Tom Bramich.

Although my true love in aviation has always been helicopter I went with the fix wing because it was a lot cheaper to own and learn. My yearning to go for a helicopter ride was getting stronger and stronger the more I flew fixed wing. Probably because I saw so many of them flying around as I was flying every chance I had. So I decided for my birthday I would go for a helicopter lesson ($190/hr). So I did it and let me tell you that was a mistake, this was the best feeling I've ever felt (next to the other thing), now I was hooked on helicopters as well. So after taking 20 hours of helicopter instruction in a Robinson R22 and getting my solo, I bought a Rotorway helicopter. I used that to finish my training and get my Rotor wing ticket. So now after only 1 year from my first lesson I had a total of 400 hours in aircraft. Around 380 hours in my 150 and a little over 30 hours in helicopters. Shortly after my 1 year anniversary everyone I knew wanted to go flying so I started to look for a 4 seat airplane that w//////as IFR capable. I found a 1962 Cessna 172 that was in great shape except for the paint fading. So I sold the 150 (regretted it ever since) and bought the 172. Know I was really tied into aviation a year and a half from my first lesson in GA and at this point I now owned (with the banks) a helicopter and an airplane.
The Rotorway was great but I never truly felt safe flying the helicopter because it was a work to flying ratio of about 1-10 (1 hour of flight to 10 hours of fixing and adjusting) So I sold that off and decided to buy a "real" helicopter so I found a 1988 R22 Robinson. In the interim of all this I was still flying my fixed wing around. I put about 120 hours (and a top end) on the 172 and only had the 4 seats filled about 5 times. I decided it was time to sell that plane because the maintenance started to cost a small fortune.
That's when I looked into experimental aircraft. I first decided to find a really fast 2 seater so I had my eyes set on a Glasair that was at a close buy airport. The owner bought another plane and no longer flew the Glasair often. So I flew with the owner a few times and after being convinced I needed to go 200mph on 8 gallons per hour (didn't take much , just 1 ride) I sold my 172 and bought the Glasair. There was only one problem; the insurance company wouldn't let me fly it until I had 5 hours of dual instruction and only from one specific instructor (the only one around with Glasair time). So here I am with a plane that I can't fly because of lack of time in a tail wheel plane as well as high performance. I had tail wheel time in a Decathlon and a Champ but it was only about 15 hours total over 2 years. The biggest problem I had was the instructor was never available to fly, he was a very busy guy with a full schedule and we had bad weather every time I scheduled a lesson. Nearly 1 month after owning the Glasair I still could not fly it myself so I decided to get another tail wheel airplane but for a lot less money.
This is when I looked into an Avid. Another fellow at the airport had one but he never flew it so I tried to get his plane. He wanted almost as much as I paid for the Glasair. This led me to start shopping for one. I did all my homework and loved everything I read and heard about the performance of the Heavy Haulers so that's what I wanted. I looked at a few planes and didn't understand how people could fly in such junk. I didn't feel safe sitting in some of them never mind flying in them. Finally I had almost given up I was down to the last 3 Avids that I was going to look at and I found one in Vermont on the Canadian border that came with floats and skis. I went to look at it with a negative attitude but to my surprise it wasn't nearly as bad as expected. I was so delighted to find a plane that I could fly with minimal work that I bought it on the spot. It sat in my drive way for 2 weeks while I inspected everything and gave it a complete tune up (fuel line, brakes, tires, lube, performed some repairs and so on). But once I got it to the airport it was ready to go. The best part was that the insurance company didn't even want a check ride, after a few taxi runs and some ground checks; I just jumped in and got to go flying. This May will be 3 years to my first airplane lesson and I now have over 700 hours in a variety of aircraft (Aeronca, Aviat, Bellanca, Beech, Cessna, Piper, Mooney, Sirrus, & maybe a few others and 5 different types of helicopters including a turbine sign off)
Tom
Below there are more pictures and video clips sent to me by Tom - enjoy.

If you are on dial-up forget videos, each file is about 9 MB.
Video Clip #1
Video Clip #2