Plucked from Time's Dusty Grasp

Google is wonderful. So is Facebook.

A Google search led me straight to Rob Mixon, the man who ordered the finish kit from Van's Aircraft in very early 1982. This name was written in magic marker on the canopy box, along with a Miami address. Google found him because he's a CFI in Florida with his own website-- he has even written a few books about flying! Knowing this, I typed his name in the Facebook search, just for the hell of it. POOF, there he was. I sent him a message, and heard back from him quickly. He does remember he ordered an RV-3 kit a looooong time ago, but sold it when he opened the box and saw "the huge pile of aluminum!" He did not remember the serial number, but I gave him the link to this blog, in case he's curious & wants to keep tabs on the progress of his old "pile."

Next lead: Richard Alshouse, Sr., the man who bought it from Mr. Mixon, and passed away in 2008, leaving the kit to his daughter to sell. JoEllen Alshouse Reed is also a CFI. On a whim, I typed her name into Facebook, and POOF! There she was! She reported that she couldn't find any plans or paperwork in her father's estate, but if anything surfaces, she'll let me know. She said the kit parts spent many, many years in her father's loft above his hangar in Ocala. (Think how many RV's flew over it on the way to Sun 'n' Fun over the years... hell I've probably flown over it!)

So, this morning I sat with all leads exhausted. I really wanted to know the true identity of my airplane. I don't know why... It's the same sort of joy I felt when I cleaned the decades-old oily crust off of the engine block of that old Farmall Regular I helped fix up in high school and found the serial number which dated it back to 1926. Historical curiosity is just an unusual source of nerdy joy that's always lived deep within me. I don't need a serial number to register the airplane, since I can follow in Mr. Tony Bingelis's footsteps and register it as a K1. (B9 is 74TX's registered s/n-- the 9th, and final, airplane built by Bingelis.) Or, I can use my new tail kit's number, although that number will imply a kit birthdate of 2008, and -3B wing spars.

Today I tried one last thing. Bored & absently watching football on TV, I typed RV-3 into the FAA registry database. Several pages into the alphabetical listings, I found it-- Robert Mixon, RV-3. WHOA! Clicked on the link, and a warning message popped up. "This aircraft's registration status may not be suitable for operation. CLICK HERE FOR MORE INFORMATION." And POOF! There it was. RV-3 Serial Number 898. It even had its own N-number-- N39445. No dates of manufacture or airworthiness, obviously. Sale reported to Richard Alshouse. Yep, this has to be it! 

So, what now?? Now I have a definitive number to send to Van's. I can update this kit's record with them. Rob Mixon is listed as the manufacturer with the feds, so this might be an issue. But, really it won't be. My plane will not be an RV-3. It will be, at very least, an RV-3A. So this FAA record shouldn't apply to my airplane when I register it. Like an adopted child who finds out his biological identity, my plane is no longer lost to time & mystery.