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. |
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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. |
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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. |