Hello from the Keystone State

[Troy Johnson]

Hello… I wanted to take a moment and introduce myself. My name is Troy Johnson and reside in Harleysville, PA with my wife and two children.

As I read through the forum, I am surprised to see so many of us with such similar stories.

Like many of you…

- Looked at purchasing a Factory Five Roadster for many years.
- Career, work related travel, higher education, and family have consumed any spare time.
- Browsed through the forum as a non-member (and non-owner) for some time


That all changed in Oct 2017, when I placed an order for a MKIV complete kit.

I’m posting this first message (although late) to say hello, and more importantly wish each of you that give your time and support to these forums a big THANK YOU!! The technical expertise, words of encouragement, and community that you have built is unlike any other forum I have seen. I feel that it would be unfair for me to use this information and guidance, then fail to acknowledge the technical help, build threads, and strategic build plans you have provided others to follow. Again. Thank you…

My son and I also want to contribute, so we will also start a build thread for our MKIV, but with a bit of a twist. More on that later…

Background:

I believe that my inner motivation for this build comes from grandfather. He was a carpenter by trade, but aviation was his true passion. Over his life he rebuilt (2) Piper J-3 Cubs, (2) Taylorcraft, and a Smiths Miniplane. When I was 15 years old (1985), he flew the J-3 Cub from his home in Viloa, Illinois and picked me up in PA to spend the summer with him.




During the summer we flew to several airshows, including the Oshkosh airshow in Wisconsin, which was unlike anything I had seen in my life. Airplanes stacked wing-tip to wing-tip across fields as far as the eye could see. We slept in a pop-tent under the wing of the airplane for an entire week.




The airshow was filled with hundreds of small airplanes built in garages, workshops or local airport hangars, through the Experimental Aircraft Association (EAA). I knew one day I too would either build an airplane, or something similar.

Each year my wife and I’s families would gather at my in-law’s house for July 4th. In 2008, a good friend of the family said he was dropping by and was anxious to show me something upon his arrival. Our friend worked as a salesman for a large local house builder/developer, and as I recall he met a sales goal that was placed upon him. The owner of the company stated that he could take any car from his car collection for the weekend. This car collection consisted of several exotic cars such as Ferraris, Lamborghini’s, Hot-Rods, etc. Our friend (a CA native) choose his favorite car growing up, which was the Shelby Cobra from the car collection. Although I’ve seen a few Cobras at car shows, this was the first time that I sat in one, heard the 427 up close, and experience the raw power of the Cobra. I was smiling ear-to-ear when we came back from that ride. I found the pictures I took that day and will post them below to share with you. (I know you all like pictures…) The car was built by Shelby American Inc. as one of the continuation cars. See picture 17 and look at the nameplate on the PS side foot box. The tube-steel and aluminum panel construction of the car, reminded me of the airplanes my grandfather built. I was aware of Factory Five before seeing this car but realized at that point that this was the project I would complete one day.

Fast forward 9 years… My son recently turned 15, so I realized that it’s time to purchase the roadster and use the build process to spend quality time together. Hopefully, he will look back at this age and it will be as memorable as the time I spent with my grandfather at the same age. I haven’t set a deadline for completion but would like to work at a brisk pace to get it done so we can enjoy the car together.

Experience:

I served in the U.S. Air Force with the 75th Fighter Squadron (Flying Tigers) working on the A-10 (Warthog) airframe. I was stationed at Pope Air Force Base (AFB) next to Fort Bragg in NC. I’m the third generation to serve with the Army Air Corps / Air Force. My Grandfather maintained aircraft within the China Burma India Theater during WWII; my father maintained heavies (C-5’s and C-141’s) out of McGuire AFB during Vietnam; and I was an electrical systems specialist on the A-10 airframe. I completed two tours to Saudi Arabia / Kuwait during Operation Southern Watch and Vigilant Warrior in the 90’s. This was also an eye-opening experience...

For the past 20+ years I have worked at Eaton Corporation, in several engineering roles within their electrical divisions. I primarily work within the project management, service, and sale of electrical distribution equipment, power monitoring, and automation products for industrial, commercial, institutional, data center, and government customers. Many of you likely know Eaton from the automotive or truck product lines, like superchargers, driveline components, etc. Same company, different divisions…

Sorry for the lengthy post, but I hope this post provides a little bit about my background. I hope to correspond with as many of you as possible and be an active contributor to the forums in the near future. If you’re in the area or traveling through, we would like to hear from you.

Regards,

Troy Johnson