Twenty plus and a few extra years ago I left Covington Tn with a wing and a prayer. (Literally, I'm not making this up.) I hauled a project long Ez home I had purchased there on a flatbed back to Oklahoma city. I had found what was then known as The EZ Hanger where fiberglass and foam were being shaped into airplanes. Yup, it was one wing.
In 1998 I had the chance to live and work in Memphis. I got to hang out at M04 on most of my weekends where I got to fly my somewhat slow o-235 Long I had brought with me from OKC. We got to make my airplane faster, safer, and I always had oversight on my work which kept me (mostly) out of trouble. The one time I didn't listen to Robert I made what later became a bad career move. "Well," he said, "You can go work for an airline, and you'll make a lot more money, but you wont like it!" It rings in my ears like the tinnitus that seems to be creeping in with old age to this day. So, having left a decent enough job then, and several career moves later, I some how ended up in Jackson MS. But I still end up coming back to Covington for advice, tech data, and late night conversations with the (Now known as) Jet Guys. Ive been coming around since the first jet ideas were floated as a "thing." ("What if we put a jet engine on the back of a Long Ez?" "Hmmm, thats an interesting idea.") So far i haven't been told not to come back to M04. So now i feel like the "Thing that wouldn't leave!"
I just had Robert do a rhinoplasty on one of my Longs two months ago since he could do it faster and better than i could. While in there, it was found there was a modification done to the lift tabs on the canard which could have caused a loss of my canard in flight. (No, I didn't built this one!) I would have died and this is considered a bad thing by most folks. For Robert and the crew, it was no big deal to fix it. I quite possibly owe him my continued existence as a non dead person in the future when I fly it again. When I offer my thanks Mr. Harris just says, "Sure, no problem." In his matter of fact kind of way.
Those kinds of things are done on a daily basis at Covington.