Ready For Takeoff

Since age six, Sam Oakes knew that he was going to build an airplane and learn to fly it.

"I was vacationing with my family in 1973, and we wandered in to the Old Rhinebeck Aerodrome, a living history museum in Rhinebeck, N.Y., that features vintage aircraft," says Sam, a product design engineer for Waterbury Companies, a Waterbury, Conn.-based manufacturer.

"There was a big tent in the middle of a field in which a man was building a replica of a Fokker D.VIII. The man hoisted me into the cockpit of the airplane. That's when I told my parents I wanted to build an airplane."

When Sam was in his mid-20s, he was finally able to take flying lessons. At the same time, he was also building a radio-controlled model airplane.

"I put over 300 hours into building a 1/5 scale fighter plane with an eight-foot wingspan," says Sam. "I told my wife that the next time I put that many hours into building a plane, I was going to build a plane that I could actually fly."

And he succeeded. For five-and-a-half years Sam built a replica of a military fighter airplane from scratch.

"It turned out to be a difficult airplane to fly. It was a real handful. A fighter airplane is designed to quickly change directions, but not necessarily fly straight ahead for a long time. It is inherently an unstable design," says Sam.

After finishing his first plane, Sam immediately began looking for a production airplane. He found a 1952 Cessna in Chicago and flew it home. Sam spent his weekends for six months working on the Cessna in an unheated hangar — often in temperatures that didn't get above 15 degrees.

One of Sam's other goals was to be able to fly out of his own backyard. In 2004, Sam found a house for sale on the same property as an airport. He cleared the land and built a hangar big enough for two small airplanes.

"I can walk out the door of our home, and get right into the plane and take off," says Sam.

He tries to fly once a week, except for the few winter months when the field is muddy or covered with snow.

"I fly for the joy of flying," says Sam. "Flying for me started with the Old Rhinebeck Aerodrome. Every three or four years I go back to watch an air show. Things came full circle when I flew into the Old Rhinebeck in a plane I actually restored. It was a very emotional day — kind of a pilgrimage."

Sam's next goal is to own an open cockpit airplane.

"A biplane would be perfect," he says. "There is nothing quite like the thrill of making the final turn on approach in a biplane. You look down and can hear and smell everything...the wind...the engine loafing along...there's nothing better."

Gretchen Roufs, an 18-year janitorial supply industry veteran, owns a marketing and public relations company in San Antonio. To suggest someone you think should be featured in “Freetime,” contact her at Gretchen@GretchenRoufs.com.