Another milestone. Three days ago, this web site passed 4 years of age. In addition to being the primary build log for the project, it has been fun to create, inspired and informed a few others (so I'm told), and brought many new friends. Thanks for visiting.

Visitors are reminded that in addition to the photos appearing in each blog post on the front page, there are often 3-4 additional contemporaneous photos posted in the relevant section of the build Gallery. They will typically show different angles or more details. So if there's something you can't see clearly in a blog post photo, check the Gallery for additional pictures. You can also use the Search function to find more photos and other info.

Another tool crisis. The trusty old Olympus D-400Z first generation (?) digital camera has finally given up the ghost. Sad, but true.    It has served well for a long time.

Wow, this web site just hit 1000 "nodes", which are photos, blog entries, pages, etc. Some kind of landmark, I guess. There are another couple hundred photos in the original gallery. We be documented.

First of all, the website is a modern version of the builder's log, documentation that the FAA requires. In earlier times, these logs were kept only in paper form.

Second, the website is resource to others who may be building an airplane, or just thinking about it. The number of people who visit, use, and regularly visit the site has exceeded my wildest expectations. The pulic nature of this builder's log not only helps others, but has brought me lots of information and suggestions from those who visit.

A third benefit of a public website, which I hadn't really anticipated, is the social aspect. Several of the builders I've met through the site have not only contributed valuable of ideas and suggestions, they have also become good friends -- from just a few miles away all the way to France! I'm grateful for their ideas, and their friendship.

Building and maintaining the site doesn't take as much time as most would imagine. By using the open source (free) Drupal CMS, creation and organization of content is easy.

Back in August, I wrote a note about why this website exists. In addition to constituting FAA-required building documentation and being a resource for other builders, it's become apparent what a special resource it is for me. Another potential Rebel builder contacted me last night, requesting that when this plane is certified and flying, I put together a list of pointers, tips, and lessons learned, which I certainly would like to do. That kind of summary will be much easier to compile with this electronic version of a builder's log, due to the ability to do text based searches of the entire site -- probably its most powerful and useful features of the site. This became apparent when compiling the Highlights and Milestones recently, I needed to look for specific photos. I had only a vague memory as to when some of those milestones were reached, but finding them turned out to be easy using the search function. It would have been very time consuming, at best, to try to find them in a paper log.

With so much detail in a project like this, it's easy to lose sight of the forest for the trees. The site helps me remember how far I've come, and convinces me that the work that's left is much less than what's gone before, and that the end is in sight. Priceless.

To help give visitors an overview of this project, a new feature, Highlights and Milestones, has been added, accessible from the top of the left side home page menu. It contains an abbreviated chronology of significant events, along with some of the more noteworthy photos. At this writing it's done through January, '08, and should be current up to the present within another day or two.

We've been soaking up a little R&R (and a lot of sun) in La Manzanilla, Jalisco, Mexico, for a few days, with old and new friends from Victoria, BC. Some fine photos of the house they built, and the adventure, are here. Another instance of life interfering with art... but this time, really welcome. Back in Sequim it's still cloudy, but with plenty of sun still inside, I'm eager to get back at the project pronto.

Thanks to Erica, my awesomely multi-talented daughter, there's finally a snazzy aviation-themed header/banner at the top of the site, featuring pictures of other Rebels. Thanks!

A new version of the remaining tasks spreadsheet has been posted to the Library. Several new tasks have been added along the way -- which is the nature of things-- but several more have been checked off. I'm now moving the checked off, completed items to the top of each section, for easier reading. Currently, there are about 64 items still on the list, but approx. 24 are non-building, documentation, or other "operational" items. So... to the extent this is reasonably accurate, there are some 40 building tasks remaining before flight! Several of those are big jobs, but even so, I like the number!