and there are hundreds of both interior and exterior clips to review. I studied each video carefully to make sure I was going in the right direction and buying a sound aircraft. I was pursuing something really crazy and I knew it. It would suck if I failed.

Still, as I pondered the thought of buying and assembling a Calidus, all of my reasons for not going forward looked like small obstacles, however there were some challenges. The first was finding the time for the build with my busy schedule advising CEOs and partners. This meant careful planning. Everyone who went through the process who I could reach said it would take from one to two weeks to complete. The truth is it takes a lot more time. I now wonder about how they could possibly do it in less time.

The second challenge is that I’m not someone who’s likely to go turn a screwdriver for fun. Virtually all of my experience with tools is to fix rather than build an object, so I’m a complete novice. I wouldn’t regard myself as someone who’d build a chateau of a birdhouse on a weekend. All the tools I own would neatly fit in a duffle bag and still have room for a fluffy ham sandwich. This reality also meant I couldn’t have the kit sent here to Kirkland or my garage in Federal Way and that I’d have to go to a location where someone had the right tools and experience building this particular model who could assist me in the project.

It didn’t matter so much where the dealer was located, but I needed a good one, one with solid build experience and a strong reputation for quality and deep knowledge about the product. This was why I chose Cammie and David Patch of Glass Cockpit Aviation. I saw Cammie’s personal build and I was impressed and her husband David also had extensive assembly knowledge. I concluded I’d be in good hands with their help and I wanted to have a solid, no-shortcuts build.

Cammie and David were extremely important to my success. David is a former career HP employee with 32 years of hardware/software knowledge. He was particularly helpful in all matters related to electronics, while Cammie was an encyclopedia of builder tips and general mechanical knowledge. She can build or fix anything. To say they know their stuff trivializes their depth of skills.

We wasted no time from the first morning we started and usually worked eleven or more hours a day, including time to photo-document the day’s progress. In total, subtracting for breaks and documentation time, we spent 135 hours in the build, which coincidentally is about the same number of assembly chapters in the provided assembly directions. It was like Ikea on massive steroids.

Here is where the business part starts: We didn’t just follow the steps. When possible, we worked like a scrum where logical steps were laid out in dependency order and carefully discussed so we could always maintain momentum. We never were delayed by any step as there was always something to get done while we were waiting for an answer from the importer. We each had a defined role. Cammie served as project leader and David as foreman and me as laborer to comply with the FAA requirements that I build 51% of the aircraft. We followed a classic patter of putting the right skills in the right position. My only call was most of the start-stop times.

I kept thinking about what we were dealing with at each step and I kept wondering if the same method could be used to take someone with no prior CEO experience and turn them into a great leader. I believe it's possible if the CEO candidate absorbs instruction. Sure, they will make mistakes as the role is surprisingly demanding, but with the right talent to provide decent guidance, like our build, it can be done and done very smoothly. The lessons in the build stuck with me as they should with anyone who's contemplating the role as CEO.

Cammie had enough Calidus build experience that she knew when to deviate from the construction order for a cleaner assembly. Both instructed me about how to build and I was never idle, even for a moment. If I did sit down at the laptop, it was either to review instructions or to ponder a solution to something we were considering. This is the same team a great CEO should have surrounding them.

We worked like a seasoned team and everyone pitched in to contribute somewhere every day. It felt like a real group effort and we all worked diligently for the best possible outcome. We had problems to solve and we worked out solutions collectively and simply chose the best ideas without hesitation. There was a high level of respect all the way around and so the process felt very smooth, even when we’d have some minor setbacks. Part of the reason it worked so well was because we defined the goals before we began the build.

Upon my arrival, Cammie estimated it would take three weeks. I said I wanted to narrow it to two, without compromising the quality of our assembly in any way. She said we’d just have to work longer hours and I said I was fine with that and so we did. It took us 135 hours and with three people all working together, we spent just over 400 hours on the assembly, not including the time for fine tuning upon completion. We got it done in two weeks flat.

Adding to the complexity of the project, the German translation of assembly instructions from German to English were extremely inadequate and it definitely delayed the build as we had to take time to study multiple photos very carefully to understand their directions. I would go so far as to say that the instructions were the bare minimum.

What was extremely impressive was the quality of the product itself. Some of the machined parts were so beautifully made it was a shame hiding them inside somewhere. AutoGyro makes a very high quality product with careful attention to fit and finish. I also had a very strong appreciation for the overall engineering.

When we finished, the FAA inspector came by to sign us off and issue the Certificate of Airworthiness. He was impressed by our work and thought it was an outstanding build.

I’ve watched first flights with other Calidus on YouTube and I often feel a bit anxious watching these videos, however when it was time for Cammie to fly mine, I had no worries at all and would have loved to be the first to fly it. I’d spent hours and hours going over the smallest details to make sure it was perfect. I reviewed our progress every night and I made sure everything was checked and rechecked multiple times. We found a few adjustments after the first flight, but we expected to find something we couldn’t identify with it sitting in a hangar. Our results were because of our willingness to commit to an outcome, our careful analysis of our progress combined with our critical analysis of our completed tasks.

Sure, we made some very minor correctable mistakes that were extremely simple to correct, however we never let these little setbacks deter our mission to complete our build on time. We just continued without hesitation until we were satisfied with the outcome. We all knew it would fly beautifully and it did just that.

The build experience was something I will never forget. It gave me a new appreciation for mechanics and what they deal with on a daily basis. It was kind of nice to have a moment when all of my problems were focused on what was in my hands. There was something meditative about the process.

I learned a lot about myself along the way. Some tasks listed in the directions looked impossible yet they worked. There were times when we’d have to trouble shoot something and I’d sit there for a moment not knowing where to begin. Cammie would reassure me and walk me through a decision tree with her knowing the answer all along. She would leave it up to me to execute a solution after I ran it by her. I’d then get it done and that felt great. I tend to be a perfectionist and so I’d carefully walk through each step to make everything just right.

I now know my way around my Calidus and every inch of the assembly. Troubleshooting and succeeding instilled a sense of confidence in both me and the product we created and I made me realize there are so many things in the world we can do if allow ourselves the opportunity to pursue them.

I also came home with a strong sense of confidence in the quality of what we built, that this Calidus will fly right for many years because of the care we took, and our commitment to do it right. I can’t wait to fly it home as our next mission.