So as you know I am sick today so I was reading these free newspaper magazines that I never have time to read. In the "Mailbox" section there is this:
Amongst the Wackos
To the editor:
As a realist, I do understand that there is a market in St. Charles County for your right- leaning newsmagazine. Contemporary right wind politics tend to trade on fear and lothing ... and your magazine, small potatoes that is feeds into that ethic. But you have about as much chance of altering my unabashedly liberal worldview as I have of altering yours. So do both of us a big favor, declare a truce of sorts, and do not stuff my mailbox with your worldview. It is simply not welcomed here. And neither is O'Reilly, Sowell, and any number of far right wackos who overpopulate the Mailbox page of your so-called newsmagazine. Have I made myself quite clear?

Rick Galati
Lake Saint Louis, Missouri


Now help me right a letter! I have nothing good to do!

eaa32.org/MembersProjects/Galati/galati.htm

www.vansairforce.net/rvbp/rvbp_archive.htm

Name: Rick Galati
Occupation: Retired factory worker
Age: 55
Location: St. Louis, Missouri
Project: RV-6A standard kit

I am fortunate to have an understanding, even an open-minded and forgiving wife in Linda. She knows. Truth be told, I started a tempestuous love affair with my sultry aluminum mistress, "Darla" in March of 2000. "Darla" like most mistresses, can at times be high maintenance, expensive, and emotionally frustrating but with her good looks and figure is she ever beautiful! Occupying our attached garage, I keep her close by, with the door to her quarters open so I can often cast a loving glance towards her. Linda prefers to call her "Mistletoe" believing the simple act of walking anywhere near "Darla" causes money to be kissed goodbye. At age 53, I took an early retirement from my SMAR (sheet metal assembly, riveter) job at McDonnell-Douglas aka...Boeing. I now devote, even lavish considerable attention on "Darla," a lifelong dream of using my own two hands to build a high performance airplane and doing it minus the ever present time clock and factory whistle holding claim to significant chunks of my life. Though I have 34 years of combat aircraft assembly experience that began with the F-4 Phantom program, and over the years to include such stellar performers as the F-18 Hornet, F-15 Eagle, and the T-45 Goshawk, there is much to learn, particularly as I embark upon the systems and firewall forward phase of this challenging project. I even approach my comfortable-as-an-old-shoe Cessna 150 with a new found appreciation and more than once have found myself examining a given detail on my trusty old spam can to find myself saying ....."so that's why they did it that way!" The Internet has become an indispensable aid to augment my builder's tool box and I will freely and shamelessly copy any process or application deemed worthy of use anywhere on "Darla's" sweet little airframe. The RV community in the St. Louis, Missouri area is a vibrant and growing one. I've met many builders of Van's designs through EAA Chapter 32 www.eaa32.org and several of us stay in frequent touch monitoring one other's progress and to be there with a helping hand when needed. Over the next several years as our aircraft projects reach fruition, I am hopeful the local contingent will grow to be a significant presence in the RV community aptly recognized as Van's Air Force. But first things first. Although the sheet metal work on my 6A is nearing completion, only the forward upper skin remains to be permanently attached, a detail any slider canopy builder knows of all too well. The factory new Lycoming 0-320 D1A has recently arrived and I managed to mount it by myself in about 40 minutes, yet with its considerable investment comes a new set of technical challenges to deal with for the first time in my life. The ageless wisdom of the old saw "90% done, 90% to go" has proven to be a wry gem of an understated irony. There is a lot more to building an airplane than just sheet metal and rivets. But hey, I'm not in a race, just on a pleasant and hugely rewarding journey on the path of self discovery.
--- Rick Galati
[email protected]
[email protected]

--- EarthLink: It's your Internet.

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