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"  Last week, Davin Coburn headed to the Pacific Northwest to learn about one company&amp;#039;s revolutionary new build process for their high-performance kitplane\u2014and then to go for a test drive, to figure out what it was like 180 degrees from a midtown Manhattan office. Catch up with his journey by clicking here, then take to the skies below...  Morning at Elkin Creek begins with breakfast (by the former chef for The Rolling Stones), and a quick horseback ride over the grounds with Leah Knox, the ranch&amp;#039;s wrangler, and Heidi Fast, the lodge coordinator. This trip has been my first real stretch out of the office in a year. As exhilarating as the trip has been so far, we&amp;#039;ve been in near constant motion (much like my life back home). Flying here, landing there \u2013 setting up camp, clearing the miles. Here, beneath the Chilcotin Mountains that explode from the spruce trees to frame lakes and meadows, there&amp;#039;s no sense of urgency. This is about as far as I can get from fluorescent bulbs. Eventually we wander back to the stables, and I help pack the Sportsmen for the final time. Lyn Freeman and Grant Delin are off the ground first; Ted Setzer and I punch it down the grass strip soon after, hit 40 knots and peel away the clouds. Our 300-mile route carries us over the through 10,000- and 11,000-foot peaks and our final shot of summer rain, then southeast of Vancouver, into Bellingham, Wash., to clear customs. (We should have left the bear spray in Canada.) From there, it&amp;#039;s a quick hop back to Arlington, and the Glasair build center. In six days, I&amp;#039;ve logged nearly 30 hours of flying time. With an average speed of 125 knots in a heavily-loaded plane, we&amp;#039;ve covered the better part of 5000 nautical miles. At the end of my first week in a tailwheel I&amp;#039;m taxiing with more authority, and controlling most of the landings. (Setzer still safeguards the rudder pedals then \u2013 but on takeoffs I&amp;#039;m whisking us off the ground before he even has time to look up from the sectional chart.) We arrive back at the hangar just in time: Alan King has completed his Two Weeks To Taxi program, and he&amp;#039;s ready to fire up his new Sportsman. Those wings are right where we left them \u2013 and it features, in my humble opinion, one of the finest elevators ever built. Once he gets the plane home to Okanagan, Wash., King will have to officially weigh the aircraft (for weight and balance information), and perform standard mechanical component checks. There are routine inspections to be done, and there&amp;#039;s paperwork to file with the FAA. But today is an emotional one for him. &amp;quot;This is a 50-year dream come true,&amp;quot; he tells the Glasair staff. &amp;quot;I&amp;#039;ve wanted to have a plane of my own forever. It&amp;#039;s finally something I&amp;#039;m able to do.&amp;quot;  \u2014Davin Coburn "^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.popularmechanics.com/adventure/a1895/4219221/>