Editorial

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By Ramelle Bintz
Advocate correspondent

The flight plan reads a little like an adventure novel:
"Had 2.5 hrs. on the plane ... flies GREAT! Was really starting to experiment with flight characteristics. Was preparing to land at my home strip (1000 feet, grass) and decided to do a go-around because I was off a bit ... well, upon giving it full throttle, I realized that for the first time ever it only went to about 4000 rpm, instead of 5200 or so.
"She just barely made it over the high tension wires at the end of my strip and really wasn't climbing much at this engine speed. Quick glance over the dials indicated no abnormal temps or pressures ... throttled it down and then back up again but still only about 4000. No hesitation or stumble ... smooth but not enough power.
"There is a heavily forested area beyond the high tension wires and I saw the tree tops coming at me. Kept it above stall speed and prayed for the engine to 'kick in' to high power, but the tree tops quickly grabbed my wheels ...
"The sound of a million beer cans being crushed reverberated as I spun almost straight down through the branches. In moments I found myself stopped just short of the ground as the last set of branches actually prevented impact into the ground. Absolute quiet as the engine stopped on the way down. I had not a scratch on me or bruise of any sort ... it was an AMAZING stroke of luck to be so gently brought to earth without injury."
The entry is signed by "Jon, the aluminum butcher from Brussels." His last name is Croke. He isn't in a novel. He lives in Door County and builds and flies home-builts - called "experimental" aircraft to differentiate them from commercially built planes - for fun.
"There are no accidents," he said emphatically, but for the brief drop through the tree. "Well now THAT was an accident."
Croke turned his nose dive into a novel business plan.
"At first it started out that I just wanted to document what I went through when I built my own plane," he explains.
The accident changed all that. As a teacher for Oracle software, training people was not new to him.
"I realized from my training with software that men in particular learn best by watching what you do rather than reading things in manuals," Croke said.
From his experience, Croke decided there was a definite need for a training video for people who wanted very basic information on how to go about building their own aircraft. And he just simply enjoys sharing his passion with other people.
"I already had experience writing training manuals and had some exposure to video editing," he said. "I was also fanatical about wanting to fly a plane I'd built with my own hands. When I started building, I realized there was a big market in beginners like me who simply needed some well-organized basic help."
While rebuilding his plane, Croke rebuilt his career from corporate trainer to a self-employed film producer in the hamlet of Brussels. His goal was to provide a complete library of quality training films for anyone who has yet to complete and fly their own airplane.
"John and Martha King have set the standards in pilot training films," he said. "I want to equal their quality and relevance in the building side."
Already, Croke's productions are getting noticed. His CDs are selling all over the world, and the national magazine Kitplanes recently chose to review his films and will rate several of his releases, including "How to License Your Homebuilt Aircraft," "Metalworking 101," "Deep Inside Your Rotax 2 cycle Engine," "Electrical Wiring 101" and "Rotax 912 Installation Tips and Technique."
"If you subscribe to the theory that knowing how a machine works may keep you from doing something dumb and hurting it, this is important," concluded the reviewer, Ishmael Fuentes. "Replacing even the smallest part on an engine will cost more than the video, and in that sense you might say that the video pays for itself."
The complete review is scheduled to go to print in the May Kitplanes issue.
Safety and training are dominant themes in Croke's vidoes, and "reducing the unknowns" is one of his goals.
Industry statistics show Croke is on the right track. The accident/death rate for home-built aircraft is less than 1 percent higher than for general aviation. Insurance companies charge the same rates for owners of mass produced planes as they do for home-builts. People who decide they want to build their own planes must meet and maintain the same licensing standards as people who buy a Cessna or Piper. The planes - mass produced or home built - must pass an inspection by the Federal Aviation Administration for an "airworthiness certification."
Croke's videos provide some guidance through the maze.
The newest film released by Croke's small production company is "Scratch Building Basics for Metal Aircraft." In the film, he goes to Canada and talks with two men who address the questions of whether building a plane from start to finish is right for you and, if so, how much you want to build and how many pieces or sections you want to buy already constructed. To qualify as a home-built, more than 50 percent of the plane must be built by the owner, but the amount can include prefabricated parts that are assembled by the owner.
In large part, the building process depends on how much time and money a person can afford. Kits are available for less than $5,000, and can take 1,000-3,000 hours to complete.
As in the housing market, there are a lot of do-it-yourselfers in the home-built aircraft world. The FAA licensed more than 23,000 craft nationally, and the number climbs by about 1,000 each year. According to an EAA source, 24 home-builts are licensed in Brown County, 27 in Outagamie County and nine in Door County (including Croke's kit-built CH701).
After deciding to build an aircraft and picking a model, the hobby flier needs to find a location for a personal airstrip. Croke, originally from Illinois, moved to Door County about eight years ago when farmland became available. He found the Brussels location to be perfect for his grass strip.
From 25-40 hours of test flights are required in a non-populated area to make sure all parts are working properly. After that a passenger can fly along with the pilot.
Croke's neighbors seem to take his flights in stride. Barely two years ago they were helping him pluck his plane from the trees near their woods. Now they stop by and watch his steady progress on rebuilding his plane. They are gearing up for the next maiden voyage of a plane "Made in Brussels."
Armed with a new flight pattern for his career, Croke just smiles.
"I never would have dreamed of this takeoff!" he said.
To learn more see www.HomebuiltHELP.com