European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - March 9, 1990, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Friday March 9, 1990 the stars and stripes Over Here the 12-foot-Long plane has a wingspan of 26 feet and will travel 1,000 Miles without having to refuel. A amps Dave Didina Man sees his dreams take Wing by Randy Pruitt staff writer Hahn a West Germany a Juan Rivera a Down to Earth Guy who worked with Dairy cattle and sawed his own firewood one Day decided to reach for the sky. He would not Only touch the heavens he would build a stairway to them. It was 11 years ago that Rivera looked up from his stack of kindling to watch a Small experimental plane Glide Over the Wisconsin Countryside. A i thought a id like to have one of those a a he said. What fascinated him was a futuristic shaped foam and fibreglass composite plane created by Burt Rutan the designer of such Craft As the record setting voyager which in 1986 flew non Stop around the world. In that moment a Pilot was bom and More. The 26-year-old Rivera vowed he Wou d not Only Fly his own plane he would build it using Rutan a  ruled out kits that can be assembled like Model air planes. He would make everything from scratch. I Wasny to interested in conventional factory designs and i did no to want to work with aluminium a said Rivera who recently accepted a position with a Branch of Embry Riddle aeronautical University at Hahn As an Airframe and Power Plant instructor. He has been running the Auto Hobby shop at Hahn. Rutan design appeared Over sky Rivera had never in. I eur Fly be or building air planes. Us he became obsessed with plans for a ,?.? i 1 was an obsession that 2  years Cost $20,000 and a quote a a flight across the North at Lanh i a i est germ Ciny through Green. A Iceland Scotland and England. I k interim he went from being a sin p  the University of wisc on mint sir n .s��06 to licensed Pilot Meghanl Airframe and Power Plant site Iff school instructor of Compo big  Sony Cru ctr on final assemblies Pacific Southwest air Amer inn a pleg9 and Mechanic for Djencan airlines in san Francisco. Plane hi0rked steadi.1y on i own sometime King one Section at 3 time. Is he spent the afternoon Nap Ping in it. A when id get tired of sanding. Id just crawl inside and Fly it around the garage a bit a he said laughing. Last september Rivera squeezed his 6-foot, 180-Pound Frame into the cockpit and left Florida. Nine Days later after 30 hours of actual flight he stepped onto West German soil. Waiting for him was his wife. Or. Peggy Barnes a family practice physician at Hahn. Today the 12-foot-Long plane with a Juan Rivera sits in the cockpit of his plane which he built from scratch. A amps Dave Didio wingspan of 26 feet draws curious stares on the runway at the Koblenz Winninger Airport. With its swept Back wings it looks As much like a piece of modern Art As a Fine flying machine. And the rear propeller makes the air plane appear to be moving backward. Looks though arc deceiving. A a it a a Small plane on the outside but it has the Range and instruments of a big plane Quot he said. Powered by a Lycoming 0235 engine with about 108 horsepower it takes off and lands at 80 Mph with a cruising Speed of about 160 Mph. Economy cruise used on the overseas journey at an Altitude of 5,500 feet was about 115 Mph. A it has about 101/ hours of endurance. I can go 1.000 Miles without Landing a he said. Rivera encountered his longest stretch of water Between Iceland and Scotland an expanse of about 800 Miles. A most of the workmanship of Home built air planes is better than  he said. A the materials Are the same but it s just that the person building it is doing it for love instead of for Money. There a not any profit motive in  Rivera said his Ocean crossing went smoothly. A i had no panic attacks. The engine never sputtered once and it never got quiet a he said. Rivera said the trans Atlantic voyage which Cost about $2,500. Is common to Many Small aircraft pilots. He talked by radio with a ferry Pilot from Minneapolis who was making his 416th crossing. He plans to Fly the plane Back to the United states eventually possibly travelling through the azores and on to Gander Newfoundland. He said he must install a Back seat fuel tank for that route. Rivera said pilots of experimental aircraft Are not a different Breed of aviators. A except we probably know More about our air planes than most other pilots. We re probably More careful than a lot of people because we know the  Rivera said his wife has been supportive of his labor intensive Hobby. A i did the work and she gave me the Money the last couple of years a he said smiling. A but after i got Here 1  even talk about my air plane any More. A a she a heard