The Storage Unit​

Hangars are not easy to come by. Since one was not immediately available, I instead found a nearby self-storage facility with units available. I will admit, that I knew the airframe was 12 ft long at the widest and still rented a 12 ft wide unit. The door however, was only 10 ft wide. No amount of shifting and shimmying the fuselage was going to get it to go inside. Luckily, this facility also had a 15 ft wide unit and a 12 ft door. This will be the airplane's new home for the near future. The shortest waitlist for hangars was 2 years. That may time out pretty well honestly.

The Problem​

While I did not get a pre-buy inspection, I did have some conversations with the previous owner about what would be needed to get the aircraft flying again. I was assured that all that was needed was to install an engine/prop and bolt the control surfaces on. Then new things got mentioned in each subsequent conversation. I knew the avionics were partially disassembled ahead of what would have been an avionics upgrade. I was suprised when I arrived to complete the deal and pick up the aircraft that the nose gear was at risk of collapse due to a faulty gas spring in the system. The previous owner's was effective and simple, which was to use ratchet straps to hold the nose gear from moving forward.

Should the ratchet straps break, the nose gear will collapse and the fuselage will fall to the ground with a loud, expensive sound. You can see the ratchet straps in the picture below.

The Temporary Solution​

To repair the landing gear, weight must be off the landing gear first. I had some spare lumber from a failed attempt to build a jig to get the aircraft through a 10 ft door. I used that lumber to build a fairly wide frame to take the weight of the front of the fuselage. With the weight off, I should be able to assess and repair the front landing gear mechanism. One part at time, this aircraft will come back together.

Future Work​

Next time, I'll be diassembling the nose gear mechanism to assess what is broken and reorganizing the workspace to make better use of the space.

Background​

In 2022, I became a certificated pilot, allowing me to fly single engine aircraft recreationally. I have found flying to be a delightful experience. There is still something magical about feeling the ground drop away as you take off. Travelling is much easier when you are flying yourself. In 2022, I owned a 1965 Piper Cherokee PA28-180. It was a great aircraft but I kept running into 2 major issuses:

1. It was commonly about as fast as driving and less convenient if the destination was less than 180 miles away
2. It was hideously expensive and time consuming to maintain as I could not work on the aircraft myself

The best solution I could find was to find the fastest experimental (amateur built) aircraft available. Being amateur built, I would have legal authority to work on it. With the right choice of aircraft, I could as much as double the airspeed vs the Cherokee. My aircraft of choice was a Velocity.

By 2025, my Cherokee had enough hours on the engine that the manufacturer would recommend overhaul. Not wanting to invest that scale of cost into the aircraft that was already expensive to operate, I opted to sell while the market for aircraft was still commanding high prices.

This Aircraft - N951TM​

I joined the Velocity Owners and Builders Association (VOBA) with an intent to work towards building the Velocity I wanted. This was going to be an expensive, long term endevaour. When you read about building an aircraft, a recurring recommendation is that you have to do it for the joy of building an aircraft, not be pushing to fly the aircraft. My guess was that trying to build this aircraft was going to take most or all of my free time for 7+ years. This is why these are commonly done as post retirement projects.

Early in 2026, an opportunity came across the VOBA forums. An airframe was for sale at "Make an offer" prices. It came without an engine or prop, had the wings and canard taken off, and was in Omaha, Nebraska. I made an absurdly low offer and it was accepted. I think the owner was just glad someone was inclined to take it on with an intent to get it flying again. A buddy, my son, and I went to Nebraska and loaded it onto a truck. It arrived in central Indiana the next day and we moved it into a storage unit.

Wish me luck.