Homebuilt planes fly to Little Cayman

Chris and Indira Kleen flew to Little Cayman in their
home-built RV plane.


The six kit-planes stopped briefly at Cayman Brac.

Friday,  June  3, 2005

“Flying is probably like most hobbies, it’s something from the internal,” according to Larry Schneider, one of the pilots of six home-built aircraft that flew to Little Cayman for a week’s vacation in May.

“I like the idea of getting places very fast if a trip is planned, or just taking to the sky for a flight, looking at nature from another dimension. It is a convenience for some and for others it’s just an awesome thing to do,” he said.

The six aircraft that flew to Little Cayman were built in their owners’ garages during a period of two to five years, made from a kit which has almost everything furnished, so the average person can complete a very safe plane, said Mr Schneider.

All of the planes were homebuilt Van’s Aircraft (RVs), designed by Richard Van Grunsven.

Today there are about 4,000 RV kits (an average of almost 130 per year for the history of the company) that have been completed and flown, and thousands more are under construction, according to the website http://www.vansaircraft.com 

Completion rates have exceeded one per day for the last few years. RVs are flying in at least 26 different countries and are under construction in more than fifty.

“During the building process we seem to bond with our planes, they are like part of the family when finished. In the States there are a large number of this type of aircraft, so it brings a lot of people together and many become very good friends,” said Mr Schneider.

“Most of us are of very average income levels and make this our main or only pass time - it costs about the same as boating or other similar hobbies. I guess why we take them on these types of adventures and trips is because we have the confidence in our planes. They are fast and it is just fun to travel together.”

Another of the pilots, Paul Rosales, said that, although the planes are not difficult to build, many who start will never finish, as it requires much patience, time, money and effort.

He said he spent five years building his aircraft and has now been flying it for almost five years, averaging about 1.5 hours per day, which is about 500 hours per year.

He added that he’s fortunate to have two jobs to pay for all this flying, as most private pilots flying for pleasure are lucky to fly 25 hours p

“As an incentive to those still building their planes, I started writing trip reports on my travels to hopefully inspire those still pounding away in their garages.

“I do not write for profit but for the joy of writing,” said Mr Rosales.

Last year, he received an award from Flying magazine, and intends to try to get his Cayman trip published. It will also be posted on his own website http://www.eaa49.av.org/flyouts along with stories of previous trips.

The group of six pilots and six passengers went to Grand Turks last year and this year combined their love of flying with a diving and snorkeling vacation at Paradise Villas on Little Cayman.

Mr Rosales said: “I received my dive card last year on Grand Turk, and this year, I wanted to actually use the card. I checked with my friend Jim Baker and he mentioned that he’d flown his plane to the Cayman Islands in years past, that it was an easy flight (2.5 hours - we can fly 4 hours) and that the Islands were beautiful. That was enough for me!”

Three of the planes flew from California.

“We all met at various air shows around the country, and had it not been for having built this plane, I would not know these wonderful people,” said Mr Rosales. “We all had a great time on the Islands, and Sunday May 15, three planes flew to Grand Cayman for the day - awesome! I’d visited Grand Cayman for a day while on a cruise ship in 1990 but did not see much of anything except George Town and the Turtle Farm.”

He said: “Little Cayman was exactly what I was looking for on my vacation: no hustle-bustle, all laid-back, easy-going, kick your shoes off, go diving and take naps on the hammocks, as the ocean waters lapped onto the beach. I can see why some people sell all their belongings and move to ‘Island Time’!

" I plan to make this trip every 3 or 4 years for the rest of my life!” he said.

Two more of the group, Chris and Indira Kleen, added: “We thoroughly enjoyed our stay at Paradise Villas in Little Cayman, visited Cayman Brac and Grand Cayman as well, and very much appreciated the warm hospitality and friendship of the people we met in the Cayman Islands.”

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