By Sreekumar V Nair P. Eng., EAA Lifetime 1108291; EAA Chapter 1410, High River, Alberta
What can I do to tickle the minds of future generations to focus on bettering their goals in life? The thought of creating a small step in that direction is worthwhile to me, and it inspires me every time I look at my grandchildren. As a grandparent, I have certain old-school life experiences that drove me to better my goal in life, through working with my dad on automobiles during my childhood, then going on to complete a degree in mechanical engineering which led to varied experiences in large industries in different parts of the world. I participated in ancient martial arts for some time, intermittently participated in car and motorcycle rallies, as well as flying single-engine aircraft for fun. I think these types of activities are all going to be obsolete as human comforts grow exponentially in the future. I decided to provide an opportunity to my grandchildren to be part of a large adventure during my golden years, to instill in them that there is no substitute for hard work and inspire them by being a role model by creating a project for myself to accomplish a large goal in life.
With that end in mind I looked at interesting things to do like rebuilding an antique automobile or motor bike, maybe build a sail boat and go on a sailing adventure. In March 2021, I made my decision to work on a mission to fly around the globe. Though a bit of a stretch for the limited flying experience I have, I decided to compile information regarding the “Earth Rounders” trip, on a single-engine airplane that could be accomplished within five years of making my decision to fly by 2025 and 2026. I chose this schedule as age is catching up to me, and this will test my endurance limits at 68 years young when the flight begins. In my mind, I will leverage my flying experiences with the International Caribbean Air Rally and SUN ‘n FUN in 2016 that I did in my Cirrus SR 20, and my EAA AirVenture Oshkosh visit in 2014 in a rental Cessna 172 from the Calgary Flying Club, as well as Rocky Mountain flying as evidence that this is an achievable goal with hard work.
My initial understanding of the Earth Rounders trip was that to cross the Atlantic Ocean using the East route that I prefer, I will need an airplane that can cover more than 1,200 nautical miles, and it will need to be serviced and maintained for airworthiness every 50 hours of flying during the trip. I will need to find licensed or authorized AMEs when required, in any country, who are approved by Transport Canada to sign off on log books. Next, I understood that the “Earth Rounders” is a group of pilots that are being recognized by FAI Switzerland for circumnavigating the globe, will provide a one-year support period to complete the trip once I register for the trip, explicitly using the same airplane flown by the same pilot. That provided me with the required information to select an experimental aircraft to accomplish the mission, which fit my schedule allowing me the time to take a shot at rounding the earth that can accommodate a few parts of my family travel plans after retirement.
Though I plan to fly mostly alone, my wife will join me at interesting places where I would like to explore more. To start with, I initiated a buy or build evaluation on a few models from different kit manufacturers. Then I evaluated those models and narrowed down the option to the Van’s Aircraft RV-14A which I decided to build and fly. The initial cost estimate on the base model of the RV-14A was comparable with other manufacturers, but I needed more safety features and redundancy with the latest technologies and fun features to be incorporated to the base model which more than doubled my initial budget estimate. I still decided to go forward and to pull it off as the “Plan A” by involving my family, which in my mind, is very much the cornerstone of any such project’s success and the goal of inspiring my grandchildren to make goals for themselves.
On April 15, 2021, I began my journey and ordered the RV-14A standard kit from Van’s Aircraft. Then I ordered other components that included the Thunderbolt IO-390 EXP 229 from Lycoming, G3X 10.6-inch touch screen, backup system G5, GTN 750, portable Aera760, GMC 507 Autopilot, Smart glide, Diversity Transponder GTX 345DR, GMA 245R Audio panel from Garmin Avionics, smoke system from Smoke System Helper from America, 74-inch three-blade propeller from MT, upholstery and seats from Germany, LED lights and Turtle pack 35-gallon ferry tank from Australia, and so on and so forth. As soon as I received the first consignment, I started working on the construction in October 2021. Then I reserved a spot at the paint shop floor for my RV-14A (C-GXIV) at Cascade Customs and Design (CCD) at Bend, Oregon, while the paint scheme was finalized with EVOKE.
To prepare myself for the mission, I started by attending webinars organized by EAA, joined VansAirforce.net and EAA Chapter 1410 at High River to gain information, read kit-build books, watched videos, talked to a couple of recent Earth Rounders, prepared our three-car garage with specialty tools and machines, involved my family and friends in discussions on interior design and paint color, visited Van’s Aircraft factory and took a trial run on a RV-14A. I also have taken transition training from Van’s approved instructor, Chris Droege in Boise, Idaho, once a year since the construction began. I will be going for further familiarity flying in an RV-14A before I do my first flight testing sometime in 2025.
In Part 2, I will touch upon the challenges, endurance limits, mind boggling reworks, desired consistency, and limitations that I have experienced constructing the airplane after my normal office work hours. The time and commitment required might tickle the minds of builders who are still planning to go that route. Also “Plan B” will be covered in what I would do if God has a different plan for me and life happens.