My name is Phil Birkelbach. I’ve been flying since I was a kid. I soloed a glider when I was 14. I’ve already built one airplane. N727WB is my RV-7. It’s been flying since 2005. I’ve wanted to build another airplane since then but life tends to get in the way. I recently started working on a Christavia Mk I. I wanted a low and slow airplane that was simple and inexpensive to operate. Something opposite of the RV. I started on that project in the summer of 2015.
In the fall of 2015 I was offered a deal that I really could not pass up on this Pitts. It was built and nearly completed by Elton Hazel. Elton was a Thunderbolt pilot in World War II. He flew 73 missions over Europe. He started this project in 1969 and worked on it until the 90’s where the health of his wife as well as his own health prevented him from completing it. It’s been sitting inside a hangar ever since.
It’s a very special plane to his family and they would really like to see it fly. I intend to get it flying for them. So the Christavia is somewhat on the back burner at the moment while I concentrate on the Pitts. This should work out okay because the Pitts is likely to have a lot of down time. There will probably be quite a bit of waiting on parts or researching how to do something. This will give me time to work on the Christavia along the way.
Phil