Builders...
I used to live aboard a yacht...
"Yacht"
is a state of being that can be applied to boats large
and small if they are of exceptional quality and pass
muster with other yachtsman. In this case it was a 42
1/2 foot cutter rigged ocean sailing yacht. She had
enough solid teak on her inside and out to defoliate
half of Southeast Asia.
I used to say "if I ever get all the varnish on
this thing done and no dead or dying varnish on her, I'm
throwing one hell of a party"
(12 coats @ $25/qt applied with imported $12 badger hair
brush, wet sanded between coats and rubbed out)
...15 years and no party
...I
lovingly referred to my "Yacht" as "the condo"
Meanwhile,
just
across the dock, Jeff is out there applying a glossy substance
to the toerail of his 45 ft classic ketch in a 10 Kt breeze,
sandpaper in one hand (the upwind hand no less!), disposable
foam brush ($0.12) applying Home Depot varnish ($12.00/gal) in
the other. ... "Chrissi,
there are two kinds of boat owners; those that varnish and those
that sail" Jeff would literally sand with one hand while
applying varnish with the other.
Jeff sailed the heck out of that "boat" all over San
Francisco Bay.
Soooo...
my point is there are Builders and there are Flyers.
We must all do the builder thing for some amount of time; how long
depends on so many variables.
Those that can color between the lines stand a chance of having a
finished plane in a reasonable amount of time.
Those of us that say "what lines?" may wander aimlessly
for years on a journey that is an adventure in itself.
Below are listed some of the builders whose pages we refer to
frequently, sometimes we will not even go into the shop without
saying "did you check -so and so's- web page to see how he
did it?" Really, you only lose a little time compared to what
you could lose if you don't take the time to see how others dealt
with it before you.... or in the case of John Slade; every
possible manner things can go wrong. I don't mean that in a bad
way either, John has done the canard community a huge service by
exploring all the ways you can produce unsuccessful results. John,
you are truly one of our heroes!
If for some reason you are not listed below, please forgive us.
Those listed are the sites we refer to frequently for information,
entertainment or curiosity.
Cozy Builders (in no particular order):
Bill Kleb
Wayne Hicks
Phillip Johnson
Rick
Roberts
Rick
Maddy
Jannie
Versfeld
Al Wick's Prop page
Jerry Schneider
...and of
course there are several individuals who have distinguished
themselves, completed their projects and are in the enviable
position of being
Cozy Flyers (in no particular order):
Nat
Puffer
Greg Richter
Al
Wick's Cozy page
Tim Merril
John Slade
Marc Zeitlin
Norm Muzzy
Brian DeFord
And many more builders and flyers: http://www.maddyhome.com/canardpages/main