After 21 years of construction, the author successfully completed the first flight of their amateur-built, all-composite four-seat airplane, "Melmoth 2," describing the experience as a profound relief and sense of accomplishment akin to the birth of a child.
"Melmoth 2" is the successor to an earlier aircraft, "Melmoth 1," which was destroyed in an accident in 1982, prompting the redesign and lengthy build of the new composite version.
Initial flight testing revealed several significant technical challenges, including misrouted oil cooler plumbing, difficulties with landing gear retraction and extension, limited pitch trim authority, and inadequate engine cooling, all of which the author is working to resolve.
This is it: the end of a 21-year countdown. The 9,600-foot Mojave runway stretches out in front of me, the chase plane is coming up from behind. It’s clear and calm this November 1st-the day when, as I heard someone explain yesterday on NPR, “the barrier between the living and the dead is thinnest.”
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Peter Garrison taught himself to use a slide rule and tin snips, built an airplane in his backyard, and flew it to Japan. He began contributing to FLYING in 1968, and he continues to share his columns, ""Technicalities"" and ""Aftermath,"" with FLYING readers.
