30 odd years ago, myself and Brad Hains started an EAA chapter at Spanish Fork, UT. It is still going today. I was getting into building my Bearhawk and found there were others who were building and needed help as it is tough to build from scratch aircraft.
I worked as a machinist and welder fabricator most of my life, mostly in the aircraft industry but also in the industrial valve industry. I ran my own business for years, Valve Worx in Salt Lake City.
About 3 years before I retired, I was assisting in building a carbon fiber one of a kind aircraft in Kalispell, MT. I did all of the machine work for the molds, writing code for the CNC gantry mill. I installed all of the systems controls, fuel, hydraulic, avionics, radios, retractable landing gear design and build, engines and propeller design and installation.
Now I fly some, shoot some, work on my house, and enjoy my wife Pam as we travel. Fair winds...
