A while ago I discovered a Great Lakes bi-plane for sale in Phoenix Arizona. It has always been my dream to own a Great Lakes but they are VERY rare in the UK. There is only one flying - owned by my friend Robert - in the UK. When I discovered 13L (Dreamcatcher) as a project Great Lakes needing a full restoration within my budget I was very excited. However recent changes with the UK and European aircraft regulation looked to have stopped the idea in its tracks. After a lot of effort and comunications with the PFA (Popular Flying Association), CAA (UK Civil Aviation Authority) and EASA (European Aviation Safety Agency) in Cologne. I finally sorted out status the Great Lakes could be operated in the UK. After a pricing excercise to check the shipping and expected restoration costs, I made a call to my brother and he was up for a trip to the USA to get the aircarft and pack into a container for the trip back to the UK. It didn't go well!
Mark named this aircraft dreamcatcher, the name sums up what it meant to him, I know that selling this has been a very tough decision for him and because of that, meeting Mark and his family, experiencing their hospitality and knowing what Dreamcatcher meant to him - it has made this a bitter-sweet experience for me. I don't know what the final name will be, however, throughout the restoration and as a tribute to a really nice guy, I am keeping the name of Dreamcatcher and Mark will not be far from my mind in this project.

Andy and I landed in Phoenix late Tuesday 12th June and went straight to Mark's house to view 13L. All was well and I authorised the bank payment. The following day we started cataloguing and packing up the aircarft ready for the container to arrive on the Friday. Friday arrived and we were prepared with the smaller parts packed into crates and materials to secition the container to take the four wings, fuselage, engine and all the parts. The container had not turned up by late afternoon so I called the shippers and discovered there was a problem and it was not going to arrive today. However I would have a container the following day, Saturday. Saturday came and went without a container arriving. I was unable to contact the shipper in the UK and only had the US agent acting on their behalf to work with. There was no way they could get me a container until Monday - great we were leaving on Monday! We left without the aircraft in a container and a £285 mobile bill to boot. The full story will be on new Great Lakes project site (see below)soon.