Visit from the Past!

So there I am in the hangar, removing the empennage fairing so I can inspect the elevator controls and the VS/HS attach points, when this motorcycle rides down the taxiway in back.   At first I think it's one of the regulars, but it's clear it isn't.  The motorcycle turns around, he looks at me, and nods yes.  He pulls into the driveway, and says, "I figured I have to visit every 20 years or so."

I recognized the voice, and said something like "OMG!".  He opens the helmet, and there was Sam C. Lee III, my best friend from high school!  We rode and maintained motorcycles as teenagers, and that was a big part of the foundation that allowed me to plunge into building an airplane with zero self doubt.
Sam's family was kind enough to give me a home when I returned alone from Germany to go to UT Austin.
I'd been fretting because I couldn't seem to find him, but it turns out he lives near Lampassas and works in Killeen, not where I was looking.



Sam helped me do the RV-9 HS attach "SB" (adding washers under the bolt heads), we finished up the inspection, put the fairing back on, and went to lunch.  The weather was building up, with a nasty cloud to the north, so we opted not to fly.  But that gives me great excuse to fly up to Lampassas and checkout the courtesy car!



For July 5, 2012
Oil change.  100W+.  Only one small speck of metal in the filter, finger screen was clean.  Installed new spark plugs.