The builder is Lester Merrill based out of Marion, Kentucky. I met him through a mutual friend (Jon Mulder) who is also an airplane builder. Jon who was based out of Clarksville, TN, was also building an RV-10. He and Lester lived an hour apart by car so they helped each other on their airplane projects.
Jon and I have been friends for several years. I often described him as the most detail-oriented guy I had ever met. One day he called me and said that if I thought he was detail-oriented, I had to meet Lester who he said was without a doubt the most detail OCD person he had ever met. Seemed a bit hard to believe coming from Jon.
One day, I decided to fly to TN to visit Jon and check out his RV-10 build. He suggested I take a look at Lester’s airplane which had recently had its first flight. Seemed innocent enough. At this point, I wasn’t really shopping for an airplane…
The airplane was stunning in both the quality of build and the attention to fine details. For example, the doors on most RV-10s are usually a bit rough and don’t always have the best fit. Lester spent untold hours on the doors to make them perfect.
Lester had spared no expense and had used the collective wisdom of dozens of previous RV-10 builders to create the ultimate RV-10. I had already owned an RV-10 (2007-2015) and had flown it for close to 800 hours. This airplane made that one look blah by comparison. I complimented Lester on his fine build but still didn’t really think I would own it someday.
Here are a few pictures of the airplane during construction.
He and I took a brief flight together and it brought back memories of my old RV-10. Over the next few weeks, Lester and I began talking about me buying it from him. We haggled over price but ultimately agreed to do the deal in early May 2025.
Here are a few photos from the day a friend and I drove to KY to pick up the airplane.
He said that if I bought his airplane he would immediately start building a new and even better one. Yeah, right. I figured he was just saying that to get me to buy his plane, but I can confirm that he is already building the tail of his next RV-10.