By Julie Serda, EAA 763608
As a young teenager I always looked at the skies with amazement seeing airplanes pass by. I would often think to myself, “Could I do that?” I was raised in a poor upbringing with eight siblings, with my dad and step mom, who were immigrants, doing hard labor in the fields. Later in life, my dad got a job at a pipe factory. We managed to survive, and it taught me the value of currency and to save when one can.
When I was in my early 20s, I got a job working for a well-known hotel chain as a shuttle driver and I would often take passengers to the airport, and many times they would be pilots and stewardesses. I would ask the pilots about flying and if I could fly airplanes myself. They would encourage me, and I gained some confidence thinking that I could possibly do this. This is when the idea of trying to become a pilot entered my thoughts again. I continued working through the summer and saved some money. My plans were to go to California and get my pilot certificate. I figured Southern California had the best year-round weather for flying, from what I had been told. Northwest Ohio was cold the majority of the year, with unpredictable weather. Although I did not have a lot of money, I saved enough to drive out there in my Chevy Monza. I prayed it would make the long trip and keep me safe.
Well, I arrived in Southern California with not a whole lot of money left. I thought to myself “Gosh, what am I gonna do?” I didn’t want to spend what little money I had left on motels, so I thought the best way to make my money stretch was to sleep in my car along the streets, which I did. I was scared and was unsure if I had done the right thing, coming so far from Ohio.
I quickly got to work trying to find a job, and a few days later I found one in Santa Monica working for the same chain of hotels as I had worked in Ohio! The only job they had was a dishwasher. I really needed a job, so I jumped on it and said,“Yes, I’ll accept it.” My only problem was I didn’t have an address to put on the application. They kind of frowned on that. I told them I came from Ohio and wanted to settle here. The managers went out of the office to discuss in private. One of the managers sympathized with me and offered to let me use his address temporarily until I got a place of my own.
I started working the following week. It was hard sleeping in my car at night, and I heard many bad things go on in the streets. I was terrified to be quite honest. Fortunately, where I had parked my car along a street in Santa Monica was right next to an apartment complex, and a retired lady tenant apparently was watching me. One evening when I was in my car, I heard a knock on my car window. I looked over and I rolled my window down reluctantly, and she asked, “Are you living in your car?” I said yes, shyly. She said, “How do you manage to stay so clean?” I told her I would go to the back of the alley very early in the morning (when no one was up) and used a water spigot to wash my hair and brush my teeth. She said, “That’s got to be hard.” I told her it was. We got to talking and I told her I got a full-time job down the street by the pier and was saving to get a place of my own and to become a pilot. She was so moved by my motivation to survive and make it on my own so far away from home that she asked if I wanted to spend the night in her apartment. She said she lived alone and had an extra bedroom. I reluctantly agreed and told her I would be up in a while. I was unsure and a bit scared; I didn’t know what to expect, but I did go up and we talked and got to know each other a little more. I wondered how she knew I was living in my car. I finally saw and figured out she was looking right down on my car from her apartment window.
She did end up asking me if I wanted to stay in her apartment. She was of course amazed what my goals were and the courage that it took to do what I was trying to accomplish so far away from home.
After a week of staying in her apartment and working as a dishwasher, I was offered a different job position at my work. They asked me if I wanted to be a bartender; they said it was more money and the tips were good. I ended up taking the position and after a month I was able to save enough money to start my flying lessons!
There were a few FBOs at the Santa Monica airport, so I decided to go with Gunnel Aviation, a Cessna-based FBO, which gave flying lessons. It is no longer operating and has closed since then.
I ended up with a very motivated flight instructor named Rob McClure. Thankfully I was able to save enough money to fly a couple times a week due to my job as a new bartender!
Flying at Santa Monica airport was very enjoyable and the weather was always amazing, just as I thought and heard it would be! I learned good radio skills, as the airport is very close to LAX and other nearby airports. I learned to be on my toes and quick to respond to towered airports as well as approach control, etc. The views over the skies of Southern California were so beautiful. I really enjoyed my cross-country training flights, flying over the Santa Monica Mountains, going to Bakersfield and San Luis Obispo, as well as flying the coast over Malibu, Pacific Palisades, and more!
It ended up taking me about a year to get my pilot certificate. It was the end of May 1988 when I finished to be exact. By that time I was away from home for a year; I was homesick, felt isolated, and wanted to see family. I ended up going back to Ohio shortly after and visited my sister in Dayton, Ohio. I was just going to pass by and visit and work my way back up to northwest Ohio. Lo and behold, I ended up staying, getting a job at an FBO working the flight line, and working on my instrument rating at Dayton International Airport.
During my instrument training, I was having issues with getting easily disoriented but managed to deal with the issue. I was getting close to finishing when I decided it was probably not a good idea to pursue the instrument rating due to the issue I was having and I felt I was pushing my luck. Besides, I was struggling with making ends meet with the wages I was making at the FBO. I felt down and disappointed to be honest, at a low point in my life. I had to figure out what I was going to do with my life, so I got the idea of going to architectural school. I had taken drafting classes in high school, and I did enjoy that. I found out that I couldn’t afford a traditional college education and I didn’t want to have all the debt from getting student loans as many students have when they graduate. I ended up going to a technical college in Dayton and got my two-year degree in architectural engineering. It was much less in cost, and in late October 1993, I moved back to the northwest Ohio area.
My disorientation issue ended up going away years later on its own. It must have been an equilibrium problem is all I can think. By then, I was working at an architectural firm and was making more money than I ever had in my life, and it was nice to be able to afford things. My dreams of being a commercial pilot were unfortunately put to rest; many things in my life had changed and I was on a different path. But my love of flying never left me.
Shortly after the internet was available, around 1998, I researched airplanes and wanted to get back into flying. I came across a really nice looking little airplane that I stumbled upon on the internet. It was a Midget Mustang. I immediately was mesmerized by its clean looking lines and modern sporty looks. I was originally looking at Van’s airplanes but was not thrilled about the Hershey bar wing design. Don’t get me wrong, it’s a nice airplane, but I was looking for something different. I also looked at RANS Aircraft; they seemed like pretty good entry airplanes to get back into flying. I tried looking for one to buy and even ordered some literature to try and possibly build one as well. But my mind could not escape the looks of the Midget Mustang.
It was comparable to the Van’s aircraft, but I really liked the Midget’s looks. I looked at trying to find one to buy but could not. In October 1998 I took a trip up to Michigan to visit the Mustang Aeronautics factory to see the Midget Mustang in person. I got all the information and pricing, and it cost more than what I had at the time to spend, so I turned off the thought of building one.
Several years went by and fortunately had some raises in my income, so the numbers looked promising that I could actually afford to build one. So, in 2005 I made the commitment to buy the plans and tail cone kit without knowing how to build one, let alone any experience using aircraft tools to build one! I went up again to Mustang Aeronautics and bought the plans and tail cone kit.
In the summer of 2005 I started buying tools and parts to build the tail cone jig and also started building the tail cone. I ended up finishing the jig in six weeks or so and started attaching the bulkheads to the jig and aligning everything up so the skins would lay properly on the bulkheads. As I had mentioned, I had never done any kind of work like this. I found it hard, to be honest, and it took a lot of research and working with my hands. My hands got cuts and were banged up, my nails were breaking. I thought to myself, what did I get myself into? I even cried about it. I only got the lower part of the tail cone skin attached to the jig, and in late November 2005, I stopped the building as it was quite difficult to work the skins on the jig.
I played with it a little from time to time, did research on the internet, read up on building techniques, and did some studying of standard building procedures. Time went by and I ended up putting the project “on the back-burner” for several years.
I had other hobbies and played the guitar, so I put a lot of effort and time in that. I started an alternative rock band and did that for several years and had a practice place in the basement where we would play. From time to time I would look over in the corner of the other end of the basement and see my airplane project just sitting there. I would think to myself “What am I going to do with that?” I felt sad about it all alone in the corner collecting dust.
My friends and family would ask me, “What happened to that airplane you wanted to build? You spent all that money and it’s just going to waste?” A friend of mine, Gary, would mess with me and said that I quit at everything I find hard or difficult. The comments and all the questions were getting to me, and it was making me question myself. I asked myself, “Are you going to be a quitter, Julie?”
It wasn’t until late November 2013 that I made up my mind and said to myself, “Julie, stop being a quitter! Toughen up!” I convinced myself to get back to building and made it a priority to use leather gloves to protect my hands from cuts and bruises from doing all the work and fabrication. I must have spent $500 on gloves! I went through so many roadblocks and setbacks that, throughout the years, I wanted to take a sledge hammer to it and throw it out! So many years of not having a social life and working countless hours in the basement. I did stick with it though; barely it seems. Many builders I spoke to said to me, “It’s supposed to be fun and enjoyable.” Well, maybe the first couple of years it was. To be honest, it really is like having another job, and major effort is required on one’s part, but I kept with it!
In the summer of 2017, the project got moved to my kitchen from the basement. I couldn’t finish it in the basement as I would never get it out. My dad helped me disassemble the fuselage, as it was held together with tons of clecos. Once I had the airplane out of the basement, I started building the wings (kit from Mustang Aeronautics — no holes drilled in the skins or ribs, etc.) in conjunction with working on the fuselage in the kitchen.
Fortunately my kitchen is quite large and just barely big enough to fit the fuselage. I didn’t want to put it in the garage as I knew the winters would be quite cold and freezing to work in.
I worked on it in my kitchen for the next several years and pretty much finished it in 2021. It was ready to get moved to the local airport for final assembly and painting! I worked on it there, getting it ready for inspection and all the things needed to finish it: paperwork, weight and balance, fuel flow tests, and many other things! In late October 2023 I got my airworthiness certificate as well as my repairman certificate! What a day that was! After the FSDO left my hanger and I held the certificates in my hand, I wept and thought of all the struggles I went through. A heavy feeling left me and a sense of “It’s finally over – I don’t have to spend years of building anymore,” is what I felt.
I did more than 90 percent of the work myself, with God’s blessing. Fortunately, I was able to buy many of the kits from Mustang Aero to save time. It’s hard to do everything when one is working a full-time job and managing one’s life. I find it amazing that there are builders that build from scratch! I truly honor those builders that do that. That takes so much commitment on their part, bravo to all you scratchbuilders — amazing!
I want to thank some friends that gave me advice and even lent a hand when needed, because there are some things one person cannot do by themselves. I want to thank my dear friend Gary Haas who helped with the difficult riveting areas and with helping me with the painting of my airplane and offering his ideas. Thanks to Butch Fraker, who was willing to help me at a drop of a hat with just about anything and helping with fabricating some small items that I would design on CAD. Thanks to John Errington, for all his advice and sending me pictures of his project so I could get a better understanding and perspective. Thanks to Rod Woodard for his advice and support, as well as Denny Martens for his encouragement and the pictures he sent me. Finally, thanks to Amil Mechel, who gave me so much valuable electrical advice on my electrical system for my airplane. Thank you all so much! To be honest, I couldn’t have done it without your help and encouragement.
Remember that kind lady at the beginning of this journey? I really don’t think I would have become a pilot if she wouldn’t have let me stay with her in that two-bedroom apartment that overlooked my car as I slept on that side street in Santa Monica. Everyone needs help in life even if it’s only a kind smile. Thank you, Helen Ellingson, for your generosity. She’s up with the lord in a better place. Thank you, God.
Don’t ever let your dreams pass you by, accomplish as much as you can in life, and give a warm smile to those around you.
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