Opening post

Welcome to my RV-10 build log!

My name is Brian Chesteen otherwise known as "Brantel" on most forums I participate in.  I am an instrument rated private pilot and have been flying since I was 14 back in the eighties.  I was taught how to fly by the world famous Evelyn Bryan Johnson.  I have a beautiful wife and three daughters and one dog.  We live in East Tennessee and I work as a plant engineer at Bush Brothers & Company (Roll that beautiful Bean footage Duke!).  In 2000 I started building a Vans Aircraft RV-6 and worked on it about 3 months until my wife told me she was pregnant with our oldest daughter.  That scared me to death and I put the airplane on hold for about 5 years.  During that time we welcomed our second daughter into this world and I also went to school at night to earn my BS degree.  As well during this time Van's Aircraft announced a new model, the RV-7.  Van's was kind enough to offer the "in progress" RV-6 builders an upgrade path to the RV-7.  Sometime in 2005, I purchased the upgrade kit and converted my RV-6 empennage to an RV-7.  After that was complete I ordered the wing kit followed by the fuselage and finally the finish kit.  In 2009 we were blessed with our third daughter.  On 3/20/2010 the first flight took place.  Since that time our plane has been thru three major panel/avionics upgrades and a fixed pitch to constant speed prop conversion.

Here is a great place to learn about my RV-7:
N159SB - Vansairforce Virtual Hangar

Here is a video of my finished RV-7, please disregard the crappy stock music:
N159SB Virtual Tour

Since first flight my wife and I have flown around the South East and Midwest USA a bit.  Here is a map of the major cross country flights to date:
Cross Country Trip Map: N159SB

My RV-7 has been to Airventure in Oshkosh, WI for seven years in a row as of 08/14/2018.  Four of those years my wife has joined me.  Last year I mentioned to her that if we had an RV-10, we could haul more stuff on our trips and she would be much more comfortable in a larger airplane that she did not have to work so hard to get in and out of.  I took her to the Van's tent and showed her how much larger the RV-10 was vs the RV-7 and kinda hinted that I would like to build one.  This year we were back again and I  brought it back up again.  We spent some more time looking over the demo plane at Van's.  When we got back home, I asked her for a decision.  After a couple days, she agreed to the idea of me building another airplane!  Let the fun begin!