By Bob Calo, EAA 650482
This piece originally ran in the June 2026 issue of EAA Sport Aviation magazine.
Way back in 1999, I was invited to go for a ride in an RV-4 that a friend of mine had built in Westminster, Maryland. Having dabbled in flying as a teenager at the urging of my father (more on that in a bit), I couldn’t wait. Having only flown in Cessna 150s or 172s for under 50 hours, I knew nothing about the whole “homebuilt” thing. Man, did that change in a hurry! It wasn’t two minutes after liftoff from KDMW that I discovered what real flying was all about, as my friend, Vietnam vet and state police medevac pilot Tim Berry, put the little -4 through maneuvers I had only seen on TV or at air shows. In other words, the hook was set.
I began researching and running some numbers to see if building my own airplane was doable. When I told my father about it, it became clear that I simply had to do it.
Dad, Vince Calo, was a 19-year-old TBM Avenger pilot in World War II in the South Pacific in 1944 on the USS Suwannee, and his older brother Eddie was a B-17 captain in the European theater. (Bummer alert: Eddie’s B-17 Double Trouble went down in England where all were lost, and my dad’s TBM was shot down near Saipan and he lost his two crewmates).
Upon returning to the States, Dad’s dream of continuing to fly ran into the reality of the day and starting a family. It simply wasn’t in the cards for him to keep flying, which is why I was “encouraged” to get my private certificate in high school (circa 1979). But it wasn’t until the ride in the RV-4 that the bug got me.
I’ve always been good at building stuff, and am what some would say a perfectionist, but this was going to be way beyond anything I’ve tried before. Having only built RC airplanes, guitars, and models, I took an EAA SportAir Workshop (highly recommend) and invited my father along.
In 2000, the tail kit arrived, and my basement in Frederick, Maryland, was now an airplane hangar. My job as a Maryland State Trooper in no way prepared me for building an airplane, but one of my talents is knowing what I don’t know and seeking out those who do. Enter EAA Chapter 524 in Frederick, Maryland, who put me in touch with a technical counselor: my current hangar mate and friend, Tom Young, EAA 370169, A&P/CFII. Tom helped me work through the inevitable sticking points along the way and talked me down from the cliff when I wanted to give up.
As with any project of this magnitude, the process is a long series of fits and starts and a constant balance between life, money, and time. But inch by inch and step by step, piles of parts began to look like an airplane, and before long some heavy decisions had to be made about things that light up and make noise. This was the point of the project where I began to realize this thing might actually fly one day.
The fuel-injected Lycoming IO-360 has a P-mag E-mag ignition and a Hartzell constant-speed prop. The chrome-lined cylinders were eventually replaced in 2023 with four new Superior Millenniums. A Dynon two-axis autopilot is linked to my Garmin GNC 355 GPS nav/comm with a G5 horizontal situation indicator. An SL30 nav/comm and an Aera 760 round out my little panel with the good old Van’s steam gauges keeping tabs on the engine and fuel.
When it came time to paint, my friends at Royal Aircraft in Hagerstown, Maryland, made the project shine. Computer schemes went out the window when we started taping it up. In what was apparently divine inspiration, we just started taping and had the layout done in under an hour. The Alumigrip Chevy White and Metallic Merlot were sprayed over a high-build primer that looks as good now as it did in the shop in 2010. Compliments everywhere I go!
Of course, the one person who wanted to see the completed project and fly it the most was dear old dad. But time was not on his side as he passed in 2008. It would be another two years until the RV-7A would leave the surface of Runway 27 in KHGR, with Tom making the maiden flight. I know Vince wanted to see that even more than I did.
The performance numbers are just as Van’s advertises, which is to say outstanding, but the true joy is just how nimble and intuitive this airplane is to fly.
Whenever I climb into N717VC, whether for a beach run with my wife, Mary, or a lap around the pattern, the call sign is a constant reminder of two great men and a generation that came before me. The “17” is for Uncle Eddie, and “VC” is for his little brother, my dad, Vince Calo.
A special thanks to Dave Hirschman and Dave Tulis of AOPA for the air-to-air pics. One of the perks of having a hangar at KFDK, the home base for AOPA. Tom Young was flying Dave Tulis’ Tri-Pacer as Dave Tulis was taking the pics. I was getting a formation flight tutorial from Dave Hirschman in the RV. Thanks, guys!
Attention — Aircraft Builders and Restorers
We would love to share your story with your fellow EAA members in the pages of EAA Sport Aviation magazine, even if it’s a project that’s been completed for a while. Readers consistently rate the “What Our Members are Building/Restoring” section of the magazine as one of their favorites, so don’t miss the chance to show off your handiwork and inspire your peers to start or complete projects of their own. Learn more ->