Dennis Butler has had two careers. The first, based on his degree in physics, was working for a number of companies that were involved with NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston. The second was his Cozy III. The aircraft was an “endeavor” that took 20 years to build and kept him fascinated and involved all the way. This past summer he flew his Cozy to AirVenture and, after winning a Silver Lindy in 2011, he took home the Golden Grand Champion Plans-Built Award.
The two decades of learning and effort that went into Butler’s project are a testimony to an individual who enjoyed learning as much as building and flying; to someone who never saw any part of the project as insurmountable. He just encountered each new skill requirement or aircraft system as an opportunity to learn, knowing he could master whatever it took to get the job done. This was more than a simple assembly program. it required learning how to do everything, from determining what materials he needed, to mastering every form of fabrication.
