Jim O'Hara is a member of EAA chapter 493 in San Angelo. He is a retired
college professor (I believe in Aeronautical Engineering) who learned to fly
when he was about 60 years old. He's now 81 years old. 15 years ago, he
began construction of a 2/3 scale P-38. Using information he obtained from
various sources about the P-38, he drew up a set of plans using a computer
aided design program. Jim and his wife Mitzi built the entire aircraft by
themselves. I've been fortunate enough to know Jim for almost the entire 15
years that he's been working on his "project." He first flew his plane in
July of last year, and has just completed flying off the time (I believe it
was 50 hours). He designed the plane to have a small jump seat behind the
pilot for his wife. She's tiny, and it's a good thing; the jump seat
doesn't have much room.
He made his first cross-country with Mitzi from San Angelo to Fredericksburg
Saturday, accompanied by many of his friends from Chapter 493. He's
planning on bringing it to Eldorado for our annual BBQ next Saturday (Oct
31).
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