I work as an Airtraffic controller at Keflavik International Airport, but most of my spare time is spent on building and flying ultralight aircraft. My first project was a Kolb Firestar II.(Maroon on picture) Completed building in 1996, but sold it before ever getting to fly it. Ordered another Firestar II kit the next day, (white on picture) and completed building it in the end of '97. Got some ultralight training in Florida, around 4 hours, and flew my first solo in the Firestar on its first day of flying. What a feeling to get airborne in something you have built on your own. The Firestar is a dream machine to fly. Gives the greatest view for low and slow flying. Have logged over 100 hrs. on it.

When looking for an engine to use on the Firestar II, I stumbled on a Zenith 701 kit for sale. Bought the engine from that kit, but two years later bought the whole kit.

Have been building the Zenith 701 since 1999, logged over 700 hrs. of building. The Zenith is all aluminum and 4130 cromoly steel material aircraft. Support from Zenith company and a Matronics e-mail list have made it easier for me to complete the building of this aircraft. Hope to finish the project before the 100 years aniversary of the first flight.
The plan is to fly it on Dec 17. 2003 at 09:35 eastern time (USA) or 14:35 GMT.
Total building time of almost 2000 hrs. but only around 100 hrs. flying.

Conclusion: Must enjoy the building process more than the flying???

Real reason: Weather crappy up here most of the time, so I spend all this time in the garage building aircraft.