Saturday, January 20, 2024 | Country Acres South • Page 1 PRSRT STD ECR U.S. POSTAGE PAID PERMIT #278 Madelia, MN 522 Sinclair Lewis Ave Sauk Centre MN 56378
SOUTH Saturday, January 20, 2024
Focusing on Today’s Rural Environment
Volume 2, Edition 16
Sky-high
dreams Wharton spends over 20 years building experimental airplane
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BYRON — Jim Wharton built an aircraft from parts at his home in rural Byron. After 22 years of working on the craft, he hopes to fly it for the first time this winter. “When it finally takes off, there’ll be a big rush for me,” Wharton said. Wharton built a Zenith CH701 experimental amateur-built aircraft with a
Subaru of America Inc. car engine inside. Wharton said he logged the first 800 hours in his builder’s log, and then after that, he lost interest in keeping track of his time. He said he estimates he worked approximately 1,000 hours building the aircraft. “You have to keep the dream of flying in your head,” Wharton said. Wharton started building his airplane in October 2001 with his friend Dale Hindal, and he completed the work in 2021. A year later, his
t a MY a i r i rp l K YL L pl an O an e e.
BY AMY KYLLO | STAFF WRITER
BY W O S ui l t a h ar T O b e ha ton PH ur- th e ng sm g t ar ile ma ildin a at s f r l u Au om nta b stin the ime years r e p c o x craft Aer oflig ckpit of his Zenith CH701 e bout 20 passed a h t in A t n e u s t i n . Wh a r t o n s p
the threehour airworthiness inspection. “(For) people who build planes, getting the airworthiness is everything,” Wharton said. “That’s all you can think about. (You) don’t even hardly think about flying the thing because you’re worried about passing that inspection.” According to the Experimental Aircraft Association Inc., there are more than 33,000 aircraft like Wharton’s licensed by the Federal Aviation Administration. Building an airplane was not Wharton’s idea, it was his friend Hindal’s. The two would go to the EAA AirVenture show each year in Oshkosh, Wisconsin, and it was Hindal’s idea to build a plane. Several years into the project, Hindal passed away from an inoperable brain tumor. “I wanted to finish it for him and me,” Wharton said. Wharton hopes to take the plane for its maiden voyage this winter. He said he is going to be picky about having perfect weather conditions for
the first time flying. “I am more concerned about my ability than the airplane,” Wharton said. “The airplane is going to fly just fine.” Wharton served in the military from 1968-71 as a paratrooper. In the 1980s, he learned to fly and was a pilot in the Civil Air Patrol for several years. Today, he is licensed with a sport pilot certificate to fly light-sport airplanes. “I think about flying every day,” Wharton said. “One phase or part of it, I’ll dream about it.” Wharton will need to log 40 hours flying solo with his plane within a 50mile radius of the Austin Municipal Airport where he stores the craft. Once completed, the distance regulation will be removed and he will be allowed to have passengers. Wharton has a grassy field at his home designated as an airstrip. He said he hopes to eventually go between his home and Austin with the airplane but maintain the hangar at Austin Aeroflight as his homebase. Wharton’s airplane is a two-seater which weighs 665 pounds empty and 1,100 pounds with fuel and oil — but no passengers. The plane is built predominantly of aluminum.
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Jim Wharton talks as he pages through the plans for his airplane Dec. 4, 2023, at a hangar at Austin Aeroflight in Austin. The airplane is made from a kit of parts Wharton brought back from Missouri in a station wagon.
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