It is.... BUILT!

There are those that will tell you with ripe confidence that of course you can do it. Anybody can!

Then there are those that will tell you, some quite stridently, that you are crazy to even be thinking about it.

None of them know.

In fact, not even you will know, until you try.

I know.

I know that I can build an airplane, because I have done it!

I reached the last page of the build manual today. I have built an airplane.

This should not, of course, be considered to be synonymous with finishing an airplane. Although built, it is not yet done. There are numerous fix-it jobs to be done, there are pages and pages of acceptance inspections to be completed. The engine has yet to be run. The Feds have to come have a look-see.

And then I have to fly it.  Alone. For the first time.  For both of us. And even then, it will not be done. For it is a fundamental truth of this kind of thing that it will never be done.

But... it's enough for now that it is built.

Oddly enough, it did not finish with a crescendo. It finished with a couple of cushion clamps and some decals.

The clamps were those that I had deferred on installing last week, but with nothing else to do instead I went ahead and did them. Cushion clamps are hard enough to deal with as-is, but Van's pulled out the stops with these. This time around, they wanted an old piece of radiator hose cut up and fitted inside the cushion clamp to functions as a form of.... well, cushion I guess.

And there they are!

The decals are for the FAA-mandated placards to describe the function and operation of the controls for the benefit of whomever steals my plane.  I think they look pretty tacky, if I'm honest. This is an example of the "never done" nature of airplanes: I will want to replace these with something nicer some day.  Not least because the 'CABIN HEAT' decal is sitting on the heads of two screws.

So, there it is. The last step of the build manual. Stay tuned as I move into fixing, adjusting, inspecting, credentialing, and eventually flying!