Project News special
Bill Sweetnam relates the story of his lifelong passion with aviation and how he came to build the first Van’s RV-14 in the UK, G-ORWS (LAA 39315519) – aided by a bacon sarnies and ice cream… Pictures by Bill Sweetnam and Ed Hicks
Sweetnam success…
M
y homebuilding story began in a hangar in Nairobi. The Piper Cub that was used on our farm was in for check and the engineer lifted me up to have a closer look at the engine… I was only a nipper at the time and I’ve been aeroplane crazy ever since. Cardboard box constructions morphed into Meccano models, pram-wheeled carts with plank wings, then finally into radio-controlled model aeroplanes. At school, when I told my careers master that I wanted to be a pilot, I was told that being a ‘taxi driver’ would be a waste of a good education and I would quickly get bored of it. Somewhat crestfallen, I dutifully followed my teacher’s advice and went into the law, where I spent almost 20 years in practice as a solicitor and as a director of a small bank. My dreams of becoming a pilot never faded though, but I had to wait until my mid-thirties before I gained my PPL and began to fulfil them. That PPL did become a CPL, and weekend flying instruction eventually turned into a full ATPL. Finally, one momentous day, aged 41, the calling of the sky became too strong and I turned my back on the law to take my chances of getting a flying job. At the time it felt a risky decision to have made, given that I was surrendering a secure profession, income and had a young family to support. But I never for one second regretted that decision and fate (and good friends) were extremely kind to me in allowing me to find my way into a good regional airline, eventually getting my command on an Embraer 145 jet. After 10 years of regional flying, a change took me into the private jet world, freelancing on the Embraer Legacy. This move certainly brought challenges and was at times brutal in its demands, but overall was just amazing and completely fulfilling. There is hardly a continent I have not seen, and I have had the privilege of meeting and working with some of the most influential and interesting people of our time. Pop stars to politicians, gangsters to royalty, and many in between, lots of faces passed through the door of the Legacy. My 20 commercial flying years certainly allowed me to live and fulfil my childhood dreams, but what to do in retirement? I certainly had no intention of hanging up my flying goggles!
Above Ready for the off. A good-sized, well-ordered workshop, and the kit has arrived safe and sound. Photo: Bill Sweetnam
I am an intensely practical person and, much to my wife’s irritation, will never employ a tradesman to do a job that I can do myself. I have always had a decent set of tools and a workshop where things get tinkered with, fettled or made. I had a love of old British sports cars and over the years had quite a few, all of which I looked after to the nth degree. So when my airline pilot friend Tony (also a keen Permit flyer) suggested I build myself an aircraft, the idea seemed a bit of a no brainer! It would undoubtedly be a challenge, but I had space at home with a decent garage and now plenty of time to get stuck in.
Pure professionalism
The choice of kit manufacturer was easy. I had first seen some Van’s Aircraft types at a show about 10 years previously. The design, the quality and the sheer ‘presence’ of each machine shouted professionalism and competence – it was hard to believe they were homebuilt. Good old-fashioned construction in metal hooked up to a time-proven Lycoming, solid and durable with examples having circumnavigated the globe. Since I didn’t fancy the tandem set up of the RV-8, I pretty much settled on the RV-7. My intention was to fully equip it with a decent IFR panel and go touring in it.
20 | LIGHT AVIATION | May 2020
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