This page will become a sort of diary of my progress. My regular construction pages are organized by task rather than date and I have been jumping from task to task quite a bit. This will provide some chronological information. It will serve also as a "What's New" so visitors might see what (if anything) I've done since their last visit.
Soundtrack: Fabric of the Universe.
I'm creating the access panel for the hood of the fuselage. I
tried heat molding the foam to the curvature and messed up the first attempt.
I'm trying it again.
I added portions (ch 1,5,6, and -10) of the assembly manual to the
documents section of this website. I'm working to scan and add the important
chapters 2 & 3.
Soundtracks:
History of Rome podcast.
History of the World by JM Roberts.
Geography of World Cultures podcast.
Federalist Society podcast (the
Dictating Norms episode). Beverages: Coffee (Starbux house blend
and
Seattle's Henry's Blend via my
Tassimo) or Raspberry Iced Tea. Cigar: A simple Rum Crook
Completed Maingear assembly:
Mounted the legs, assembled the wheels/tires/tubes/brakes and mounted them, and
fabricated a wheel well cover & attachments.
I added some photos of the front cockpit access door in the Canopy
assembly page. I got these photos from Jojo in June 2007, but realized
that I hadn't included them in my website anywhere. I'm finally fixin' to
make that access door along with the main gear access panel for the belly.
It'll be the same basic construction procedure, methinks.
I added to my documents page all the recent AC orders I made to replace
the parts lost in The Big Heist and for the wheels assemblies.
I caught up on this here website: Adding wheel assembly pix, email
traffic on my feedback page, new video on the video progress page, and
Completed Tailwheel assembly: I added a flox/ply
boundary to the leaf spring mount so that it would remain fixed in place with
only one mouting bolt. Along the way I ordered a set of nuts & bolts for
the main and tail wheel assemblies from AC.
I added some photos of the front cockpit access door in the Canopy
assembly page. I got these photos from Jojo in June 2007, but realized
that I hadn't included them in my website anywhere. I'm finally fixin' to
make that access door along with the main gear access panel for the belly.
It'll be the same basic construction procedure, methinks.
This last week, I finally resumed something like regular work on Traveller. During the first half of 2008, I was simultaneously absorbed with the wonder of living in a Western, Rocky Mountain state in the winter and with the technically challenging DARPA Heliplane that was the reason I moved West. In June, the Heliplane prime contractor, Groen Brothers Aviation, finally ran out of funds to sustain the effort and "retrenched", which effectively meant that it laid off its workforce, including me. So I took advantage of my time off, the first long stretch I've had since my grand tour in 1992 and the first time in my life that I've actually been unemployed. I spend 32 days adventuring in the Black Hills of South Dakota (15 June - 16 July), then a couple weeks roaming eastern Kansas (20 July -3 August), and finally about 30 days in the Hawaiian Islands (24 August - 22 September). In between times, I mountain biked around the Wasatch, caught a dozen or more movies at the fabulous Redwood Drive-In with Luthien and Pizza (or Subway) and a fine cigar and $1.50 Soft Pretzels with lots of salt from the concessionaire, and I flew off to interviews with several potential employers like The Mathworks, Raytheon, and ATK. I haven't committed to any new job yet and so I'll still have to fly off for an interview now and again, but having satisfied some of my wanterlust, I began to think longingly about Traveller.
Meanwhile, something seems to have happened to the Pulsar Aircraft
Corporation. Jojo hasn't replied to my emails since May, which is nothing
unusual for the company. I telephoned the factory to chat with Richard
Trickel three or four times since then to ask advice about tailwheel mounting
and to ask what happened to Jojo and why, suddenly, the
info@pulsar.com email address has been
bouncing. Rich said something was wrong with the email server for a few
weeks (again this is nothing unusual for Pulsar). I emailed Rich a list of
hardware parts that I wanted the company to remake for me to replace all that
was stolen in The Big Heist mentioned below. I've already
repurchased more than 95% of the standardized nuts & bolts from Aircraft Spruce
and other vendors. I still have some major backordered items, like the
wheel & brake assembly and the canopy. Of course, I paid for these as part
of the kit, but Pulsar never delivered them. The company had sent me my
tailwheel and leaf spring (which were stolen in the Big Heist), but not the main
wheels. So in June, lacking any wheels at all, I decided to repurchase
them and get Traveller on his feet, so to speak, so he wouldn't have to rest in
his cradle like an invalid and so that the parts wouldn't be laying around
waiting for the next burglar. I looked up Matco, which made the tailwheel
and the mains. Guess what: the company is located right here in my new
home, Salt Lake City. I drove over to the Matco factory, just after they
returned from the 2008 Airventure in mid-August and spent about $1,500 on main
wheels, axles, tail wheels, and whatnot. A few days ago, I flipped over
Traveller and started to remake the main gear brackets (the ones I made last
year were stolen). Now I've begun the tail wheel mounting plate without
any written instructions but with the general guidance from my conversation with
Rich Trickel.
I'm still without a canopy and I doubt I'll ever get anything more
from Pulsar. The company website is defunct and the telephone numbers I
have for Pulsar's galactic headquarters and factory in San Salvador are
disconnected. This is unprecedented since I started nagging the company
for action in 2005. So I've pretty much concluded that the company is a
goner, like Groen Brothers Aviation my recent and former employer. What a
coincidence. I've gotten a few emails from other SP100 builders and
potential builders to ask whether the company is out of business. I don't
know much more than anyone else, but I've decided that it probably is. I
just hope Rich Trickel or Jojo or Eduardo drops me a note someday to let me know
for sure; to bring closure to the misadventure. I guess I'll have to
fabricate my own metal hardware for Traveller.
For professional reasons, I packed up and relocated to Salt Lake City in December 2008. I packed up Traveller in a commercial PODS shipping container and sent him west. I followed with Luthien, driving the first long day and night through stygian Missouri in a severe ice storm. Early the second day, I woke to a severe clear day in Harry Truman's hometown and chipped a glacier from Luthien. After my last meal at what must be the westernmost Bob's (in Kansas City), I sailed across the Kansas snow-covered prairie, studying via Audible.com on my iPod, the French language, American military history, and world geopolitics. Once arrived in Utah, I took until late February to find a suitable home in the city with enough hanger space for Traveller. And I didn't move in until April. During that building hiatus, I was very busy with professional duties during the work week and with my snowboarding during the weekends (this was the first winter that I've even enjoyed a season ski pass - two, actually: I had one for Snowbird and one for The Canyons). But finally Traveller's shipping container arrived and I started to unpack. Alas, before I could fully unpack the container, it was burgled. During its first night on the spot, thieves cut open the latch and pilfered Traveller's hardware, that is, all the metal parts (nuts & bolts & levers & things), his servos and CH Flightstick, and some other miscellany). Fortunately, all those parts are meticulously inventoried in my packing list, and I spend a month crosschecking parts and reordering them from Aircraft Spruce and Pulsar. And, meanwhile, I've been constructing a workshop in my new hanger: building worksurfaces, installing shelves and ceiling hooks, and securing wings and whatnot to ceilings and walls to keep them safely out of the way.
Soundtrack: Various, including the Halo 2 soundtrack, Dark Star Safari, a War for All the Oceans, and All Things Considered. Beverage: Usually Iced tea with Spearmint from my herb garden. I've been working several days over the last couple weeks on the elevator and trim tab. I've been stymied by errors in four attempts to order machine screws for the servo installation. I spent about $35 in postage for four orders of about $8 worth of fasteners in order to finally get the $2 worth of properly sized 1/8 inch screws for the servo. Plus, I ordered what I thought was a $50 rivet squeezer and received, instead, a 2 inch yoke. "What the heck is this?" I wondered when it arrived. With all the wrong screws and now this bizarre yoke - so far from what I expected - that it seemed that the stars in their courses conspired against me. All this was from Aircraft Spruce. A.S. shipped these orders to my home very quickly, especially the mistakes. I checked Wicks aircraft supply and found a $40 rivet squeezer and ordered it. It showed up without fittings and once again I was frustrated. After some advice from my local chapter's Jim Harchenko, I ordered the squeezer fittings from Aircraft Spruce. And Finally! I had servo screws and rivet squeezer tools to put the hinges on the trim tab. Also, today, I hosted an informal open house for a number of colleagues. I have just completed the trim tab horn and tested out the servo mechanism in it's place. Check the elevator task for snaps & explanations.
Soundtrack: Sandworms of Dune. Beverage: Cafe au lait. Through the month of October, I continued Elevator work, fitting around a few long trips. I drilled the phenolic mounts for the anchor bolts and riveting the anchor nuts in place. I spent plenty of time sanding and shaping and measuring to match the horinzontal stabilizer thickness across its breadth.
Soundtrack:
China and the Chinese by Herbert Giles (chapters 4 &5).
Beverage: Iced Cola, cappuccino, etc.. I continued with the
Elevator, spending maybe 12 hours on Saturday
just shaping and sanding. Cutting with the dremel is fast, but sanding by
hand is sure. And yet, not so sure after all, I think I cut the outer ribs
perhaps a bit too short. Moreover, I found that despite my careful bracing
during their cure, one of the outer ribs tilted inward and leaves no room to fit
with the horizontal stabilizer. Finally, I started mounting the fixtures
for the elevator horn on the spar phenolics.
Also, I revisited the main gear task because I've got my brackets
cut and drilled. I drilled through their holes and though the gear channel
in the fuselage where they would mount.
Also, I finally put some micro on the bottom edge of the vertical
spar foam to seal it from the air and any moisture it might absorb.
Also, I received my CH Products control stick (I ordered it last
week). I hooked it up to my trim servo and tested it out. It's
pretty nifty. I've more interest in the avionics than the craftsmanship of
the structure, so it's nice to get the first bits of my avionics/aerolectrics.
I started a new section on this website for Aeroelectrics and
Avionics and start with an Inceptor page.
Soundtrack: Mountain Apple Radio. Beverage: Iced Cola. I laid out and glassed the Elevator Spar and the outer ribs. I overreached in this task by attempting to glass both sides of the outer ribs. It got to be a real mess, but I managed to salvage it before the cure took hold.
Soundtrack: Illinois Street Lounge. Beverage: Sweet Iced Tea with Spearmint. Snacks: Sun Dried Tomato Loaf with Parmesano Reggiano and Olive Oil Dip. A few days ago, I ordered some parts from Aircraft Spruce (including two trim servos - my first bit of aero-electronics) and it arrived just as I start the elevator. I started the Elevator Assembly task, added a Elevator Taskand added it to my assembly map. I spent more than 12 hours on Saturday, mostly studying the intricate task and deciding reluctantly to deviate from the instructions somewhat. I noticed an inadequacy with my piano hinge parts and emailed Jojo about it.
After a gap due to more business travel and the Moontown Fly-In activities, I returned to the control stick task. Jon Moore helped me with the hole drilling and allowed the use of his bandsaw to cut some aluminum for the canopy braces and wheel pants attachment. I sawed the main gear braces to size. Attached the aileron bell crank to the torque tube.
Soundtrack: Fistful of Soundtracks. Beverage: Cappuccino. Snacks: Twizzlers. I glassed the spar and leading edge. After it had cured, I fixed a flaw in the corner . I glassed the reinforcement of the elevator hinge area. On 28th, sanded straight the hinge flange & cut hinge cut-outs. Laid out foam for the elevator spar. I finally signed off on the task!
Soundtrack: Fistful of Soundtracks. Beverage: Cappuccino. Snacks: Circus Peanuts, a staple of my diet. I glassed the spar and leading edge. After it had cured, I fixed a flaw in the corner . I glassed the reinforcement of the elevator hinge area. On 28th, sanded straight the hinge flange & cut hinge cut-outs. Laid out foam for the elevator spar.
Soundtrack: Crime & Punishment, NPR. Beverages: Gatorade & Iced Coffee. This was a milestone day for my project because I finally closed the horizontal stabilizer, the first aerodynamic surface that I would close. I have yet to do the elevator, the ruder, the wings, the ailerons, and the flaps. I have a little video of the process. Here's a link to a 22 Mb movie, in which I've left the soundtrack this time.
Soundtrack: Juno Reactor's Shango and Nitrogen and Masters of the Universe. Then the Fresh Air of Edinburgh Univ. internet radio station as the talked about the ongoing Edinburgh Film Festival. Beverage: Liters of iced Diet Coke. Temp about 78 degrees. I finally returned from my walk-about on 18 August and prepared for the big horizontal stabilizer task. I built in the spar & ribs on Sunday, 19 AUG. After curing, I spend a couple hours on 20 AUG sanding the ribs and spar so the bottom skin would fit perfectly.
I've been traveling about instead of building. Among the places I traveled was Airventure 2007.
Soundtrack:
Crime and Punishment Beverage: Liters of iced Gatorade. Temp about 85
deg in the hanger and even warmer in the Jefferies Tube.
See the Vertical Stabilizer Spar task for
details. I extended my cloth
cutting station for the 60 inch wide cloth I bought the day before.
This is wider cloth than the 48 inch wide stuff I expected to find. Then I
traced out the vertical stab. spar and cut out the pieces. I glassed the
spar with the intended foam from my kit, but the brittle foam disintegrated
before I could install the spar (it's good that it fell apart now rather than
some time while I was a flying). So I remade the spar with some
other foam that Pulsar used as mere packing cushion in the 20 ft container that
delivered my kit. (that's the
foam on the
ground in this picture.) I like this sturdier foam better anyway.
Luthien and I drove down to Atlanta on Friday evening
and executed my usual drill for Atlanta:
I picked up a Gourmet Veggie Pizza at
Grand Central East
about 30 minutes before dusk. I drove a few more blocks to the huge, six
screen Starlight Six Drive-In. I
dined during the first of a $7 double feature (in this case of Live Free and Die
Hard & the Fab 4). And for dessert, I savored a fine cigar (a
H.Upman black
label) & a dram of single malt (10 year old
Isle of
Jura named after the
Isle of Jura) from a silver flask.
Instead of sleeping overnight at the drive-in, I drove over to Stonewall Jackson
boulevard in Stone Mountain and
slept in my home
away from home.
Saturday, I woke around noon and got back on the road. I stopped by
REI for some supplies
and reached
Aircraft Spruce by 2:30 pm. And there, finally, I bought about
$700 of supplies
that had been hampering my building progress. These included the Aeropoxy
6228 for the rudder, the glass cloth for the vertical stab spar & horizontal
stabilizer spar & ribs, and the 9 foot long aft elevator push-pull rod, among
other things. That epoxy is pricey. So is the 1/4 inch aluminum.
So is all that aircraft stuff. I expect Pulsar to reimburse me for these
parts and supplies with should have been delivered with my kit already.
Pulsar (Jojo) said that the company would be happy to do so. Pulsar has
had a hard time delivering anything on time to me - aircraft manufacturing is a
challenging business - but the company folks have always accommodated my
reasonable and realistic requests.
On my return from the Atlanta area, I stopped in groovy
Chattanooga for dinner and
dancing, but where, instead, I happened into Renaissance Park and an outdoor
showing of Happy Feet,
which I found rather creepy for a 'family' movie. And so, I caught three
movies in the two day trip. It's all part of the aircraft building
experience.
I am reading about the Canopy gas strut installation. And I updated the Feedback page with comments from Rene.
Soundtrack:
The Rise of Theodore Roosevelt.
2.N.) I de-cored an
obstruction of honeycomb in the rudder halves and re-glassed.
5.B.) I assembled the hardware for the center
control stick assembly. I cut the notch and tried but failed to drill
the rivet holes. I am still waiting for structural adhesive from Pulsar
before I rivet the parts together, but I have to find a way to drill the holes
first !
I made a video of my
work in my S.A. on these tasks.
Soundtrack:
The Rise of Theodore Roosevelt. Beverage: Coca Cola with ice and
flox shavings.
5.A.) I installed the center
bearing of the flap torque tube.
Soundtrack:
Nothing Like it in the World Beverage: 500cc of iced cafe mocha. Temp about 80
deg and cooling.
2.N.) I
removed the wood and plastic
squeeze play from my upper rudder hinge's phenolic plate anchor and inspected
it.
5.A.) About 5 hours of
electric flap hardware assembly
within the center console. Much time required for measuring, test fitting,
and careful drilling.
I updated my this web log with an update to the assembly map and added pages for the Elevator Flap Assembly and the Rudder Assembly.
Soundtrack:
Nothing Like it in the World Beverage: Gatorade. Temp about 80
deg and climbing.
I installed the phenolic plate within the vertical
stab spar at my Home Hanger.
Soundtrack: The Corrs. Beverage: Bowmore Dark Islay.
Temp about 76 deg in my S.A.
I identified the hardware for the control linkages within the center console and
started to assemble the elevator flap assembly.
I noticed that the rod end bearings were mis-sized for their corresponding
cross bolts.
I emailed Jojo with some questions about the rudder and the mis-sized parts.
Soundtrack:
Nothing Like it in the World Beverage: Gatorade. Temp about 80
deg and climbing.
I started on the Rudder Assembly. I
unwrapped the foam around the shells of my rudder. The inside was still
covered with peel ply and I spent perhaps 5 bloody hours ripping and scraping
the peel ply. The hard epoxy on the ply sliced into my fingers as I worked
and I left blood stains on my rudder.
I also traced out the canopy arm and the wheel pants mount from their templates.
