Brazil

On earlier posts we shared with you the containerization of a WACO QCF and Fairchild 24W to be shipped to Brazil. About two weeks ago two of us, Justin Black and Ben Redman went to Brazil to assemble the airplanes. What a great experience!

We learned that ANAC, the Brazilian FAA has created a new Experimental Category to help facilitate aircraft like this being imported to Brazil. The QCF and 24W will be the first aircraft certified in Brazil under this category. We met and worked with the inspector who is assigned to this task and learned about their certification process. I believe this will open many doors for general and vintage aviation in Brazil. The interesting thing is that both Waco and Fairchild exported many airplanes to Brazil however, they must have all been for military or government use because, there is no supporting certification data on record with ANAC. Possibly their records don't go back that far or the people who operated them in the 40's just did not observe the rules.

Every day was an adventure. We had many people happy to help but, getting our hands on hardware or tools was a interesting task. Our hosts were incredible. The food was spectacular as well as the scenery. We even had the opportunity to do some flying while we were there. I will post a few different photos every few days for a while since there are so many. The best part was making great new friends while there and, knowing RARE will be in Brazil two more times this year!

Back to Work

We have been in our new facility for almost a month. What a move! Things are starting to find their final resting places piece by piece. We have a ways to go but, keeping focus on our work is important too. The team has done a great job moving and keeping customer work progressing as well. I've attached a walk through movie that takes you through part of the offices and most of the shop. Enjoy! If you want to see the whole place, stop by!

N173E took to the air last week for the first time since restoration. Here are a couple of shots from the flight. The show smoke is on but, did not show too well against the background. Good thing its adjustable, we're gonna turn it up a notch for the next flight.

73E flew well and, its pretty fast too! We have scheduled a formal photo shoot so stay tuned for some great pics!

Tick Tock

The building is almost done! We are planning on moving the week of the 3/22. With drywall complete in the offices the final wall color and tile is already going in! We are seeing huge amounts of visual progress at this point and the reality of the move is definitely here. Attached is a photo from the loft above the offices across the shop and a 360 video from the shop floor. Thank you all for the support and offers to help us move! Stay tuned for more updates.

Furniture?

There are a couple of companies out there taking wings, putting some legs on them, calling them a table and charging an obscene amount of money for them. Since we were interested in having a conference table made out of a wing for our new facility and a customer was interested in one for his new hangar we decided to get into the furniture business, sort of. So, in between wing sets, tail feathers and waiting for glue to dry, the guys are making some wing tables that will knock your socks off.

Dan and Steve our resident wood workers, a title that does not begin to address their talent, are quite creative and gifted. These guys can make anything happen when it comes to working with wood, they are true artisans. This same craftsmanship goes into every wing, stringer cage and other wood parts on our re manufactured to new standards restorations. No production type wood work in our as good as new airplanes. I've included a couple of photos of their handy work. Enjoy!

Finito!

N173E is complete and YELLOW! Rolling another one off the shop floor is a big deal at RARE Aircraft. Its big because we take pride in different and meeting our customers expectations while maintaining our standards. It comes down to one simple fact, we don't build airplanes with a cookie cutter that only gives options with panel and paint. We remanufacture airplanes to better than new standards while customizing it to meet customer expectations. This F-7, N173E is an example what our recipe can render. With a total of 10 field approvals and countless other details this airplane is very custom. Hope you enjoy these photos from the first run and taxi last Friday. Be sure to check back for more!

Last week our new hangar doors were installed by Schweiss. The building is now fully enclosed with one door sheeted last week and the other is being covered today. The office spaces have been heated for over a week now so the concrete work will begin this week. Everything is on or ahead of schedule for completion which puts the move on the calender for March. I think today's meeting with the contractors to pick out interior colors and furnishings will put a touch of reality on how close we really are.