Yesterday i was finally able to do something i've been wanting to do my whole life. Flew my -12 to visit my father for the first time, a 2 hour flight and my first ever overnight stay(with the plane) away from the home 'drome. My dad is 87 now and is still in good shape. He had a serious health issue at Thanksgiving and has made a good recovery. One of the reasons I built the -12 was to be able to fly with him and the speed of the assembly was a primary factor. I was able to complete my plane in about 700 hours, Van's was spot on. Dad was a Navy fighter pilot. He has over 2000 hours in F-8 Crusaders and did 3 combat tours in Viet Nam. One tour as executive officer of VF-211, one as commanding officer VF-211, and the last as CAG-5 on the USSMidway. Naturally I wanted to be a fighter pilot like him. However, when I was 12, during a routine vision screening at school, I found out I would need glasses. Knowing that the Navy does not accept pilot candidates with anything less than perfect vision my dreams were crushed. So now my -12 is my jet fighter and I have flown my father in it. The only other time I flew with Dad was a family trip from Jacksonville,Fla to Lower Alabama when I was 5. Dad also was a flight instructor at Pensacola in the late 50's. After we landed yesterday he scored the "check ride" as an "UP". So I guess that I have now passed primary flight training and will now move to jet transition training. I hope to enjoy many more flights with my father in the days to come. For all you guy's still building your fighter jets,,,,, keep pulling and pounding those rivets so that you can have a day like I did yesterday.