Dowagiac Man Will Celebrate National Aviation Day Building An Airplane In His Garage

Many have dreamed of owning an airplane but they can be very expensive unless you build it yourself. Do you have what it takes to build your own plane?

August 19th is National Aviation Day. To help you celebrate, here is a Dowagiac man who is building his own airplane, in his garage. Bill Greenly is an Assistant Professor at Andrews University and a licensed pilot. I met Bill at the Independence day celebration in Watervliet where we discussed drones and drone laws. Bill invited me to check out the plane he was building by hand. Check out these pictures.

Bill has been working on this plane for five years and said he should be done in the next year. At a total build cost between $100,000 and $150,000, this is still about 1/7th the cost of buying a used ready-to-fly plane of the same size. I hope to catch up with Bill again once the plane is in the air. Maybe even get a ride in the plane, just not on its first flight. Maybe the 3rd of 4th (insert John Denver reference here).

BONUS VIDEO: Hot Air Balloon Over Kalamazoo and Portage