OSHKOSH (NBC 26) — The spirit of EAA AirVenture can be found in the home-build section, where pilots show off their hand-made airplanes and where Dave Nason displays his unique wooden aircraft– a project that became a family affair.
- Dave Nason built a wooden passenger airplane in his garage.
- Nason and his wife, Tamara, have flown the plane to AirVenture for decades.
- Nason says his four daughters helped him along the way.
(The following is a transcription of the full broadcast story, edited for web)
Dave Nason, an air force veteran from Washington, is more than just a pilot.
"It’s complex, it’s hard to do, but it’s a challenge," he says.
He built a fully functional passenger plane in his at-home workshop.
“I took five and a half years to build it, which is pretty good time," Nason says. “It’s really not that hard, it just takes a lot of patience.”
Take a look at the plane here:
It's not made of what other pilots might expect– the aircraft is mostly wood.
Nason says while the design itself is 70 years old, his all-wood plane is a unique sight at AirVenture.
Nason brought along photos of the building process, many of which feature his four daughters. Nason says the kids enjoyed helping him with the project.
"It was family time," Dave's wife, Tamara, says. "He had the plans bought for three months before he confessed to me what he was planning to do, so I was like oh, well, okay."
Tamara says they have flown the plane to Oshkosh for 25 years.
“Some people ask me, aren’t you nervous to go flying with him? and I say no– I know the quality of his work," Tamara says.
It's a family-built plane, flown to the biggest aviation family reunion in the world.
“Its just a community, it’s a big community," Dave says.
