I have wanted to build my own aircraft for a long time for a variety of reasons. I like doing things with my hands as this makes a change from my normal working day in front of the computer. I did a lot of research into kit aircraft - I didn't think I had the necessary skills for a plans-built - and finally settled on the Europa.

I bought the first part of the kit way back in February, 2000, but it took me most of that summer to get the workshop into shape, so I didn't really get started until August of that year. I only really did 18 months of proper work on it and then divorce and a couple of house moves intervened. So after a long hiatus, I got started again in August 2009.