By Robbie Culver
Carlos Sanlley, EAA 1429208; Alejandro Marranzini, EAA 1286806; and Andrés Sánchez built a Van’s RV-8 in the Dominican Republic (DR). Carlos and Andrés flew it to EAA AirVenture Oshkosh 2026, arriving on Sunday, July 19.
A brief geography lesson may be in order here. The Dominican Republic is a nation in the Caribbean that is on the eastern half of the island named Hispaniola, with the other half being Haiti. Getting to the U.S. requires extensive overwater flight, navigating international customs, and overcoming the challenges of the weather.
Carlos told AirVenture Today, “It was the first RV-8 and the first Van’s aircraft that was built in the Dominican Republic. The process took us five years. It was a quick-build fuselage and wing. And it’s registered under the Dominican Aviation Authority.”
Completing a project is an accomplishment, but building and completing an airplane in the DR is a different adventure altogether. There are no EAA chapters, and there are very few experimental amateur-built (E-AB) aircraft built there. There are also different rules.
EAA chapters play a huge part in the success of builders, providing the community, support, and sometimes even the tools required to complete a project. We build aircraft for our own education and recreation. To qualify as an E-AB in America, we must “construct and assemble the majority of the aircraft” — 51 percent to be exact, which the FAA measures by defined tasks.
Carlos said, “Even though the Dominican rules are about the same as the FAA rules regarding aviation, we don’t have this type of community down there. This was probably the third aircraft to be built in the Dominican Republic. We don’t have a streamlined process to get it registered. So we had to involve the aviation authority from early on the process; we had to review the similar process that you have here in the FAA.”
It is easy to take for granted the freedom we have in the United States when we build aircraft. Thanks in no small part to EAA, there is a large community for support and advice, the rules and regulations allow us the freedom to build without strong oversight, and the tools and materials are readily available. Carlos said just ordering parts could take a week and a half to receive them. In some jurisdictions, even closing or covering a structure requires an inspection.
Completing a homebuilt in other countries is a testament to the dedication and commitment required for such a project.
Carlos said, “We constantly had a visit from the Dominican Aviation Authority inspectors to review the process of the build. This was also new for them. So I guess we were both learning about this process. They went basically in three phases of our build. The first phase was when we were dealing with the main structures, and they wanted to see the process of riveting, review the instructions, the plans, and that process of the metal sheet work.
“The second process was when we were building the avionics [package]. Our aircraft has a Garmin G3X. So they wanted to see what the manual says from Garmin, the connections, the different options that we could do with those setups.
“And the third inspection was the final inspection prior to the first flight. They wanted to see engine runs. They wanted to see the procedure on how we calibrate the fuel and how we assured that we were going to … get enough fuel flow. So they were very, very specific, everything related to the engine and power related.”
The aircraft has a Lycoming IO-390 and a Hartzell composite prop with a 15-inch spinner. It features the showplane cowling with the round intakes. Carlos said, “The process of getting that engine with that cowling, I can say it took us probably a year, additionally, in the build process because we didn’t have the specifics for all the accessories on the engine. So we had to make custom throttle, prop, and mixture cables, we had to make a custom exhaust to get proper clearance from the control cables. We had to change the oil cooler. Obviously, the oil lines, fuel lines, and so, yeah, we had a bit of deviation from the standard plans from Van’s, but everything at the end worked perfectly.”
Flying into Oshkosh requires planning, precision, and persistence. Flying into Oshkosh from the DR takes this to a different level. Their route to took them to the Bahamas, Florida to clear customs, then Georgia, Illinois, and on to Oshkosh via the Fisk approach. In the smoke. Carlos said, “We went through the higher route, 2,300 feet at 135 knots. At 135, the plane flies very happy. They gave us instructions to come to 36. So we went there, and we had a 172 below us. It was a bit more slow, but we ended up landing without any major issues.”
And then there’s that moment — “Welcome to Oshkosh!” Carlos stated, “I can say that I’m still on a high. I don’t think we are acknowledging what we have done. Coming from five years ago, the idea of making a plane, building it in the DR, that was a challenge. We didn’t have this community that the States have. We have no EAA chapter.
“It was a challenge because every time that we face it with something that we didn’t feel comfortable with, we needed to spend a lot of time researching, looking through the webpages, the foreign, calling people, asking for recommendations, and yes, it was a challenge.”
Carlos’ advice to other builders: “I can say that the best advice that I can give to someone building a plane is to have consistency. You’ll have great days, and you’ll have low, low days. On the low days, you still need to go to the workshop, even though you don’t do anything, but to spend time with the plane and to make it a routine. This is a matter of enjoying the process, but you need to take into account that some days you’re not gonna be as, let’s say, fluent.”
You can find the RV-8 in Row 382 of homebuilt parking, just northeast of the Brown Arch. Look for the unique registration number and the Dominican Republic flag decal on the tail.