Contract Work

Doing a little contract work for StienAir. Every morning I spend about four hours building up Avionics wiring harnesses for Van's RV12s.

This gig should last until we mount up for our Alaska ride around the first of June.

We have over half of the wing ribs for the Pitts project done now and have ordered the spars for the lower wings.

Still waiting on one piston for the Aeronca engine. Over & Out!

White Solo Cup - I fill you up!

I posted this on my Facebook page but I don't think anyone (other than Kate) actually understood it. It went like this: "White solo cup...I fill you up (with T-88)... let's have a party...a rib building party".... (you can see my white solo cups with T-88 structural adheive in the picture)
It's a take off of Toby Keith's RED solo cup song... its a party-drinkin song - was #1 on the country charts for several weeks. Anyway I guess not many of my FB friends are country music fans.
OK- last weekend I was in Calyfornia at Sunrise Aviation for the annual Aerobatic Judges School.. Now I am back home. The capstrip I've been waiting for finally arrived and now it is RIB building time. I will be wing ribs for probably the next few couple months.
As far as the Aeronca goes... still waiting on engine cylinders. In a few more weeks I'll be heading back out to Calyfornia for the Redlands Aerobatic Contest. Other than that - just waiting for warm weather so's I can ride my motorcycle. Over & Out!

The Pitts instrument panel is finished minus paint. The aerobatic sequence card holder is integrated into the center section of the panel. Behind the card holder you find the G-meter, magnetic compass and fuel quantity indicator (vertical fuel tube). The black thing you see is a strip of velco that helps secure the I-Pad when it is in use.

This comming week I'll continue with the wing ribs. Friday I'll be heading out to S. CA to attend this years Aerobatic Judging School at Sunrise Aviation. Over & Out...

Instrument Panel Progress

Making some progress on my new instrument panel for the Pitts. I have integrated the Aerobatic Sequence Card holder and I-Pad mount. If you remove the I-Pad/Sequence Card, behind lies the Magnetic Compass, G-meter and Fuel Quantity Indication. While flying to contests I not only can follow my progress with foreflight on the I-Pad, but I can check my email, read a book, play games, text my wife, or read the newspaper.... I-Pads are awesome! Over & Out..

Spent the weekend building three more wing rib jigs for the Pitts wings. Also cut out various gussets and pieces. I used a professional band saw for the jobs - not the upside down jig saw as seen in the photo. I put this photo on facebook as kind of a joke - I think only my friends who have actually built an airplane from scratch could appreciate it.

This is how I built my wings for my first airplane - with a cheap Black & Decker jig saw - it was the early 70's and Chrissy and I had nothing - I worked two full time jobs just to feed us - we searched the couch for coins just to go get some bread... well, maybe it wasn't THAT bad - but it was hard but fun times. It took me six and a half years and about six thousand dollars to build that Miniplane. Later in 1999 it took us nine months and twenty-two thousand to build the Acroduster. Times have changed.

Capstrip should be arriving this week - then we will start assembling the ribs. A high-five for ADEL last night at the Grammys - she is my favorite singer right now... Over & Out.

Removed the fuel tank from the Pitts for cleaning and to change the flop tube. The flop tube has been in this tank for 35+ years and it is getting a bit stiff. Now is a good time to change it out. Also if you note the placement of the fuel filler cap - not in the center like most Pitts S1's - but relocated over on the left side. This eleviates having to use an adapter tube when fueling the airplane - it is just a straight-in shot. Nice touch.

Before I reinstall it I'll steam-clean the tank and pressure check for leaks. It is a nightmare removing the tank when the airplane is flyable.

Next up - remove the firewall. Over & Out!

Got My Engine Back

Chrissy picked up my Pitts engine at Bolduc Aviation (Engine Shop) today. The crankshaft flange run-out was only .0037 which is good as new. That was a relief. The Propeller should be ready for pickup soon. Chrissy ordered new C wing plans and got them yesterday - the ribs are a bit different than the ribs in the surviving wing - I decided to use the new plans and so I built another rib jig. Still waiting for capstrip from Aircraft Spruce so we can get started building the new ribs.

Still looking for ONE good cylinder for the Aeronca engine - otherwize pretty much ready to put her back together.

I took a part-time contract job with StienAir a couple weeks ago for some pocket change - I spend four hours every morning assembling avionics wiring harnesses for the RV customers. It's only for a few months - till we leave on our Alaska venture. Over & Out!