Although I didn't make it to Oshkosh this year, I made a new friend instead.
My story starts on Thursday morning when I was planning to depart early for Oshkosh from my home base in Lancaster, TX. You might have heard that a storm came through early Thursday and dumped 13 inches of rain on Lancaster after no rain for the last 28 days. I drove through 6-8" of water in a few places to make it to the airport, but it became obvious the weather wasn't going to let me out for hours. I eventually departed much later in the day to work through low clouds to Salina, KS where I planned to stay the night at my parents' house.
I awoke Friday morning to local dense fog with clear weather just to the north and all the way to Wisconsin. About noon, things improved enough to depart, and I left on the second leg of my journey to Oshkosh.
About 20 minutes into the trip, my overvoltage light rudely interrupted what was the beginning of a great flight. After shutting everything down and trying to restart the alternator with the same result the second time, I turned around and headed back to Salina.
After I arrived on the ground, I knew I would need to find some help to get back in the air. The local FBO wouldn't even lend me a wrench, but I remembered there was a local builder on the field and logged on to the Internet at the FBO to get his name. I found the number and went back out to the plane to get my cell phone and call him. His wife answered and said that he was at the airport! She gave me his cell phone and I tried it.
Bill Horton answered and said that he had just left the airport and would return. I asked where his hangar was and it was less than 50 yards from where my airplane was parked! My luck was turning around!
Bill returned to the airport and stepped out of his truck. Hey, I recognized this guy! He was SITTING RIGHT BEHIND ME in the FBO when I was looking up his number! Unbelievable!
He then opened his hangar and showed me the most beautiful RV8 I think I’ve ever seen. (My apologies to Don Christiansen, Marvin Brott, and Mark and Pete Rowe) Bill and his son built the RV8, and his son was currently at Oshkosh after flying there with some other friends in a 4-place Cessna.
We spent the next 2 hours driving all over town trying to find a replacement voltage regulator with no luck. I tried calling the original supplier but he was at Oshkosh and I would have driven to Newton, KS to pick one up at B&C but I figured that they were at Oshkosh too. Keep in mind that the best place to break down during Oshkosh is AT Oshkosh!
After we were about to give up, Bill mentioned that he had an extra voltage regulator back at the hangar that came off his Bonanza a few years ago and had been repaired. We went back to take a look at it and although it was 10 times the size of my voltage regulator, it had the same color wires and I had nothing to lose so it would have to do.
I spent the next hour or two wiring it up, and temporarily attached it to the engine mount. We started up the engine, put a voltmeter on the bus, and unbelievably, it worked great!
I spent that night in Salina again since it was getting late, and decided that this year’s trip to Oshkosh was just going to have to wait until next year. I departed back towards Dallas in the morning and spent the weekend with my wife instead. The voltage regulator worked perfectly the entire way.
When people ask me why build an RV, my first answer will always be “because there are thousands of great people out there who have also built RVs and are always there to help you.” This has been true during the construction of my plane, and keeps proving itself over and over again.
I truly want to thank Bill Horton for spending his Friday helping me get back in the air again, and I’ll be sure to pass his kindness on to any other builder that needs my help in the future.
Oh, yea... the second reason for building an RV is because they are fantastic airplanes!