The Murphy Builders Site

I'll be working in Home Built Camping all week, so if you need something, be sure and look me up. In case you haven't heard, we have some new vendors and will have flush toilets and a new shower trailer facility. Remember, we will have coffee every morning beginning at 5am.
Best,
Jerry Folkerts

It was a banner year for EAA -- all categories were up by about 15%. We had over 1100 homebuilt aircraft at the convention this year -- and Murphy was well represented. Jim Sellers was there with his Moose, Don and Joy with their Super Rebel, Neil with his Yukon, Gilbert with his Elite, and Si with his Rebel. They all sparked quite a bit of interest. I promised Paul Dye, the editor of Kitplanes, that I would try and draft an article on the Murphy line-up this year at Oshkosh.

Since I worked in Homebuilt Camping, I met most of the aircraft owners, 95% various RV types. That said, many of them are interested in finding something a bit more fun such as a Rebel. Those of you trying to sell, should try to reach out to that audience. That said, the "pulled rivet" thing is an obstacle for some. There are a lot of myths out there about pulled rivets. I work hard all week to dispel myths and build support for the Murphy products.

Walter, I met quite a few people from your neck of the woods that knew you. Amazingly, they all had great things to say about you

We had a great party on Tuesday evening, thanks to Bob and Anna, our gracious hosts. Everyone had a great time and we even had a few brats/beers left over to share with the RV crowd.

The weather was fantastic and the new facilities were well received. Many of the women in Homebuilt Camping were emailing their friends to tell them to come next year. We had flush toilets and real showers -- the best on the convention grounds.

Now, a day to decompress, sleep in a real bed, then back to finish the wiring on the Super Rebel.

Best,
Jerry Folkerts

Jerry Folkerts wrote: Walter, I met quite a few people from your neck of the woods that knew you. Amazingly, they all had great things to say about you

Well, that's good to hear.... lol,... guess you met the right ones...

Glad Osh went well for you guys. Weather out that way always scares me...

Heard there were a quite a few approach or landing crashes this year??...

Walter,
Yes, three accidents that I'm aware off. All pilot error. The first was an RV-6A landing in a crosswind. He buggered up his landing and got into a pilot induced oscillation and broke his nose strut. He ended up on his nose but was ok. The second was one of two in the world RV-4s with retractable landing gear. He landed with the gear up. Unknown whether it was his fault or an aircraft malfunction. The last was the most tragic, a Piper Malibu with five people on board. He apparently got too slow on the final turn and hit the ground hard, shearing off a wing. There was a large fire. Four got out and the rescue folks got the final one out. Another was hurt trying to help. All ok but one in critical condition. This one will be interesting when the NTSB issues the report. My opinion is a lot of the pilots get hung up on hitting the "dot" and forget to simply land the airplane. I watched many trying to hit the dot at the expense of missing it a bit and landing smoothly. For those of you that haven't been, I recommend the Friday prior, or early Saturday or Sunday morning. The traffic is not bad at those hours. Two years ago, I landed fifty miles away, spent the night and was the first one to arrive the following morning. No one in front or behind me.
Best,
Jerry Folkerts

With the Malibu, he might have been crunched up too close with all the traffic. That can be a problem with a mix of slow and faster traffic getting too tight. Not making excuses for the pilot, but as we all know, accidents happen when we get distracted or get too focused on something other than flying your airplane.