'We need more people involved in aviation': Land of Enchantment Fly-In set for Saturday

Private pilots Brandon Fryar and David Otero have contrasting flying styles.

Fryar enjoys navigating through remote, undeveloped areas in the Gila National Forest, while Otero likes traveling fast and going longer distances.

“When we take off going to places, he needs to give me a head start because I’m going 130 mph and he’s going 200 mph,” Fryar said.

“But you can land in a driveway,” Otero replied.

Fryar flies a Rans S-21 Outbound, while Otero cruises in a Van’s RV-7. Both are homebuilt planes that will be featured at Saturday’s 35th annual Land of Enchantment Fly-In at Double Eagle II Airport, hosted by the local chapter of the Experimental Aircraft Association.

“It’s important to show the public what’s going on out here at Double Eagle Airport and how important aviation is to the city,” Otero said.

‘I was hooked’

Fryar, 51, said he has been passionate about planes since he was a child, when he watched them roam the sky.

“It was all a fantasy,” he said. “I thought flying was (mainly) for people in the military or who are super wealthy. It felt unattainable for somebody like me.”

It wasn’t until he met Otero at a Christmas party in 2017 that he thought flying could become a reality.

The minute Otero told him he built an airplane, “I was hooked,” Fryar said.

Fryar said after he got his pilot’s license, he first flew Cessnas. But it wasn’t for him. Instead, he had something else in mind.

“I knew that someday my dream would be to build one myself,” Fryar said. “I always liked building stuff constantly. I love the process. And so, I started researching ... I wanted a high wing, and I wanted bush wheels, which are made for landing on dirt.”

That’s when he decided to buy the Rans S-21 Outbound so he could explore his special place, the Gila National Forest, where his parents live.

“My dad trained to be a pilot but gave it up (to raise a) family,” Fryar said. “The same thing happened to me, but I got a second chance at it. To fly with my dad and mom and take them places they never saw in the wilderness is a dream come true.”

“I want to look at the wilderness. I want to look at wildlife,” Fryar said. “I want to show people that country. I want to be able to take people for rides in the Gila.”

Fryar said he finished building the plane in April after working on it for about five years.

“I must have drilled 10,000 holes and redrilled and cleaned 10,000 holes,” Fryar said. “And it’s pop rivets or blind rivet construction. So that’s where you stick a gun with the rivet in it, and you pull the trigger, and it pops it in there, and it breaks off the stem.”

Building the structure was just part of the process. There was a lot more left to do, he said.

“The joke in the industry is you got 90% to go because you got all the avionics, (the) electrical engine (work), and it’s super tedious work, and it took forever,” Fryar said.

Fryar said he loves avionics, electronic systems used on aircraft, which perform a variety of functions, like the ability to warn him if he is approaching rough terrain or allow him to use autopilot if he wants.

“So, I can take off from here, turn it on autopilot and say, ‘Take me to Reserve’ and it will take me over there if I want to,” he said.

Fryar said he appreciates the support he has received from the Experimental Aircraft Association (EAA), which consists of aviation enthusiasts who promote recreational flying, according to its website.

“They surround you with support, and they’ve got experts in avionics, they got experts in engines,” he said. “They got experts in airframes. So the resources are here, (which helps) somebody like me without any experience.”

‘Something I was always drawn to’

Unlike Fryar, who is a relative newbie to the field, 66-year-old Otero has been flying for 46 years.

“It’s just something I’ve always been drawn to since I was a little kid,” Otero said. “I grew up in the Space Age and watched the rockets go off and making model airplanes is just something I was always drawn to.”

He said he chose the Van’s RV-7, in part, because it has two side-by-side seats.

“I can carry a passenger and plenty of baggage and really go places,” Otero said. “What I can do with this thing, is I can roll on top and spin it and get places fast and it still slows down pretty good.”

He said technology is an important part of a pilot’s experience.

“(The plane) has a feature where if, for instance, I was flying at night and I didn’t see a cloud but I flew into it by mistake,” Otero said, “I can hit a button that says 180 and it will turn around and take me right back out of it.”

He said it took almost two years to build the plane.

“I used to teach aircraft manufacturing at (Central New Mexico Community College) ... so when it came to building this ... I already knew how to do all the riveting and I knew wiring.”

As Otero admired his plane, he said he looked forward to Saturday’s Land of Enchantment Fly-In.

‘Want to be encouraging’

The event will include displays of classic and amateur-built airplanes, helicopters and a “Chile Flight,” the local formation flying team consisting of amateur-built pilots who perform annually at the Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta.

Otero said he has been a part of the Chile Flight team for eight years.

“It’s really cool when people get excited about aviation,” he said. “So, we kind of want to be encouraging new people getting into aviation or people that have been out for a while who want to get back in it.”

Along with watching the “Chile Flight,” people can develop their pilot skills through flight simulators and other hands-on activities. Amateur aircraft builders will also demonstrate techniques, including metal riveting and fabric covering.

“We need more people involved in aviation,” Otero said, “not just flying but engineering and maintenance and operations.”