Teh One Who Knocks
05-26-2011, 09:27 PM
WGAL-TV Channel 8
LOWER ALLEN TOWNSHIP, Pa. -- Everyone has a little side-project that keeps them busy over the years, but a Cumberland County man’s side project could no longer fit inside his house.
The neighborhood came out to watch the unconventional way the man decided to solve his problem.
In suburbia, you would expect to see cars parked in the driveways.
What was parked inside Dan Reeve's basement no one expected to see.
“It's disbelief,” Reeves said of the neighborhood reaction. “They think I have a radio-controlled airplane in my basement or something along those lines. But -- oh no -- it's much bigger than that.”
A Vans RV7A low-wing two-seater was mailed in pieces, and over the last nine years he diligently put them all together.
“Before I knew it, it turned into an airplane in the basement,” he said.
“It's become much more than a hobby. This is my baby, absolutely.”
Reeves had a problem with his hobby: he built the airplane in his basement.
So how do you get it out? You could knock down a wall, which sounds extreme until you consider his original idea.
“I thought of different ways to get it out,” he said. “I thought about going through the floor, building a glass floor so instead of a coffee table sitting here you could see the airplane project sitting in the basement. My wife wouldn't have anything to do with that though.”
So he settled on dismantling the basement wall. That attracted a bunch of his neighbors to see what will surely become neighborhood legend.
With no previous practice, Reeves, three men, one chain and a truck slowly pulled the plane on its first voyage.
Starts and stops included, it only took 10 minutes for the plane to emerge into the open, where Reeves has big plans for it.
“I just love flying,” he said. “I love the perspective it gives you when you're flying over the countryside. There's nothing like it.”
“Now that this project is complete, Reeves hinted he may start on another plane in his basement.
LOWER ALLEN TOWNSHIP, Pa. -- Everyone has a little side-project that keeps them busy over the years, but a Cumberland County man’s side project could no longer fit inside his house.
The neighborhood came out to watch the unconventional way the man decided to solve his problem.
In suburbia, you would expect to see cars parked in the driveways.
What was parked inside Dan Reeve's basement no one expected to see.
“It's disbelief,” Reeves said of the neighborhood reaction. “They think I have a radio-controlled airplane in my basement or something along those lines. But -- oh no -- it's much bigger than that.”
A Vans RV7A low-wing two-seater was mailed in pieces, and over the last nine years he diligently put them all together.
“Before I knew it, it turned into an airplane in the basement,” he said.
“It's become much more than a hobby. This is my baby, absolutely.”
Reeves had a problem with his hobby: he built the airplane in his basement.
So how do you get it out? You could knock down a wall, which sounds extreme until you consider his original idea.
“I thought of different ways to get it out,” he said. “I thought about going through the floor, building a glass floor so instead of a coffee table sitting here you could see the airplane project sitting in the basement. My wife wouldn't have anything to do with that though.”
So he settled on dismantling the basement wall. That attracted a bunch of his neighbors to see what will surely become neighborhood legend.
With no previous practice, Reeves, three men, one chain and a truck slowly pulled the plane on its first voyage.
Starts and stops included, it only took 10 minutes for the plane to emerge into the open, where Reeves has big plans for it.
“I just love flying,” he said. “I love the perspective it gives you when you're flying over the countryside. There's nothing like it.”
“Now that this project is complete, Reeves hinted he may start on another plane in his basement.