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Photo by Jim Craven Tyler Feldman's kit-built airplane won the grand champion prize in its category recently at the AirVenture '99 show in Oshkosh, Wis. Uncommonly high-flier Medford man's kit plane wins first place in world's largest air show By JIM DAVIS With the paint dry just two weeks, Tyler Feldman flew his custom-built kit airplane to Oshkosh, Wis., earlier this month for the world's largest air show. Feldman, 43, of Medford, was hoping his plane would fare well in a competition against hundreds of other kit planes. He just didn't think he would take first place. "I had walked up to the trophy case before the show and I didn't even look at the first- and second-place trophies," Feldman said. "I looked at third place and I thought I would really like to get that." Feldman won grand champion in the kit-plane division with his Vans RV-6, which took 2 1/2 years to build. About 10,000 planes competed in 11 plane-type categories at the air show. The award was announced on Aug. 2. "To win a grand champion at Oskosh is truly an amazing feat," said Butch Milani, technical adviser for the Southern Oregon chapter of the Experimental Aircraft Association. "And it's amazing when you consider that this plane showed against airplanes that cost $400,000 and $500,000 to build." It's the second time that a plane from the Medford airport won the grand championship at Oshkosh. Bob Watts of Eagle Point won his in the post-World War II warbird division in 1994 with his restored plane "Air Bear," which is a North American T-28 B. Watts said it's uncommon for two planes from the same small airport to win such prestigious awards. "That's really neat," Watts said of Feldman's win. Feldman, a chiropractor who is not currently practicing, got involved in flying about six years ago. He said he has always had a fascination with flying. In 1997, Feldman decided to build a kit plane, because he said he could get better performance at a better cost. "You start looking at buying a plane and they're all 30-year-old airplanes that are beat up," Feldman said. "They need the engines and the interior and the paint redone." He spent every day working in the hangar to build the airplane. Some days, he'd work for three or four hours. Some days, he'd work for 12 hours. He didn't have a background in aircraft mechanics, but he said he became so involved that now he can diagnose problems in other planes. "There's pretty good instructions, but there's a lot of leeway that you can do," Feldman said. He used a woman who specializes in hot rods to do the interior. He used a man who specializes in painting go-karts to paint a design of a checkered flag on the side of the plane. Butch Milani's son, Bryan Milani, who works at Erickson Air-Crane in Central Point, helped with the engine work. Feldman said he didn't want to skimp on the product, because he flies with his two daughters -- 11 and 9 years old. The kit cost more than $12,000 to buy, but he also had to pay for the engine and the control panel and the work to customize the plane. "I quit adding at $100,000," Feldman said. "So that's all that I admit to." He flew the plane for the first time last summer, but has been working for months customizing the aircraft. On July 26, Feldman and Bryan Milani flew the 1,800 miles to Oshkosh, where they showed the plane for four days. Milani needed to return to his job and they flew back before the award ceremony. Feldman called the day after the ceremony to learn he'd taken his category. Now Feldman just wants to use his plane for day trips and show it at other competitions. He plans to keep it for a while. "I'm not going to build another one," Feldman said. "It was a major ordeal to do this one." Mail Tribune Copyright � The Mail Tribune 1999, Medford, Oregon USA