gboulton
Posts: 1862
Joined: 5/28/2005
From: La Vergne,
TN, USA
Status: offline
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Hey gang,
Been a while, eh? 
Words can't describe how pleased I am that, so long after the maiden of its original build, this thread is still alive, cheering the success othersare having modeling Jim's airplanes.
Honestly, I don't think there's a better tribute to Jim anywhere in the world. There's dozens of videos, music, fly-ins, you name it...but THIS thread CONTINUES to keep the memory of Jim and the Bulldog alive, it continues to spread a love of aviation in general, and the Pitts in particular, it continues to brig people together as friends through these shared passions, and it continues to EXCITE people with a little yellow and black airplane....in short, this thread is STILL doing all of the things Jim wanted to do in his life. I defy anyone to provide a better way to remember the man.
Joe, I really do have to say here, in public...the Bulldog II is nothing short of BREATHTAKING. I can't say any more...it's simply breathtaking. Well done, sir.
As for my own beast, a brief update is probably in order.
She now has 21 flights, the last 4 of which with (finally) a working smoke system. On her last 2 flights, I came as close as my feeble skills and 40 yr old fingers and eyes will ever come to "recreating" Jim's style. We did inverted jammers, some knife-edges at about 30', and even a descending torque roll.
Those two flights were the realization of everything I'd dared hope for when I began the build. My skills as both a builder and pilot simply will not allow me to ever come any closer to keeping Jim's memory alive.
As a result, the Bulldog now finds herself in "semi-retirement". I will, at this point, readily admit that I'm scared to fly her very much any more.
We discussed, shortly after Jim's death, the idea that Jim would have told each of us "Bah, don't be a wimp. Go fly it like you stole it." I think all of us agreed that if ANY of these models were to go in, it would be a shame, but such an outcome would STILL be better than never flying them out of "fear". And, honestly, why would any of us have put this kind of time and effort into such a project if not to look up in the air and "see Jim"??
So, it was only right that she got flown, and flown hard.
BUT
Now? Eh...it's a different thing...for me at least. I've done everything I could possibly have dreamed of doing. I finished the build, I kept Jim's airplane alive, I recreated his "style" in the air, and I've even had the pleasure of sharing it with Joanie an Tommy. What more can i possibly ask for?
In short...she's done everything she can do, and owes me nothing.
So...the LHS has requested that I allow them to hang her up as the centerpiece of their large display in their new digs, and I'm honored to oblige. She'll get a good cleaning, a correctly detailed 3-blade prop, and will spend most of her days reminding everyone who walks in of Jim's legacy.
She WILL come down 3-4 times a year for some "special events", such as a local fun-scale event, and, of course, the annual memorial fly-in. But she's done as a casual weekend airplane.
In any event, there's your update on the beast that started this madness. Allow me to close by tossing in my best wishes as well for a long and successful run with the Bulldog II, Joe.
P.S. So who's up for a 50 percenter??? 
_____________________________
The free man will ask neither what his country can do for him nor what he can do for his country. - Milton Friedman
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RE: Jim LeRoy Pitts Bulldog - Scratch Build Thread - 
