Up, up and away

We had a phone call this morning from our lovely neighbours, Kerry and Des, to let us know that the plane Des has been building of the past six or seven years was about to be towed away to the small local airfield where it will be painted. Des (standing underneath the plane) is a recently retired Qantas international pilot as well as being a very experienced flight engineer. I have never seen a better organised, or more immaculate workshop, than Des's workshop.

He has almost finished building the wings. They will go for painting when the body comes back in a couple of months' time. Des said it will take him another 12 months to install all the instrumentation.

The one detail that sticks in my mind, from when Des first showed us the crates that had arrived from Johannesburg containing all the parts, is that he had to insert, by hand, over 20,000 rivets. What patience and perseverance.

Des is being helped today by his friend, Chris, another aeronautical engineer. They started Kindergarten together.