So, my father-in-law came over to visit. He's a pilot, and I showed him my copy of the minicoupe plans and he immediately said "The stall speed is too high, what other designs are you interested in?".

"Oh, I don't know... a Flying Flea, or maybe a Pietenpol..."

"Why don't you build a Pietenpol? that's a great idea!", clearly implicating that all my other choices are death traps.

"It's got a bigger wing, you can't build it on a 4x8' table, do I really want to use up a couple trees worth of Sitka Spruce just to build an airplane?... Hmmm, would the fuselage sides fit in our living room? were's the tape measure?"

And of course Cecilia said, "It's a 2 seater isn't it? You could take me flying."

Needless to say, I think the family has chosen me a new design.

Take a look at this Pietenpol build diary. I've only seen it referenced on one of the Pietenpol mailing lists, so maybe this will give him a little extra exposure. It's a very nice example of a Pietenpol, take a look!

And in answer to the obvious question everyone asks about building a Pietenpol... I'll probably use the Corvair engine, not the model A. I like to see where I'm going. :)