First Flight for Homebuilt Airplane at Siler City Airport

A fellow, Noel Fallwell, that I happened to know from IBM years ago (actually, in Boca Raton - then at RTP) has built his own airplane. He is a meticulous craftsman and has been working on this airplane for 14 years! It's got all the bells and whistles that can be installed in a small airplane.

He has been working on the airplane, not flying - so he is not "current" as a pilot. So, he asked another friend, Denny Mercer, who owns the same type aircraft, to do the honors for the first test flight. Denny is sitting in the airplane - Noel is standing.



Must be hard to watch someone else pull away in your "baby" for the first time.


I'm sure the heart was beating fast for both the builder and the pilot for this first lift-off!!


Congrats to Noel on this great accomplishment....

The FAA requires a "Experimental" aircraft to be flown for a test period before they allow you to venture far from your own airport. (25 hours, in this case). As soon as Noel gets his currency back, we'll be seeing this little bird in the air alot!