How to work on the plane when it is too cold to work on the plane...

Well the weather decided to show up right on schedule. Just when I need some fair weather to finish cleaning and priming my wing ribs, a large arctic blast shows leaving several inches of snow and below zero freezing temps - about normal for me.

Since I have no desire to get my hands wet in a bucket of luke-warm water to wash freezing cold aluminum wing ribs, I decided to find some research work to do to kill some time while this ridiculous air mass slowly moves out of town. So my thoughts turned back to my LED light machine gun project, and how to design the removable section of the leading edge so I can interchange it with the gun assembly and a "normal" clean leading edge.

I was planning on doing the whole thing in fiberglass to avoid removing any metal from critical sections of the wing, but themore I have thought about it the more I do not like that idea because it modifies the airflow at a critical location on the wing to the point where it may affect the function of the inboard section of the aileron, which is not good. My technical counselor got me thinking more about that when he started asking me how I was going to address any fairing that I may need to make to blend the part into the top and bottom skins of the wing.

So I started thinking about a different solution that does involve cutting off the rounded section of the leading edge in between the first two nose ribs of the leading edge where the fuel tank ends and the leading edge begins. To avoid getting into too much detail it will involve ordering 2 more 408-1 ribs for the left and right wings, new .032 inch thick strips of aluminum to make a slightly wider joiner plate than normally called for, some additional sheet aluminum for making the LE skin sections and  short spar sections, and some additional stall warning mounting bracket nose rib sections. I am also going to order some Duckworks blank template landing light kits, hoping that the cross spars in those kits have top and bottom flanges that actually touch or support the wing skins. I cannot find any pics from other builder logs that clearly show the top and bottom flanges and how or if they support or touch the top and bottom wing skins, so I will just haveto order some and find out for myself I guess.

This first pic shows what a new scotch brite pad looks like after using it to scuff all of the main wing ribs. The new one ison the left and the 2spent ones are on the right. It took 2 pads to scuff all main ribs for both wings.It will probably take at least one more to do all of the nose ribs:

Next is a pic of my lovely drawings for the leading edge mod that I am about to undertake:

I have ironed out most of the details of this mod, but there are a few critical elements where certain parts have to be sized to exact measurements, and the more I have to measure and apply the math to properly bend a flange to a precise dimension, the less likely it will happen. So if I can use some prefabricated parts to do at least part of the job, then that would be a good thing. Hopefully this will come together well, but I need to order some parts first, and then wait for warmer weather. Ho ho ho.... :(

Wing Rib Prep Cont'd, and the loss of another good friend.....

I managed to finish scuffing the main wing ribs for both wings. In total I think this took me about 8-10 hours or so just to scuff and deburr the 28 main ribs (14 per wing). The last two ribs are the end ribs that are used to support the wing spar on the wing stands, so this meant that I had to remove both wing spars from the stands, remove the end ribs, and detach the angle mounting bracket from each rib. The leading edge ribs still need to be scuffed (14 more of those to do).

The next steps are to clean and prime the two end ribs so that these can be remounted to the wing spar so I can put the apars back on the wing stands. In fact, once these are primed I think I can go ahead and rivet them to the wing spar. The cleaning process is a bath in warm water and original formula dawn dishwashing detergent, followed by a deep cleaning with acetone and a micro fiber cloth.

For the primer I am currently thinking about using the NAPA 7220 from the spray can instead of the two part epoxy primer - mostly for time saving reasons, and because my two part primer has been sitting around outside in the garage for a long time and may now be unusable, and because the weather is expected to get colder next week.

And as if there isn't enough sad news in the world today, I just got word that another very good friend and Civil Air Patrol acquaintance John Butler has passed away. I spent a lot of time in my last several years of CAP service working with John by conducting a variety of different training courses for the Jeffco Senior Squadron. John was a great guy and he will be sorely missed. John had some medical issues but I don't have any details yet. All I know for sure is that at least he did not parish in an airplane crash. Rest in Peace John - Lord knows you have sure earned it.

This year just can't end soon enough for me.....

Scuffing alclad

Managed to start scuffing wing ribs after a long respit from building the plane. For me this takes about 10-15minutes per rib. Since I love doing the math for this kind of stuff just so I can realize just how much additional work I still have to do:
1. Each rib has 2 sides, a front and rear flange,and top and bottom flanges, and each of those have 2 sides. That means each rib has 10 sides of metal that have to be scuffed and made ready for primer.
2. There are 14 main ribs and about 7-8 nose ribs for each wing. Allof these have to be deburred, scuffed, cleaned, and primed. Needless to say this process takes several hours, or the equivalent of several days, for me to complete.

All but one of the left wing main ribs have been scuffed with a scotch brite pad. The one that remains is the one that the angle bracket is attached to on the very end which is still supporting my wing spar in the stand. I will have to remove the wing spar from the stand, disassemble the wing rib from the angle bracket, scuff it, clean it, and prime it, and then reassemble it all and reattach it to the end of the spar, and remount the spar back onto the stand.

The right wing main ribs are next, followed by the nose ribs for both leading edges. I have also had to perform the final edge deburring on the rib flanges on most of the ribs where they split into different sections that attach to the main wing spar and the trailing edge rear spar. There are small burrs on most of these separated flanges that have to be cleaned up. I used a small file, 200 grit aluminum sand paper, and the sctch brite padto clean them up. Many of the flanges had raised edges or small burrs and these will just eat away at the metal they are attached to if you do not clean them up.

At least I made some progress. My goal is to have all the main ribs scuffed by the end of the weekend.

On another note, I have come to realize that this "small" project of mine will most likely take me on the order of 10-15 years to complete. The number and size of the ongoing domestic interruptions, and the need to finance college expenses for 2 kids for the next 5.5 years are all taking a toll on me. I still see myself completing the project someday, but it certainly will not be completed completed in the 5 years I had originally hoped for. Not much else to say, except that life sucks sometimes.

ON that note, it is a sad day today after learning that the president of EAA Chapter 43, David Biesemeier, died Wednesday after taking off in his experimental aircraft from Erie/Tricounty airport. I had met him a couple of times and he was a really really nice guy. He will be missed. The details as to the actual cause are still not known, but there is some indication that he may have lost a wing or experienced a major engine malfunction or a possible breakup in flight. The media, as usual, is all over the place with their reports right now, so we will have to wait for the NTSB report to get anything closer to the truth.

I am finding that at my age I have started experiencing the loss of an increasing number of friends and loved ones for a variety of reasons. I guess this is a sure sign of getting older but I have to say that this just really sucks. We lost Alex to cancer just a couple of weeks ago - the boy who wanted to be a pilot that we were thankfully able to send to Oshkosh. Cancer sucks, dying in an airplane accident sucks, death sucks. There are too many people from all generations whom I respect dearly and from whom I have learned so many things that are no longer here,  and that sucks too. Sorry to rant, there has just been too much of this happening lately, and its a little hard to digest.

Anyway, hopefully I will be reporting more plane building progress in the coming weeks.

Local Area RV Group Halloween-Themed Movie Night - Scary Fantastic Time!

Kudos to the folks that decided the time was right to put together a movie night at the traditional location at Gary Zillik's Hangar at KFTG. What was somewhat UN-traditional about this one is that it was a total Halloween - themed party AND movie night, complete with scary food and drink, and yes, even a scary movie or two to cap it all off.

It seems to have been a very busy and event-filled year for just about everyone that I know. As a result, this was the first movie night for the entire year that was held at the Zilik Hangar, and about the only one I know of that was put together at all by anyone in the local area. The timing could not have been better, as it seemed that everyone was ready for a good bit of Halloween fun.

Little did I know that the spiders in charge of this event were planning to make it a much more special occasion that I was expecting. The first clue that this was going to be a really fun evening was when we walked in the door of the hangar, and this is what we saw:

Wow! A fully decked out table setting - Halloween style! How cool was that.

Some of the aircraft that call this hangar their "home" had been moved outside to allow the masses of ghouls and goblins to infiltrate the space for a short time. Here is the "theater" seating arrangement:

And a glimpse of the Movie screen to give a truly wide screen feel:

Next was the food table. Deb had mentioned that sub sandwich fixings would be provided, and if anyone wanted to bring a dish they certainly could. Then she provided a small list of Halloween-themed dishes, and wow, did the group ever deliver on that!There was not a single inch of space left on the entire work bench!

When she said "sub sandwich meats," I had no idea they would look like this. Do I REALLY want to make a sandwich out of this????!!!:

Now for a tour of the other food items.First was a spider web 7 layer dip:

I think this next one came from the Rettig family - Caprese eyeballs I think they were called. Very tasty by the way:

Next was a healthy supply of salty bones. To the right of the bones is my contribution - Monster brain stuffed mushrooms. Ed. Note - there was nothing to bring home - everyone loved eating all the monster brains! Not sure what that says about pilot-types!:

Next were some bloodshot eyeball eggs. When I pause to try to figure out how these were made I realize that these must have taken considerable time to prepare.What truly and amazingly talented folks we have in this little RV group of ours!

What? A pumkin-orange you say? Believe me, they really DO exist!

Bloody cheese and crackers, anyone?

Purple people eater cake, anyone? All I can say is - I shouldn't have, but I did. This was at least a 3 or 4 layer cake - filled with all kinds of yummy no-so-good-for-you frosting and fillings. My taste buds could not decide which part of this thing they liked best - they just kept saying "MORE PLEASE!"

Fruit punch from the caldron,anyone? All I was told is that this was supposed to be an "adult" beverage. Everyone knows there are no "adults" in a room full of pilots, but I decided to have some anyway. Very tasty!

How about some slime sauce with your apples?

There were lots of spider webs at this party. I really have to tell the hangar hosts to do a better job of cleaning up before we all show up!

Creature cup cake anyone?

All I can say about this next dish is WOW! Are these potatoes? Apples? Something else? Whatever they are, someone in our group is a true Halloween artist. How cool was this?:

This next dish was so scary-looking that I was afraid to eat one. They were "finger" licking good though....

Whew! Now that I got through all that, how about a few normal human shots-well mostly anyway.....

Adam and his girl friend. This also happened to be Adam's birthday, and so we made certain that he was adequately embarassed when the whole group sang happy birthday to him. Happy birthday son!!

Next was the star of the show in the lady bug outfit, in the company of parents Mike and Aneta Rettig, taken while on a pretend flight in Gary's RV-6A that is affectionately know as "PAPA ZULU."

And finally a pic of what can happen to you if you are not careful when using riveting tools! Sean Blair posing as "The Rivet Man". Way cool Sean! Before the party, how on earth did you????? More importantly, after the party,  How on earth did you....? Whether putting them on or taking them off, it all looks painful to me! This is a best costume award as far as I am concerned. Also note the red bags under the eyes. This is a sure sign that you are working way to many hours on an airplane. All airplane builders should take note of these tale-tale signs of "builder fatigue," and also take note that the only way to cure this problem is to ocassionally stop working on the airplane, grab a beer, and just relax!

 

Gary and Carolyn and Scott and Deb, and all the rest of you that I am sure contributed to such a fantastic time, thank you so much for deciding to put this together. After everyone was well fed on all the Halloween feast, the movie Ghost Busters was served. It was fun to see that movie again in its uncut full feature version.

Deb and I were discussing the party after the movie, and we already started talking about next year. She then said that she just wasn't sure how they would top this for next year. I told here not to worry about topping anything. This was such a wonderful time that I simply told her that I am down for a complete repeat of this same thing next year. Many of us needed a break for some fun after a long hard year, and you guys delivered in spades! (Halloween pun intended!)

Latest Major Distraction Out of the Way - Getting Ready to Build Again

This will be the only reference I make to a project that literally almost brought me to my knees and severely crippled my ability to work on the plane. A before and after pic of the upstairs bathroom should take care of it, and then it is time to talk airplane building again.

Before the remodel from hell:

And after:

Took way too long and cost way too much in time, money, and sanity,but it is done. Still have a downstairs mess to take care of but will tackle that next year AFTER my wings are done.

Yesterday I finally managed to put together my new large paint table. One of the things that all the bathroom stuff did provide as a small contribution for the airplane build, was a very big box that the downstairs shower kit came in. I saved this box with intent of turning it into a very large paint table that I can use to prep and prime many large wing parts at the same time.

I used 36inch wide 2x4 inch wire fencing that has been laying around the house forever doing basically nothing, some 1x3 lumber, and a variety of different screws to complete the project yesterday. Just as was the case for the smaller table I built, the hard part about this is stretching the fencing out tight enough so that it will not sag when all the parts are placed on it.

I also had to close up the open end of the box on one side by using a short 2x2 piece of wood and some gorilla tape. This paint table should serve me well for many other priming and painting sessions to come. I started by cutting the top off, then I cut the flap on the end of that piece off and taped it to the end of the table. Then I measured, cut and screwed the wood frame together, then attached it with screws to the cardboard,and then cut, fit, and attached the wire fencing to the wood frame that surrounds the cardboard box.Simple but effective.Still, this is a very large item that I will have to be able to store safely somewhere.

Next step - prepare to get very sore arms and hands after all the scuffing, cleaning,and priming  of the wing ribs. All this while the next winter storm is bearing down on me. Great, just great! But, hey, at least I am building a plane again.

Photos from Airventure 2013

Finally have some time to post some photos from Airventure 2013.

One of my many goals during this trip was to explore how and where folks were installing their heated pitot tubes on their RVs in relation to the wing tie down rings, and, more importantly how were they tying down their aircraft. The location is important because the tie down rope may interfere with the heated pitot tube if it not tied down properly. Varying distances and locations of hardpoint tie downs on concrete ramps at different airports also has an impact on this.I now know exactly where to place my pitot tube,which was about where I had planned to install it all along.

What I found is that most are tieing downwell forward of the leading edge of each wing and at an angle that should not interfere with the heated pitot tube. Some of the aircraft I stumbled onto had some - shall we say - unique approaches to tying down their aircraft,as in this first pic with its unique pitot tube cover:

Those of you familiar with the hit movie Avatar will recognize this next paint scheme on Paul Dye's beautiful RV-3B.

This next aircraft is probably in my top 3 list of the most beautifully painted ANYTHING I have ever seen. There is a very detailed story behind all of the art work on this RV-8. It is detailed in articles in Sport Aviation magazine and elsewhere, so I am not going to detail it here. There are remembrances of fellow pilots, war heroes, and of the pilot's wife all over this gorgeously painted aircraft.

Next is an odd shot of a B-24  - first one I had seen at Oshkosh in 4 years - called Diamond Lil. I caught the sun light facing in the completely wrong direction for an interesting photo effect

And next was a Vietnam era Caribou - a rare sight indeed. When I first started my career at Jeppesen several years ago I worked with a man that was a pilot of these aircraft during the war. This was a key work horse cargo aircraft that can operate on short unimproved fields with amazing performance capabilities.

Next is a Japanese torpedo bomber - code name Kate:

Next is the Terrafugia Transformation flying car that I actually got to see transform from car to an airplane that actually flew and then back into a car again. Very cool indeed and a hilight for me on this trip.

Next was the Kiddie Hawk flight simulator that I volunteered to help man at Kid Venture this year. This was a wonderful experience. The simulator is designed and built by a chapter 301 member and it rotates around all 3 axis just like a real airplane. It has a control stick and rudder pedals that will allow a young person to experience much the same sensation as climbing, descending, banking, and yawing gives to a pilot in real flight. A very ingeniously designed aircraft.

Then on the final Saturday of the event, I decided to try to run my first 5k by signing up for the Runway Run/walk event that helps support the local Oshkosh area United Way. You get to run on a service road from the Ultra Light park, across the threshold of Runway 36, up the other side of the runway, and back again to where you started from. I also conned Mike into signing up to run it with me, but he blew me away during the first 1/4 of the run as I just could not keep up and had to walk a few times to catch my breath. I did not do too bad for an old fart that does not ever run very much.


Balloons were supposed to launch but winds were not favorable so they remained tethered.

And Mike and I "recovering" after the run:

Note the paragliders flying in the background. They were just chomping at the bit to get the balloons off the ultra-lite runway so they could fly.

And then finally I capped it all off by attending the memorial service for the induction of fellow chapter member Brian North, whom we lost to a bad aircraft accident at KFTG earlier in the year. A plaque added to the wall along with other 2013 inducties. Brian never actually made it to Airventure in person before the accident, but his memory lives on at the memorial wall. If I ever have to depart this earth,I think this is an honor I would like to have fulfilled someday.I can't think of a better place for a pilot or aviation enthusiast to be remembered.

And then the deed was done. Here is the final sunset from Camp Scholler,the campground that becomes the largest single camp ground in the world for one full week. It empties out in a hurry starting Saturday evening and all day Sunday. I read an article in Sport Aviation recently where somebody summed up the general feeling when the end is finally here - it does make you feel a bit empty inside after having experienced total sensory overload at an event that forces you to run at a blistering pace just to experience a small portion of everything that you want to do while you are there. But I look at it this way, Wehave to take a break from it all each year, otherwise we would not realize just how special it really is to attend Airventure Oshkosh each year. There is ALWAYS something new to experience, and I most certainly did not even come close to doing everything that I set out to do. So I can hardly wait till next year to do it all over again!

And lastly the somewhat ghostly image of things that used to be..... a shadow of undisturbed grass forms the outline where an aircraft that attended Airventure once stood. Oh the memories it would divulge if it could talk. I guess that is another reason why airplanes still need pilots - only they can tell all the stories that both plane and pilot have experienced during this awesome event.