Please allow mw to introduce myself. My name is Pierre Andre Mercier and I am a member of EAA since June 2003. I have kept myself in the shadow until now. The reason for that is that for the last 2 years I have been trying to convince myself that I don't want to embark on this silly and incredible project of building my own aircraft. Well I am happy to inform you that I failed and that I have decided to go ahead and DO IT.

First let me give you a short biography. I am 50 years old and I have been flying professionally since 1973. I started as a helicopter pilot and worked in James Bay for a few years flying mostly Bell 206 helicopters. In 1979 I moved to Newfoundland and flew the Aerospatiale Super Puma to offshore oil rigs for 6 years. In 1985 I quit the helicopter business to join Air Atlantic, a small airline based in Halifax flying the Dash-7 and Dash-8 aircraft. In 1988 I joined Nationair Canada in Montreal and flew the Boeing 747 as a first officer and the DC-8 as a Captain. In 1993 Nationair went bankrupt and I was forced to seek employment overseas. I landed a job with Saudi Arabian Airlines flying as a line instructor on the Airbus A-300. For the last 5 years I have been a line Captain on the Boeing 747 Classic.

I can only tell you that aviation has been good to me all my life except for one thing. As a young man, I would have liked to begin my aviation career as a Fighter Pilot. Unfortunately my 20/50 vision prevented me from doing so. But hey, what do I care. A couple of years ago I came across and advertisement in one of the homebuilt magazines about the ultimate flying machine; the VIPERJET MKII. The minute I saw that aircraft I told myself that I could finally fulfill my dream of years ago. I am not a rich man but I have the money to build this $250,000 aircraft. As far as expertise, I have been building things all my life, including all the furniture in my house. My younger brother is also a pilot flying the A-330 for Air Transat and used to be a aircraft mechanic. My son's step father is an avionics engineer with Bombardier and would be my electrical and avionics expert.

For the last 2 years I have researched the project. I made a pilgrimage to Portland OR to see the kit and I have actually paid the required $16,000 down payment after several conversations with Mr. Simoneau who is in charge of kit approval for Transport Canada. As you probably know, the ViperJet is a jet powered aircraft completely made of carbon fiber and has a maximum take off weight of 5000 pounds as required by Transport Canada. I am currently building a 20 X 30 foot workshop beside my house, which is located about 500 feet from the runway at Lachute airport. The workshop should be ready by the end of June and if all goes well financially, the fuselage (Kit A) should be inside the work shop in October or November and ready for inspection by Mr. Simoneau.

My family and I would like to visit Oshkosh air show this coming July, 2005. I heard from another EAA member that it is possible to rent a Tent Trailer or a small trailer at a nearby farm. Do you have any information about this rental possibility? We would be 3 persons.

Needles to say that you will hear from me soon and that I look forward to meeting all of you guys.

Please reply to this e-mail address Pierre Mercier pierreandremercier@eaa266.org. I am currently in Brussels on a trip and will be in Montreal around the 12 of May for about one month.

Take care. Pierre

My phone number in Lachute is (450) 562-4515

Editor's Note: See the latest on Pierre's project in our December Chapter newsletter. Pierre is now looking for help with the completion of his project. If anyone is interested in participating either as a full partner or contributing to the construction in exchange for flight credits, or any other form, you should contact Pierre to discuss...

Much progress has been made in the last 3 years as can be seen below, but due to time constraints, help is needed to complete the project.