Interesting piece, onethrack. It is reminiscent of Captain Cook (?) arriving at some south pacific island in days of yore. Because his ship was, relative to villagers' experience, so preposterously large, only the village shaman could actually see it. The others saw nothing. Their brains would not admit to the "lunacy" of a ship so big.
But we are talking about a right dipstick here, in a home built plane that he built himself. His electronic support might well have amounted to a cigarette lighter and an FM/AM wireless with a built in cassette player. That airport will have runway lights but what then? I supposed he was so bladdered that he reckoned he'd jump that fence when it arrived.