Mims' dream nears completion

Seven years ago, Robert P. Mims ('42) began building a dream, piece by piece. And if all goes according to plan, he will buckle himself into his dream early this year on his 75th birthday, engage the throttle, and take off.

Mims is building an airplane from scratch. Not from a kit or from salvaged parts. From scratch. The RV-4 single-prop, with a four-cylinder, 150-horse Lycoming engine, is virtually complete. As soon as the FAA certifies it and Mims passes his flight physical, he's ready to go.

The Natchez jeweler has always loved airplanes, but for a long time he wasn't very fond of flying. Fifty-one years ago, in February 1944, Mims was piloting a B-26 Marauder when it was shot down over France. He was taken prisoner by the Germans and spent 18 months in a POW camp until freed by Allied forces.

That experience understandably cooled his enthusiasm for soaring in the blue, but in 1980 a friend and fellow pilot talked him into a short flight, and Mims' interest was reborn. He bought a 1957 Piper and restored it, and he and his wife, Virginia, have logged many pleasant hours in it.

In 1984, Mims attended an aircraft exhibit in Wisconsin and happened upon a set of detailed plans for building an RV-4. Returning home with 44 pages of blueprints and a bulky manual, he set to work, first in his garage, then moving the project to a hangar at Natchez-Adams County Airport.

It's been a labor of love, but not always an easy one. Sometimes the parts didn't fit. Mims somehow broke the first canopy he ordered, and now the ever-supportive Virginia points with pride to her $500 flower bed.

In February, however, the countless hours of work will have all been worth it, and Mims will fulfill the dream. Thumbs up, Robert--you're go for takeoff.