Friday, August 20, 2010 Finish Uprights

The next task is to get the uprights on the carriage. I felt unsure of the measurements for the holes in the uprights, where the brackets go for the side braces, the engine mount brackets, and the attach points for the Upper Frame Plate that attaches the uprights to the main center boom. With Larry Miller’s help, I got those measurements so I could finish up the uprights.
I had used Wesson oil to make it easier to slide the inner sleeves inside the uprights; worked well. I took the uprights up to the airport this morning. I wasn’t feeling very energetic, but managed to get the holes drilled to attached the uprights to the center boom brackets, taking care to ensure correct alignment of the boom and ensuring the uprights were square with the side rails and each other. Everything seemed to work out, but as usual it seemed to take longer and took more effort than I anticipated. But that part is done, although I still need to get the brackets for the side brace and engine mounts done. That will be for next time.
For now, it’s time to go home.

Saturday, August 7, 2010 Try Again to get the Axles and Wheels Done

Last Monday I took the tubes I had ordered from Aircraft Spruce and instructions to Victoria Repair and asked them to redo the uprights. I picked up the redone tubes on Friday, the 6th. Everything’s wrong. Well, not everything, but they didn’t do much right. I’ll have to finish the work myself; they don’t seem to have a clue.
Today we’ll go back to the airport. Sandra wanted to get out of the house, so we drove up to the airport together and stopped at the Perkins in Crystal for breakfast. It was raining hard, but it won’t affect me because I can just turn on the hanger lights and keep the main door closed. I left Sandra at Perkins reading the paper and sipping iced tea and went to the hanger. The first job is to get that right axle attached. I worked for at least an hour with no results. The C-clamp I had borrowed from Chad wasn’t doing the job I had envisioned. The sequence of heavy brackets that attach the swing axle to the side rail weren’t allowing alignment of the holes well enough for the bolt to slip through. Finally I took the whole thing apart again and, using a hammer, was able to widen the small bracket just enough to finally get the axle bolt through. But the work was fatiguing enough that I didn’t feel like finishing the axles and wheels. I’ll do it next time. Time to go home.