Russel Koch took six years to build this aircraft. It was on display at Family, Fun and Flight on Sunday (Tiffany Goodwein CHAT NEWS)

By Tiffany Goodwein

Local aircraft builder featured at Family, Fun and Flight

Aug 22, 2021 | 6:32 PM

MEDICINE HAT, AB– It was a day dedicated to planes and lovers of the sky.

Family, Fun and Flight brought aircraft to the forefront on Sunday giving people a close-up look at the world of aviation.

Russel Koch has loved flying for as long as he can remember.

“When you are flying basically you have left the earth. you are in a zone that nobody is in usually,” he said.

His love for the open sky eventually led him to build his own aircraft in order to visit his mother in Edmonton. But Koch said building one is not as easy as you think.

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” You have to be half nuts. So it just takes a lot of determination you have to have special tools, and you have to decide that you are going to build it.

It is also a very time-consuming venture. For Koch, it took him six years to build his aircraft, but the thousands of hours of effort was worth the reward.

“So when I fly it is like I leave the world. I don’t answer my cellphone. So when I am up there by myself. I don’t have any worries.”

Koch’s two-seater airplane was on display, at Family, Fun and Flight and for the spectators it was quite a sight to see.

“It is very cool. To take the time to study everything, and to put it together to make it roadworthy, or airworthy,” one man said

“Oh, it is wonderful. I’m an old guy so I like the chrome,” another man said.

The vast interest from spectators was a goal of event organizers who aimed to get more people interested in aviation.

As for Koch, he is excited for the next time his plane meets the open sky.