Aircraft
Champions!
Chapter 663 members have produced and owned a number of award winning aircraft. Members have brought home a number of "Lindys" from Oshkosh, including that of Grand Champion. In addition, many aircraft have been judged as "best in class" at regional shows. The aircraft below have been EAA Chapter 663 champions.
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"Covergirl" is an appropriate name for this Lindy winning RV-4, built by Bruce Cruikshank and Barry Weber. Covergirl, along with Bruce and Barry, appeared on EAA Sport Aviation with a feature article in the magazine. Covergirl also has been the "poster" RV-4 for Vans Aircraft. |
| This section for Roger Hansen's RV | |
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Few aircraft hold the title of Oshkosh Grand Champion. This is one - Doug Henson's Falco. |
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Carl-Erik Olsen was awarded a Lindy for his ground-up restoration of this Danish KZ-VII. Carl's 1947 KZ is the only one of its type in the US, out of 56 built. It is powered by a Rolls-Royce O-300 and has full leading edge slats allowing for very slow flight and short ground operations. |
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Jim Patillo won a Lindy at Oshkosh in the plans built category for his Quickie Q200. Powered by a Continental O-200, Jim's craft has high compression pistons, dual Lightsapeed ignitions, leather interior, and a Cato prop. Jim has also won local awards including at Golden West and Merced. Jim's Q has been featured in Kitplanes Magazine. |
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Bob Sinclair took home a Lindy from Oshkosh with his beautiful Lancair 320. Bob was also "Grand Champion" in his class at the Northwest EAA Flyin at Arlington. Bob is a Technical Counselor for Chapter 663. |
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Barry Weber won an EAA Lindy for this Long EZ. |
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Barry Weber's third Oshkosh Lindy was a result of his restoration of this 1947 Beechcraft Bonanza. With a serial number of #18, the aircraft is billed as the oldest, most original Bonanza and has been on the cover of magazines, including Flying. Now owned by the Beechcraft Heritage Museum, the plane is on display as the "Weber Bonanza." |
Flying Aircraft
Chapter 663 members have a wide range of aircraft, from light sports, fast glass, production aircraft, and the ever popular RV.
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Scott Alair's "Obsession" is his IO-550 powered Lancair Legacy. Race 77 has turned laps at the Reno Air Races and has raced in the 500 mile AirVenture Cup. Scott has placed 2nd in the Sliver Division of the Reno Sport Class with a speed of over 285 mph! Scott built Obsession in about two and one-half years, working mostly on the weekends. |
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Bob Buckthal's "SunSeeker" is a Glasair IIS FT. Bob has flown SunSeeker throughout the Country and to Mexico. Regarding the color, Bob insists it's a "magnet." |
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Leland Collins has the first flying RV-9A in the Chapter. Watch out Stanford fans, this bird is for CAL. |
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Here is Harry Crosby's beautiful RV-6 over the water and against the California hills. |
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Bruce Cruikshank's second homebuilt is an RV-9A powered by an Eggenfellner Subaru conversion. |
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Dave Deford's and Terry Seaver's Europa has monowheel gear, and is powered by a Rotax 912. Dave and Terry are building glider wings for the plane. This aircraft can be trailered after removing the wings and horizontal stabilizer. |
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Dave Dent's IFR equipped Velocity XL/RG started as a kit in Australia, and Dave shipped it to Livermore for finishing. The 4-seat IO-540 powered Velocity cruises at 190 knots, has a 900 mile range, and a useful load of 1200 lbs. Dave reports it is a great cross country machine. |
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Mike Eichenberger enjoys aerobatics and cross country flights in his Mustang II. |
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Here is Bob Farnam flying his Quickie Q200. Bob is a Chapter Flight Advisor. |
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Dick Gossen and his Glasair III. |
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Gordon Jones has put over 1,700 hours on his O-320 powered Long EZ, which has been flying for over 20 years. Amazingly, Gordy built the plane in about five years, including a one year "break"! Gordy is a lifetime Chapter member for his work as an EAA Technical Counselor. |
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Dick Jennings' RV-6 is the latest Chapter homebuilt to fly. This plane sports an impressive paint job. |
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John Meyer, the Chapter's newsletter editor, recently celebrated the first "runway flight" of his Long EZ. John reported that "it flew a longer distance than the Wright brothers first flight." John's O-235 EZ should be fully flying soon. John is an ex-Navy pilot who flew some of the first jets. |
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Danny Parker in his RV-6. |
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Geoff Rutledge is having so much fun in his Glasair IISFT that he doesn't have much time to fly his other plane, a Quickie Q-200. Geoff has taken the Glasair to Oshkosh, Canada, and many trips to Arizona. |
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Here is Bob Steffen and his RV-7A at Oshkosh. Bob enjoyed the building process so much that he is working on an RV-10. |
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Gregg Triplett's RV-4. |
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Greg Young flys his RV-6 out of Concord. Greg recently converted his plane from a fixed pitch propeller to constant speed. He is very happy with the outcome. |
Projects
All of the aircraft shown above have one thing in common. They were once projects! See what our members are working on.
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Jeremy Constant is shown with his RV-7A. Jeremy plans to cut travel time on summer trips to Sun Valley. |
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Brad Oliver is building an RV-7. Along the way, he is documenting progress on a website - RV7 Factory.com. Visit to learn a thing or two and view Brad's fine work! Click on the site name above or on the Links Page to go to Brad's site. |
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Alan Thayer is refurbishing this Quickie and has installed a six cylinder Jabiru 3300 engine. |
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Rich Vetterli is building a Zenith CH601XL powered by a Corvair engine. |
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Barry Weber's latest project is a Glasair III. |