Well yes, the legal issues…
I did a quick search and found – not surprisingly – that I wasn’t the first foreigner wanting to buy and fly a N-registered airplane and that there are indeed ways to deal with this problem.
Good to know and enough for me at that moment.
There were other hurdles I had to clear before it would make sense to actually buy a plane.
The medical, for example.
I do have a US pilot license with glider and single engine ratings but for a number of years I had only used the glider part for which I didn’t need a medical. Before signing a big check I wanted to reactivate my single engine rating and also get a so-called tailwheel endorsement. This would not only require several hours of instruction but also renewing my lapsed medical. It was the second point which made me a little nervous as I had to deal with some health issues since my last visit with a flight surgeon.
I asked friends which medical examiners they would recommend and ended up with a doc in Chicago. Given a short description of my recent medical history over the phone, Dr. Ostrom didn’t see any show-stopper for my getting a fresh medical and we set up an appointment. Perfect, since my friend Roderick, who is an instructor with access to a taildragger and has offered to help me with my endorsement, also lives in the Chicago area. So I made arrangements for a journey to Illinois.
When I looked at my travel schedule I realized, that a visit to airventure 2018, the biggest event in (general) aviation in the world, was practically inevitable. It was going to take place the week before my appointment with Dr. Ostrom, and since Roderick would also be going there, no flying would happen during that week anyway. And it was only an easy 2 1/2 hours drive away.
I had never been to Oshkosh but always wondered what it would be like to spend a week with tens of thousands of passionate aviators.
No more doubts – booked !
Best decision in a long time…..