If you would like to talk to any of these builder please contact GUMPS Aviation so that we can have them contact you on their schedule.
“I first met Dennis in 2010 – I had one of my friends build an RV-7, and I had to at least explore the possibility of building one myself. I learned about Dennis’s sheet metal class and was curious to learn more.
A visit to his shop was life-changing and soon I along with my wife, Ashima, found ourselves cutting, dimpling and riveting aluminum in his introductory class.
It would be another year before I’d start building in earnest. Throughout that phase Dennis and Glenn were there, answering all my questions without any hint of pressuring or hurrying up the discovery process. I ended up getting a partially built RV-8 kit. Having Dennis and Glenn look over the kit gave me the confidence to start the madness.
The build continued for almost 4 yrs. – and our business relationship transformed into a deep friendship. Not only I learned necessary skills to take on such a project, they also helped me keep things on track. With a young growing family, the support Dennis and Glenn provided was god-send, as it allowed me to keep the momentum.
Even after the build was done, Dennis has been instrumental in helping me take care of the aircraft. He brings immense knowledge and he has always welcomed me whenever I needed his help or had questions. I can certainly say that Dennis and Glenn are the most important factors that has made my RV journey rewarding and joyful.
Along the way I met many people who were either building, learning or exploring the world of RV aircraft. I am thankful that Gumps Aviation is there to help along so many of us who dream of building their own aircraft.”
– Ashish K.
“I wanted to have a good chance of completing my airplane project. I’d heard many people start, but don’t finish. Before buying a kit, I attended EAA seminars and then my wife and I took the Basics Class from GUMPS. Once I committed to the project, I rented building space from GUMPS for the empennage/tail cone kit. Later, I moved the project to my own shop, but continued to use GUMPS as a resource and network. My brother took the GUMPS Basics Class before helping me with my project, and I learned basic fiberglass skills from GUMPS. Looking back, I wouldn’t have done it any other way. Thank you everyone at GUMPS for the help and fun!”
– Glen B.
“I first contacted GUMPS in 2016 with a partially complete RV-7A project. They supported me every step of the way with the right training, tools and expert guidance to see the program through to completion and a successful flight test program. They worked with my schedule and helped me to fully utilize my capabilities throughout the numerous building tasks. The support of the GUMPS organization continued after the flight test phase including during the final painting, in-service modifications and upgrades and maintenance assistance. After 5 years and over 200 flying hours on my RV, I’m still working closely with the GUMPS team to keep my airplane safe, reliable and better than new. ”
– John V.
“I started building my Van’s RV-14 in the hangar at Gumps Aviation a few years ago. The shop is well equipped with all of the resources and tools to complete every aspect of the build. There is ample workspace, bright lighting and the temperature is always comfortable with heated floors. Another advantage of building in the Gumps Aviation hangar is that there are multiple builders in the hangar with airplanes at various stages of build completion. This allows for flow of ideas and a sense of friendship and community as we all tend to help each other as needed. The most rewarding part of my build was the friendship developed with Dennis over the hours spent in the hangar. Without Dennis’s help, I would still be building this project by myself in my own garage instead of flying. The big advantage of working alongside an expert builder is the ability to ask questions, discuss ideas and check all the work along the way. I am very pleased with the final quality and workmanship of my RV-14 and I owe all of that to building at Gumps Aviation.”
– Michael L.
“Being a member of the small community of amateur aircraft builders brings an unexpected personal joy to life’s journey. In my case, this was a personal investment in time that has spanned over 15 years and over 3000 hours. I have known Dennis and his associates for about 2/3 of those years. There were at least two phases of my RV project where Dennis’s team helped both accelerate and mentor in the skills and equipment I needed to master. The first phase was building a slow build wing (I already had the left fast build wing). The second phase happened towards the end of my project where I needed the experience guiding me through the all-important firewall forward configuration. Dennis helped me understand how all the plumbing and sensors are wired correctly. Although I had designed my avionics wiring and performed most of the wiring, during our 4 month intensive firewall work Dennis convinced me we could better optimize the quality of the wiring by refactoring some of the harnesses. We had a lot of conversations about the fictitious scoundrel “short-wire Charlie” and how he likes to make maintenance impossible! I’ve commented to Dennis several times how “I can’t imagine how I would have built this RV project without his guidance, friendship and community he has built”.
I could go on but it’s probably getting long. Finally had some good quiet time to think about this on my way to Hawaii today from PAE.”
