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Doug and Becky Stukey are putting the finishing touches on their custom-designed hand-built aluminum teardrop travel trailer, just in time to attend the upcoming International Teardrop Gathering at Minden, Neb., June 18-21.

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Mike Berry / The Wichita Eagle

The Stukeys' teardrop trailer is built from aircraft-grade aluminum, with hand-fabricated black fiberglass fenders. The highly polished unit will weigh in at about 1,000 pounds and should pose no towing problems for the couple's Ford F-150 pickup.

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Mike Berry / The Wichita Eagle

"Teardrop" trailers come by their name naturally, as this view of the Stukeys' travel trailer reveals. Doug Stukey created the streamlined profile by laying out shapes on his garage floor using masking tape.

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Mike Berry / The Wichita Eagle

The rear of the teardrop trailer opens to reveal a well-stocked kitchen/pantry area. A vintage look is achieved by using an old-style toaster oven and a handmade icebox (lower right corner). A two-burner propane stove slides out for campground cooking.

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Mike Berry / The Wichita Eagle

Doug Stukey, a manufacturing engineer at Spirit AeroSystems Inc., used a set of Honda Valkyrie motorcycle fenders as the forms for the custom fenders on the trailer. They cover a set of 13-inch chrome wheels and tires, which ride smoothly on a torsion suspension setup.

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Mike Berry / The Wichita Eagle

Doug Stukey demonstrates the stow-away two-piece pop-up table he designed for the trailer. The bin provides extra foot room when the 4-cushion bed is converted into a pair of facing couches.

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Mike Berry / The Wichita Eagle

That's not a mural painted on the side of the trailer -- it's a reflection of the Stukeys' yard in the highly polished, mirror-like aluminum skin. Note how the inside table sections can be attached to the exterior of the teardrop, for fresh air dining.

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Mike Berry / The Wichita Eagle

The diamond-plate aluminum storage bulkhead at the front of the trailer contains a small air conditioning unit which can be connected to 120-volt campground utilities to keep things cool inside the teardrop on hot summer days -- or nights.

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Mike Berry / The Wichita Eagle

The Stukeys are justifiably proud of their homebuilt teardrop trailer. Doug says he couldn't have built it without the help of Becky, who learned a lot about fabrication techniques while working on the project. There were times, though, when it was a bit dizzying because of the reflective aluminum skin, Becky says.

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Mike Berry / The Wichita Eagle