logo for kit-plane-advice.com
leftimage for kit-plane-advice.com

About Me

ChrisI’m your host, Chris Mallory.  I love everything about flying and airplanes:  building them, flying them, fixing them, flying them, and flying them.  Building my own airplane has always been a dream, and I’m having a great time making it come true.

I have been flying high-performance aircraft for twenty years as a Weapons Systems Officer, WSO, in the United States Air Force.  That means I sit in the back seat of the fighter and run the radar and guide the bombs to the target.  I also have a full set of controls and have logged quite a few hours on the stick.  One of my "hero" pictures from the 80's. Me on the right. My bus driver, Kip Morgan, on the left.I’ve got over 3500 hours flying in the T-37, T-38, T-43, T-1, T-39, T-6, F-4, F-111 and F-15E.  I’ve also flown in the F-15D, F-18 and F-16.  I’ve known since I was a little kid that I wanted to fly jets.  Looking back I can’t believe I’ve been able to do all that.

On the civilian side, I hold a multi-engine land, instrument rating and have over 750 hours flying “little” airplanes.  I have my Airframe and Powerplant, A&P, license, and am waiting to retire from the Air Force before I get my Inspection Authority, IA. 

Bike restoration 19 seventy-somethin'. Me in scout uniform. Dad's project in background ('55 T-bird).The first mechanical thing I remember doing was the “frame-up restoration” on my bicycle that my dad and I did when I was 10.  Since then I have moved on to bigger projects with more horsepower.  I’ve restored a 1937 Chevy ½ ton pickup truck and built a Big Bear Chopper motorcycle.  So why not build my own airplane?

But the RV-8 doesn’t complete the list.  My wife is worried because she knows that waiting in the wings are the plans for a full sized Fokker-DR1 triplane (the Redfern plans), the dream to rebuild a Beech-18, and the fantasy to own a P-51.  See her thoughts here.  I’m having a hard time convincing her that the Reno Air Races are safer than flying jets in combat, but I haven’t given up yet.

Hey, if you have questions about my RV-8, or something you'd like to see on this site, please Contact Me.




Kit Plane Advice Privacy Policy
© Copyright Kit-Plane-Advice.com.  All rights reserved.