With the FAA paper finally in hand, the shout came out from Charlie 'Move that plane NOW!'. 

The Thunderbirds (you know the F16s that display really well), were ready to do their display to close the whole weeks events... but they couldn't.    The crowds were on the line, and the planes had their jet engines running, but they were not being given the 'GO!' until after the One Week Wonder did its first ever 'under its own power' taxi.   

There…

Arriving on the Sunday morning, nobody felt 'not tired', but everybody felt 'totally exhilarated'.  The One Week Wonder sat out front, like a toddler about to go out in it's push chair for the first time, full of anticipation, ready for an adventure - but looking so innocent and unprepared.

It was 99% ready, and with just 50% left to go!  But that 50% was going to be a challenge... Then, they came with a black plastic bag and a remote control unit for the countdown clock.  It…

Saturday morning was a blur.  Nobody could remember their own names any more - let alone whether they were coming or going...  It was as if those 'patience pills' were affecting memory too!  Thankfully, between everybody, everything was being accounted for, but the team were visibly slowing down.  Caution was being applied, because everybody knew that it was better to miss the deadline than make a mistake that could jeopardise the long term benefits from…

Friday... less than two days to go... 

everybody finally realized that somebody had been lying to the team - that clock was not right.  This was not anything like a seven day challenge.  Seven days would have given the team until 08:00 on Monday morning... BUT the organizers had this hidden agenda... the plane would be INSPECTED on the SUNDAY by the FAA... and needed full FAA certification before 15:00 on that very Sunday... so that a public taxi test could take…

With all the 'smaller surfaces' completed, day four was a day of looking for jobs for the core team not involved in the fuselage or left wing - there was no shortage of tasks - event the clearing up and sorting out the tools that had managed to have a party and get muddled up! 

For those who had built Zenith Aircraft before, this seemed like an easy build - until they all realized that this was a CH750 Cruzer - so it was different.  With less than a handful of Cruzers flying…

Day three was always going to be the day when we got an idea of where it was all going.  Everybody was tired, already.  The sprint had been done, and the plane looked like a plane... well almost - but this was not the time to give up - we had to hit the wall and keep on building! 

Work started on the flaperons, but it did not go…

When the team arrived on day two they looked over the work from the day before... and noticed some mistakes.  That happens on EVERY build.  Every builder makes mistakes, so having some mistakes in One Week Wonder was to be expected... The mistakes were minor.  Not all the rivets had pulled well - it happens - and some had been pulled that shouldn't have been yet - that happens too!  So, as the volunteers for day two were lining up, the core team set about some minor fixes.  It should be…

It was a tense moment, all of these people who didn't know each other - about to start in five minutes - building a plane in less than a week.  They all stood awaiting the starters orders... and then they came, from Jack Pelton, the EAA Chairman.  Jack comes from the illustrious aircraft manufacturer Cessna, and is now the leader of the EAA pack in feeding the worlds aviation spirit at a grass roots level.

 …

Over the week over two thousands five hundred people were involved in the build - and signed the builders log - the worlds biggest builders log!  But it was down to a core team, and a lot of organization to make the week come together...

THE CORE TEAM:  This is the team that were practically full time in the Bull Pen - that place where the machine was being brought to life.  It should be noted that the core team had not met before the day... they…

We all know that any project of the magnitude of the One Week Wonder has to be planned.  This event started well in advance of the 28th July 2014 deadline - but not that many months in advance.  The team had to get all the parts for the project together, and a suitable space available to build the machine!  But that is no different, whatsoever, to any other aircraft project.

Clearly, all aircraft build projects require parts - quantity and type based on your project.  Once…

It all started in a dark, damp, fuel and oil perfumed hangar.  The dim moonlight seeped through a crack in the hangar doors, picking out, with an eerie glimmer, a shiny spinner.  A large brown and black spider could be made out as it crawled along the strut towards the pitot tube of another unsuspecting aircraft, as they waited for they next flight.   That hangar held within it the 'Spirit Of Building Aircraft', also know as the SOBA.  That spirit, the very source of creativity and…