Saturday, October 16, 2010 Back to Work

It’s been quite awhile since the last time at the airport. The weather was beautiful for an October day; warm and breezy. We have been spending most of our time getting packed up for our move to our new house the first week in November, and the Jetwing rebuild project has not been on the top of my priority list.
I finished up my dual with Don without a solo endorsement. It seemed like all was going well, but a couple of poor landings did not give Don the assurance that I could be as consistent as he was looking for. Although I did better than most of Don’s student in only 10 hours, he couldn’t sign me off.
Today I went to the airport to pick up some tools and take some pictures of a couple of things stored there that we want to sell. I wasn’t going to work on the Jetwing, but after I got there and looked things over, I figured I could finish up the carriage side support rails and engine mounts, which I did. I think the next step will be to mount the engine and begin to task of getting it to run. The throttle cables, electrical wires, and fuel tubing were cut, so it will take some time to get everything re-attached.
One other task is to get the main wheels done. Larry Miller is also working on the same thing with his Jetwing; the Skyway plastic wheels get sloppy over time, with the brass bushings wearing the plastic hubs. We both need to find the right oversized bushings to press into the wheels so they are taut and strong. So that’s a project that needs to get done.
But I’m pleased with the progress. It might be awhile before I’m back up there, but I want to go as soon as possible after we’re moved. There will be lots of little things to do at the new house, so it might be awhile before I can get up there again.

Saturday, September 04, 2010 Continuing theWork

This has been a very productive week, not so much with the Jetwing rebuild, but with other things. I flew with Don twice and like many things in life, seemed to “catch on” to the landing technique. I flew on Thursday and also early today, a total of about 3 hours and 20 landings in just these two sessions. Don said the improvement in my flying was noticeable and he would be willing to sign me off for solo next session. That means it will be less than 10 hours total WSC time or maybe just over. He thought my airplane flight experience helps me in visualizing in three dimensions, a critical element for the landings.
On the way back from the flying, I stopped off at Crystal to work on the Jetwing. I got the nose wheel installed, along with the rear wheels and swing axle cables and front downtube. It’s beginning to look like a Jetwing should. I should be able to get the engine on soon.

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.

Saturday, July 31, 2010 Axles and Wheels

I went up to the airport to hopefully get the side rails done and attach the front wheel assembly and rear swing axle and attach the wheels. I also wanted to redo some of the connections I had done before to add the plugs on the ends of the side rails that I didn’t include last time, correct the installation of the gas tank sling and seat, and replace the old AN hardware with new bolts, washers, and nuts wherever possible.
It took awhile to all the rework done, but then I turned my attention to getting the axles and wheels installed. The axle bracket on the left side (away from where the crash damage was) went together smoothly, but the right side wasn’t so slick. I worked the rest of the morning on getting the holes aligned for the main axle bolt. No luck. It came to within about 1/4 inch of aligning, but no further. I think I need a come-along or clamp or something to compress the brackets to get the bolt to go in. It’s a complicated sub-assembly and everything has to be perfectly aligned for it to come together. I left and went home without resolving the problem.
Chad, a friend of John’s, owns every tool known to mankind, so I asked him for help, and he kindly loaned me a C-clamp to compress everything so the holes in the axle brackets can be aligned and the axle bolt can be pushed through the brackets and axle tube.

Wednesday, July 28, 2010 Collecting Carriage Parts

Called around the Minneapolis area for tubing to have Victoria Repair fabricate the uprights again, using the correct lengths. No 1 3/4” available anywhere, so placed an order with Aircraft Spruce. It will arrive Friday the 30th.

Saturday, July 24, 2010 Jetwing Rebuild Chapter Two

I’m calling this post “Chapter Two” because it refers to rebuilding the carriage part of the trike. I have already completed the rebuild of the wing, or at least 90% or so of that part of the project. Now it’s time to get started on the carriage rebuild.
Last night as I was loading the car, I found that Victoria Repair’s fabrication of the upright support tubes, the main tubes supporting the wing connection, were cut five inches short of what was on the instruction sheet I had given them, 54 9/16” instead of 59 9/16”. The 54 9/16” was the length of the side seat rails, so it’s obvious where they had gotten the wrong dimension. In spite of this mistake, and even though I won’t have the uprights to take to the airport, I will take everything else up and get as much done as I can.
Saturday morning I went to the airport. The first thing to do is to unload the car and lay out the parts. I’ve decided to use the side of the hanger that is cleared out and has nothing to obstruct the project. There doesn’t seem to be very much here, but on the other hand, there isn’t too much to the carriage, just some tubes and cables. I’m not very impressed with the machining work done by Victoria Repair; things fit together, but not perfectly. I had to redrill one of the holes on the front wheel bracket to get the bolt to go through, and the bolt holes on the front bent downtube don’t line up and I’ll have to redrill those, but otherwise there are no show-stoppers so far.
Part of the challenge is to cope physically with the work. I’m working on the floor and the bending down and up is hard. I think next time I’ll sit in the wheelchair; I can maneuver it around and it should be easier to work from that level. Also, the hanger is very dusty and dirty, so I need to spend some time cleaning it and sweeping the dust from the work area.
At least the job is started. I connected the side rails to the seat plate and swing axle cables. Also I attached the gas tank sling and seat and the front wheel bracket. Overall I’m pleased with the work, even though it doesn’t look like much was accomplished.

Tuesday, July 20, 2010 Carriage Parts Complete

It’s been a long couple of weeks. Since before the July 4th weekend, I had taken the tubing and instruction sheet to Victoria Repair so they could fabricate the carriage parts. There had been a number of delays due to the guys being gone during the holidays and their not understanding the instruction sheet, but finally today and several visits, the parts are ready. I will take them up to the airport on Saturday and begin the actual reconstruction of the Jetwing carriage.
Meanwhile, last Tuesday, I flew with Don in his Airborne for 1.8 hours. I felt more in control than ever before, from initial take-off to final full-stop landing, and the T&G’s in between. Don complimented me on my increased skills, and agreed that I need to fly with more regularity. Don’t know if he’ll sign me off for solo in 10 hours, but I’ll give it my best effort.

Friday, June 25, 2010 Bungees Arrive

I had placed an order with a Canadian company for the 3/16” bungees that attach to the swing axles, and the 3/32” bungees for the wing batten safties and front wing attachment. The box arrived today and I threw it into the trunk of the car without opening it. Earlier in the week, I had taken the wheels to Eric’s Bikes & Boards in Eden Prairie to have them mount the tires on the new wheels from the old broken wheels. With that accomplished, and hopefully after I get the pieces from Victoria Repair, I’ll make a trip to the airport and start some serious assembly work.
I had e-mailed Steve Gund to come up and stay for a week-end and help with the assembly of the carriage. I had hoped to get started the week following July 4th, but Steve’s schedule won’t allow that. I could push it out to the next week if he’s available, but if he isn’t, I’ll probably go ahead with the assembly process. It’s not really a 2-person job; just might be more fun if we could do it together. I have to wait to hear from him.
Meanwhile, we had committed to dog-sit for our friends Larry and Judy Nelson the week of June 27th through July 4th. So nothing will get done until after that. Hopefully I’ll pick up the carriage pieces and if Steve can’t come up the following week, I’ll start with the rebuild the weekend of 10th-11th. Who knows, maybe Larry Miller will enjoy coming up to help. I’ll ask him.
Also, Don Lindemann wants to get me “finished up” with my flight instruction. I committed to 10 hours dual and have done slightly over 3 hours. He wants me to have at least 100 landings. He hasn’t given me a schedule, but I’ll try to finish up within a couple of weeks. My goal would be for him to sign me off for solo, even though I can’t solo any certificated aircraft because of my revoked medical. I can fly under Part 103, but that’s all. Fine with me, but I would feel much more confident when I fly the Jetwing for the first time if I felt that at least Don thought I was safe to solo.

Wednesday, June 23, 2010 Carriage Pieces to Machine Shop

Today I plan to deliver the tubing and instructions to Victoria Repair so they can cut and drill the carriage pieces. This is the last step before I will be able to put the carriage together. There will be much to go after that, but this will be a big step, psychologically as well as actually, because I will actually have the Jetwing basically built. There will be other work, including the throttle cabling and electrical hook-up, propeller installation, and general engine check-out. But getting past this step will be huge. I measured everything out meticulously and gave Victoria Repair a list of all the carriage components, side rails, uprights, side brace tube, and bent front downtube. The side rails and uprights are sleeved, so hopefully they will do that correct. I am doing a slight modification to the uprights; I’m going to add a full-length inner sleeve rather than duplicating the original design of three sections of sleeving. Since the wing and engine hang on these pieces, I don’t think it’s a bad idea to have full-length inner sleeves like the side rails. The added weight will be minimal. We’ll see how Victoria Repair does with these components.

Saturday, June 19, 2010 Finish the Wing

Today started out with blustery winds but the temperature was very comfortable. I headed for the airport with hopeful intent to get the wing fully inflated to check out all the fixes. With the help of Larry Miller’s pictures, I bolted up the kingpost to its attach point on the keel and the tensioning bracket. My attention now turned to the control bar and cables. I attached the front and back control bar cables and assembled the control bar, attached the front cable to the nose, and set the wing on the control bar. Looking good! I spread the wing and tensioned it. After a couple of false starts due to some tangling of the kingpost cables, and trying to figure out how the top loop stayed at the top of the kingpost, the wing finally fully inflated. Because of the wind gusts, the wing wanted to fly and I had to hold it down on the ground. I attached the wing cables to the control bar and during a short decrease of the wind, walked around and took some pictures. As I head for home, I’m physically exhausted but very gratified.

Wednesday, June 16, 2010 Cable Repairs

The end of the project seems distantly in sight. The only remaining pieces of the puzzle are first, the cables that were cut by the EMT’s need to be replaced, and second, the carriage tubing needs to be fabricated. Then the carriage will be able to be assembled, which, with the assembly manuals I now have, although probably not simple, at least relatively straight-forward. I e-mailed my old friend, Steve Gund, who had been with me when I had first experimented with the Jetwing back in September, and also when I crunched it. I asked him to come up for a week-end some time within the next couple of weeks and help me assemble the Jetwing. He responded saying he wanted to do that, but we just had to get the schedule worked out.
Yesterday we went to the Burnsville area for another purpose, so I took advantage of the trip to take the carriage cables to Aero Assemblies, who do cable fabrication. They seemed willing to do the job, so I left them there to accomplish the task. I still had the wing cables because I had decided to splice them myself rather than have them done right now. I don’t intend to fly the Jetwing with the spliced cables—just use them to check out the wing. With that task done, I am ready to go up and finish the wing. My goal is to use the spliced cables so I could complete the wing project and do the inspection.

Saturday, June 12, 2010 – Good Day at the Airport

I didn’t get the cables and bungees done this past week, but did get the leading-edge spar back from Victoria Repair. Looks good. I went to the airport this morning to try to finish up putting the wing back together so I could inspect it for holes or tears. So far I haven’t seen any holes except for several very small ones that probably have been there for quite awhile, and no tears. But I won’t know unless I can inflate it fully and inspect both surfaces.
It was overcast with rain threatening, but initially no rain. I hauled the wing onto the grass in front of the hanger and stretched it out. The new leading-edge spar went in very smoothly. I attached the crossbar and the fabric. No problem. The next task was to finish up attaching the keel hardware and the control bar. I got the new tubing that made up the control bar and assembled it. The top of the control bar attaches to a mounting bracket which also adjusts the trim. I had to look around, but finally found the mounting bracket. It went in smoothly, also.
It was about this time the rain cut loose. I still wanted to install the main hang bracket so I could turn the wing to the other side and attach the kingpost, but with the rain, I decided to bundle it up and put it back into the hanger and head for home.
But I’m pleased with the accomplishment today. The next thing is to try to figure out how the kingpost attaches to the keel. I don’t see a separate mounting hole of it; it might share one of the bolts that attaches the control bar. I need to check on that. Again, I regret being such an idiot that I didn’t take enough pictures before I disassembled the wing. It would have made it much easier had I had the foresight to do that.

Saturday, June 5, 2010 Restore Keel Spar

I went to the airport today for the first time in quite awhile. Last week, Papa’s Shoe Repair had called to tell me the repairs on the tank sling and seat were completed. I went out to Waconia and picked them up. Looks like the repairs were very well done. So that part of the project has come to a satisfactory conclusion. And then yesterday, I went to Victoria Repair to check on the repair to the keel spar, and they are finished with it. Looks like a good job of reproducing the original spar, with the correct length, the inner and outer sleeving done, and holes drilled. So with the keel and the leading-edge spar (that I didn’t have them work on) sticking out of the car trunk, I arrived at the airport at about 9AM.
The first thing I did was check to see if the replacement leading-edge tube fit on the inner sleeve. I had thought that it was the wrong wall thickness, but it fit perfectly. So the good news is that my new tube will replace the bent one, but bad news it now I have to haul it back home, but that’s a minor thing. Better to be safe than sorry. Hey! I just invented a cool saying!
I worked most of the morning on re-attaching the keel spar. It wasn’t as easy as taking it off of the wing. That’s essentially all I got done today. I had taken some pictures of the wing before I dismantled the keel, but I am mad at myself for not taking more pictures. The nose piece was difficult to get all three attachments (actually four), the two leading-edge spars, and the two attachments for the keel. The forward attachment connects the keel to the leading-edge spars, but right behind the front bolt is an attachment of the main wing batten and the front kingpost cable attachment, along with the control bar attach cable tang. Just getting that done took most of my energy, so after completing that task, I knew I was finished for the day.
One other thing I did was to inspect the wing fabric for tears. There were none, although there are several small holes in the fabric that look like they might even pre-date the accident. But they are imminently repairable with some repair tape. Overall I think the wing is in excellent condition, but what do I know!?! I still will want to get it inspected by an expert.
I brought the rest of the tubing home with me, the leading-edge spar and all the carriage tubing. I made a detailed list of all the carriage components and will take it to Victoria Repair. The only real items to get yet are the cable replacements and bungees. That’s the project for next week.

Tuesday, May 25, 2010 Spars and Seat to Repair Shops

Today I collected the keel spar and the seat and gas tank sling to take them to their various repair places. I had located Papa’s Shoe Repair in Waconia who was willing to repair the seat and sling. Shouldn’t be very difficult, according to the old guy running the shop.

I also took the old keel spar and the new replacement tubing to Victoria Repair and instructed them to reproduce the old spar with the new tubing. I explained about the forward and aft inner sleeves and the mid over sleeve. They said it should be ready next week. I wanted both things to be done before Memorial Day week-end, but it’s my own fault I didn’t get the parts to them sooner.

But there’s a problem. For some reason, I thought I should look at the old and new tubes for the leading edge spar and by comparing the wall thickness of the two and it looks like the new tube is thicker than the old one. There is no question about it. The new tubing is thicker. That means the I.D. of that tube has to be less than the old spar. So it won’t fit over the sleeve of the forward half of the left leading edge. I can’t verify that for sure until I take it up to the airport and try it. But it comes as a unpleasant surprise. I did not take the spar to Victoria Repair, so at least I won’t waste the money to have it duplicated until I unravel this mystery.

Upon checking the Demon 175 manual, it says very clearly that the leading edge spars are .058, which is what I ordered. So by doing the calculation, according to my reference, the 1 7/8 O.D . has an I.D. of 1.759. So with the normal slack of .009, the inner sleeve should be 1.750, which jibes with the manual. So I’m confused. Maybe there isn’t a problem after all, so that’s something to be determined. I just go with the straightened spar for now and replace it later if my suspicions prove out. I need to check out the wing as soon as I can; this has gone on too long.

Thursday, May 20, 2010 Shipment Arrives from AS&S

I received a call from the shipper that the order from AS&S had arrived. I had it shipped to John’s house since there was no way to receive it here at our apartment. There were several tubes of 12’ in length, so it would be cumbersome to move around. My original plan was to have John move the stuff up to the airport using his truck, but he was out of town and after maneuvering the cardboard tube that contained the tubing, I was able to get it into the car and got it up to the airport myself.

I kept the tubes for the spars here so I could get them over to Victoria Repair so they could reproduce the spars that had been bent. I also brought down the seat and gas tank sling down so they could be repaired. They had been cut by the EMT’s along with the tubing and cables. I’ll locate a shoe repair shop or something like that to have those repairs done.

Saturday, May 15, 2010 Order Rest of Tubing

I haven’t had much of a chance to make any progress with the Jetwing rebuilding project, due to many, many family birthdays (including my own) that inexplicably taken precedence over the rebuilding project. I did work up an order from Aircraft Spruce and Speciality for the remaining tubing, new AN hardware such as nuts , bolts, and washers, and a new seat belt and harness. The prices are by far the lowest of anything I can find in the Minneapolis area, so this has worked out very well.

Saturday, May 1, 2010 More Spar Questions

May day today (which is different from 'mayday! mayday'!) Don’t know what that means, but it is a nice day today, anyway. I looked over the keel spar carefully and tried to put the tape measure down the inside of the aft tube to see if I could detect the edge of the inner sleeve. I couldn’t tell with certainty, but it seems like the tape measure hung up on something some distance down from the cut-off part. By adding up all the numbers, it would seem that if the inner sleeve runs from the place where the tape measure hung up to the end of the spar, the length of the inner sleeve would be 30” and would strengthen the tensioning area. That makes sense. In an earlier e-mail to Larry Miller, he thought the inner sleeve might be at the attach point, but that is where the outer sleeve is, so it makes more sense for the inner sleeve to be at the tensioning area and the outer sleeve at the attach point. Of course after I measure and diagram the hole positions we’ll cut up the spar and I’ll verify the sleeve configurations. This was much more complicated than I anticipated, but I think I have a handle on it. The left leading-edge spar is not as complicated; just a single tube that will simply require the holes to be positioned in the right place.

Friday, April 30, 2010 Check Out the Wing Spars

Went up to the airport and brought down the keel spar and left leading-edge spar. The more I research the opinions of others who work with aluminum the more I’ve convinced myself that they are compromised and really should be replaced, not just straightened. I took the keel to Victoria Repair thinking that the main spar was made up of two pieces with an oversleeve splicing them together. The old guy at the shop tried to extricate the forward piece only to figure out that the spar was one whole piece. He cut the spar at my request just ahead of the oversleeve and looking down the length, determined that it is in fact one solid piece. The oversleeve is 18” long and wasn’t bent, so should be able to reuse it.

At the same time, I picked up the box that had the front wheel bracket and the two wheels with the hubs removed. Looks like they turned out well. I need to research the loads these wheels can tolerate to see if they’ll work on the Jetwing.

According to the Demon wing manual, there is an inner sleeve inside the keel spar someplace. I didn’t see any evidence of that for the spar I have. I don’t know if there was none, or most likely it’s a partial sleeve that is buried in the aft section that I couldn’t see. I will measure the length to get the exact measurement and then have Victoria Repair cut up the spar to see if we can find the inner sleeve and determine its dimension. I don’t think it would be a good idea to guess on the configuration of the keel and position the inner sleeve without knowing the exact specifications since it could affect the weight and balance of the wing. I also sent an e-mail to Larry Miller asking him if he knew anything about that. I also found a couple of places in MPLS that might inventory the larger tubing I need for the replacement of the spars. Anxious to see when they come back with.

Tuesday, April 27, 2010 Second Dual Flight

Don Lindemann called and said our scheduled flying day, Thursday, would not be good weather so suggested we fly Tuesday at 6:30PM. I drove to New Richmond after work at about 5PM and arrived about 10 minutes late because of rush hour traffic. Don forgave me and we flew for an hour all T&G’s at New Richmond airport. It felt good. Don thought I did OK, but when he endorsed my log book and saw that this was only the second time out, he was amazed that I had done that well. Should be able to do some greasers next time.

Thursday, April 22, 2010 More Machine Work

Took the box of parts back to Victoria Repair. The left side foot peg had not been welded on, and I also wanted him to try to get the hubs out of the bicycle wheels and see if they can be used on the Jetwing.

Friday, April 16, 2010 Machining Work Done

Tuesday a week ago I had located a new machine shop in Victoria (Victoria Welding and Repair) and took the small broken parts to Jim there to see if he would be able to do the repair job that was needed. I went to the shop at noon hour and found that everything appeared to be done very well. With any luck at all, maybe this shop will be able to do the work that I need. I’ll take the tubing that needs holes drilled there and maybe he can even get the hub out of the wheel and solve my wheel problem. We’ll see.

Tuesday, April 13, 2010 Spar Repair is Done

A guy from Linders Speciality called today and notified me that the wing spars have been straightened and I could come pick them up. I did that and dropped off the spars at the airport on the way home. So one more project accomplished.

Sunday, April 11, 2010 Found the Cable Ends

As I sat around the following Sunday afternoon, a thought dawned in my muddled brain. I wonder if the lost ends of the upper engine cables might still be attached to the upper frame plate. I checked it out and sure enough! The cable ends were there. I quickly unbolted them and included them in the cable bundle. So one hurdle has been breached.

I still don’t know the function of the two short light-weight cable ends I found. I hope I can determine as I assemble the wing for the first time after the spars have been straightened.

Don Lindemann, the flight instructor who instructs in trikes, had called earlier in the week and told me that if the weather held, we could get in some dual time in his trike. It worked out as planned; after an hour of driving to the New Richmond, WI, Municipal Airport, I arrived and we proceeded to fly around the Wisconsin countryside. It was a incredible experience. When taking up a new student, Don usually flies the first time in the front (the pilot’s seat), but after we talked, he convinced him that I could fly in the front seat.

The first take-off was frightening because of what I had previously experienced when the JetWing crashed. Because of the way the trike is configured, with the pilot so close to the nose, the climb-out seems much more vertical than a conventional light aircraft. I applied full power, and immediately experienced a clear flashback of my accidental take-off in the JetWInig back in September. The sensation was identical and that experience and my initial reaction was to back off the power, which was the exact thing that caused the devastating crash in the JetWing. But this time I resisted the temptation and we climbed out with full power. Of course had I given in to my temptation, Don would have overridden the power setting. But it was not seriously an issue and even had I been alone, I’m sure I would have known better and carried the proper power setting. It was just a brief surreal feeling.

We flew for about an hour and a quarter, did several T&G’s and a little airport nearby, Amery, and also did some turns and roll-outs and other maneuvers, and after the time was over, I think I have a good feeling about attitude flying in the trike. It was chilly, but the experience out in the open air was unforgettable. We’ll be doing that again soon, I hope.

Tuesday, April 6, 2010 A New Machine Shop

After spending some time on the net, I found a place in Victoria called Victoria Welding and Repair. He seems to be willing to work on my various machining needs. I retrieved the box of parts I had given to the previous machine shop and took them out to this new shop. Those projects include; 1) extracting the plug end of one of the front down-tube ends that had fused, 2) straightening the right rear axle brackets, and 3) repairing the nose-wheel bracket. We’ll see how he does.

Friday, April 2, 2010 Trip to the Airport

John decided to close our office on Good Friday also, so I took advantage of the time off and went early up to the airport. I wanted to do a couple of small things--measure the engine pulley and re-drive pulley to calculate the reduction ratio to find the most efficient propeller to replace the broken wooden one. Also, I wanted to find all the pieces of cable so I could get the cables and flying wires replaced. Mission was accomplished with no problems.

While I was there, I looked over the situation with the fuel tank support sling and the seat. Both of them will have to be repaired because the straps had been cut, either by the EMT’s or by me in the process of disassembling the carriage. I found that both of the straps were attached to the rear axle in such a way that the axle assembly will have to be disassembled to take them off and then back on once they are repaired. I had hoped to not have to do that, but it won’t be difficult, just add to the time to re-assemble the JetWing carriage.

After getting home, I found that the small pulley is 3 ¼” in diameter, and the re-drive pulley is 6 ½”, which means the reduction ratio was exactly 2:1. I also was able to account for all of the cables, except that I found that I am missing one end of each of the upper engine support cables, which means if I can’t find those ends somewhere then whatever machine shop will work with me will have to fabricate two new end connectors (which should not be difficult), and I will have to determine the length of the cables. I may want to use turnbuckles to make sure the engine is suspended top and bottom tightly and securely. Something for future determination.

One strange thing was that I also found two cable ends that I can’t account for. They are definitely not the ends of the engine cables I am missing because the cable is not as heavy as the engine cables. They are each about 8” or so in length with eyelets on one end. If the ends are put together, which looks like they should be, they are 17” long. Don’t know what they’re used for, but it’s obvious that they have a purpose. It’s possible they are ends of two of the flying wires for the wing; I hope that’s not the case. I e-mailed both Dave Engle and Tom Kennedy to ask them if they had any ideas, and to get me the measurements of the engine cables.

Thursday, April 1, 2010 Spars to Linders Speciality

I called over to Linders Specialty and talked with a guy who wasn’t very helpful. I then found the name of the owner and e-mailed him. He was moderately encouraging and told me I should bring the spars over and let them look them over. I did that the next day and dealt with another man who was very helpful. He said they could straighten the spars to within 1/16” tolerance, which I was very satisfied with. I left them there with the promise they would have them done within a week or so. They were observing Good Friday and wouldn’t be working again until the following week.

Tuesday, March 30, 2010 Back to the Machine Shop

I went back to the machine shop and this time he had actually drilled the holes for the control bar. But he also said that he couldn’t straighten the spars. He said he wouldn’t charge me for the drilling, and we both agreed it would be best to take everything and go somewhere else. It was an amicable parting, but I am disappointed because it seemed like an ideal arrangement. I think he was a little concerned about his own liability dealing with working on an aircraft.

Now what? I decided to e-mail one of the guys I had become acquainted with trying to locate tubing materials. Thor Smith at Eagle Mouldings had been helpful before and since his website said his shop could (among other things) do bending of aluminum tubing, they should be able to do straightening, also. But alas, he e-mailed me back that they couldn’t do that, but did recommend another company in St. Paul who might be able to help. Their name was Linders Specialty.

Friday, March 25, 2010 Take the Spars to the Machine Shop

On Friday I took both spars to the machine shop. Again, the things I had taken there before were stacked in the same corner as before, untouched. My confidence is shaken that he will do anything for me. I showed him the spars and asked him if he thought they could be straightened. He was skeptical. He also for the third or fourth time apologized for not getting the other stuff started, and promised he would drill the holes over the weekend.

Sunday, March 21, 2010 I May End Up with Two Manuals!

Yesterday I e-mailed Tom Kennedy, who had promised to send me a copy of his Owners Manual, and told him that I had received the copy from Dave Engle, so he didn’t have to make a copy for me. But then later on, it occurred to me that Tom’s Jetwing had a Demon 175 wing, the same as mine, whereas Dave Engle’s had a Javelin 208 wing, not helpful to me. I e-mailed Tom back and asked him if he had a manual on the Demon 175 wing. After awhile he sent a return e-mail saying that he did have that manual, and he would be sending me copies of both the Demon wing manual and another copy of the Jetwing Owners Manual “…just in case”. What a good guy! Hope to meet him some day.

Saturday, March 20, 2010 Another Visit to the Airport

It’s Saturday morning, again cool and clear but promised a beautiful spring day. I headed for Crystal to extract the leading-edge spar and bring it home to take to Eric and see if he can straighten it. It popped off surprisingly easily. I’ll take it and the keel spar to Eric early next week.

Later in the afternoon, an e-mail arrived from Dave Engle complete with a copy of the Jetwing Owners Manual! He had his wife (or “significant other” as he put it, whoever that means) to scan in each page of the manual. It’s in JPG format, not the best kind of copy, but certainly readable and usable and generally a wonderful sight! I printed it off (2-sided copy) and began studying it. One amusing thing is that on the cover it describes the manual as “For Jetwing All Terrain Vehicle”. What are they saying? Isn’t this a flying machine?! The only contact with “terrain” (other than take-off and landing) would be disastrous! The Jetwing was originally designed as a kit and intended to be assembled by the owner, so re-assembling should be a piece of cake. The assembly instructions are for the most part very detailed although sometimes confusing in places, but nonetheless should provide the basis for a step-by-step reconstruction. I am encouraged. However, there is no detail on the wing at all, just the carriage.

Friday, March 19, 2010 Check on Status at the Machine Shop

On Friday I scheduled our Camry to have its cracked windshield replaced, which had been sorely needed for several years. After retrieving it from the shop, I decided to make a visit to the machine shop to see what the status was with the control bar holes and other stuff, since I have not heard anything from the shop owner as he had promised.

It was with some disappointment that when I walked in, the control bar tubes I had taken there were still stacked in the same corner as when I had left them two weeks ago. The shop owner apologized and said he had some higher priority work that prevented his getting to my project, but said he would for sure get to it soon. I gave him the nose-wheel bracket and asked if he could fix the broken parts, which he said he probably could. There were a couple of other pieces that needed straightening or other minor things. I described the bent spars and asked him his opinion about if they could be straightened, and he said he thought that could be done without weakening those pieces.

It’s Friday night, and I have received a surprise e-mail from Dave Engle. He apologized for being off-line for so long and said he was going to try to get the Owners Manual in shape so he could send it to me as an e-mail attachment. He would try to get it to me over the weekend.

Monday, March 15, 2010 I Need that Manual!

I had sent several e-mails to Dave Engle updating him on my progress and subtly applying a little pressure on him about the status of copying the Jetwing Owners Manual that he had promised earlier. He has gone on radio silence. No e-mails at all. After a couple of weeks of this, I decided that he had lost interest or something else in his life was keeping him from helping me and would not be responding. I then sent out a general message on the Yahoo group site asking anyone out there if they had a Jetwing Owners Manual. I got a response form a guy named Tom Kennedy who said he had both a JetWing manual and a Demon 175 (wing) manual would be willing to copy both of them for me. What good news! I’m at the point that I want to check out the Owners Manual to see if that would give me some ideas on how to proceed. He has promised to get a copy to me next week.

March 6, 2010 Next Visit to the Airport

Saturday was another clear and cool day. It had been this way for over a week now. It had been getting warmer and was a positive sign of good things to come. At 8AM or so, it was in the 30’s but promised to warm up into the 40’s. I took my tools and headed for Crystal. I needed to get the two remaining wing wires that had been cut by the EMT’s, and also the keel spar unattached from the wing. The wires were needed to take to some place that would fabricate replacements to all the wing wires. The keel was bent and needed to be straightened, if that was possible without compromising its integrity.

This turned out to be a difficult project. I opened the hanger door and struggled to carry the rolled-up wing out to the grassy area in front. Fortunately the snow had melted enough for actual grass to show. Although brown and wet, it was grass, and much more forgiving on the wing fabric than the asphalt taxiway would have been.

After spreading out the wing, I unbolted the keel spar. It was tedious and time-consuming, but not exceptionally difficult. The difficult part came trying to access the cable ends which are bolted to the wing crossbar at the point where they attach to the leading-edge spars on both sides. The wing fabric envelope is two-sided, with the wing crossbar assembly between the two layers. The cable ends were completely hidden within the envelope. But after studying the situation, and by unbolting the wing fabric from the leading-edge spars at the ends, I was able to slide the fabric envelope up to reveal the ends. This sounds easier than it was. It took some time and dexterity to accomplish this, but I was able to get it done. The cables came off easily.

I put the cables into the car. The keel was not as easy; it was longer than would fit into the Camry, however with the nifty rear seat access to the trunk, the keel just fit when placed diagonally with one end on the dashboard, and the other at the end of the trunk.

However, in the course of this sub-project, after sliding the fabric envelope up to unbolt the cable on the left side, I discovered that the leading edge main spar on the left side was bent a couple of degrees. This did not come as good news because it was unexpected, though in retrospect not surprising given what the Jetwing had gone through; it seems that every time I turn around, there was another serious problem with the project. I had said all along that I was not going to proceed with the project if it looked like the wing was damaged, and now I am faced with that exact scenario. The keel spar and the leading-edge spar are both bent.

After arriving home, I searched the web for opinions on whether or not these pieces could be straightened , and the prevailing opinions I received indicated that these members were so strategic to the integrity of the aircraft that they needed to be replaced.

Now what do I do? This may be a watershed moment. Do I continue pouring good time and throw good money after bad, or do I finally concede defeat and sell off the pieces that remain and write off the whole thing? I decided the first step would be to take the keel spar to the machine shop and ask Eric’s opinion about the structural integrity of the spar, and whether or not it could be straightened. Then I’ll decide what to do.

March 5, 2010 Finding a Good Machine Shop

Googlemaps is a great computer tool. You can put in the business type you are interested in finding, like ‘Machine Shop’ in this case, and the general area of the country you are interested, for example, Minneapolis, then all of a sudden a map of the area pops up with a bunch of little yellow dots showing locations of the businesses about which you are inquiring. A local machine shop popped up almost within walking distance. I took the control bar tubes to the shop, met the owner, and explained what I wanted to do. He seemed agreeable to help (at $60/hour), so I left the tubing with him and he said he would call back when the holes were drilled “in a couple of days”.

February 24, 2010 Replacing the Control Bar

Wednesday. I figured out the dimensions for the control bar pieces. It is a triangle, two downtubes and a crosspiece. The downtubes attached to the wing keel by an “A”-shaped bracket. There are two connectors on the bottom of the downtubes that connect to the crosspiece. All pieces are 1 1/8” outer sleeve and 1” inner sleeve. I decided to make the replacement of the control bar my first foray into the actual rebuilding project. I ordered the tubing from Online Metals in North Minneapolis and a few days later went down there and picked up the tubing. This part of the project worked very well.

After taking the material home, I found that the inner tubes fit nicely inside the outer tubes. The only thing left to do was to have the holes drilled in the ends of the downtubes where they attach to the “A” bracket and the crosspiece.

February 20, 2010 – Find the Control Bar

I went back up to the airport to reconnoiter. One thing that I had seen when up there the last time was a piece of cut-up tubing whose function I could not identify. I thought at first that it might be a cut piece of the wing keel, but as I looked more closely, I saw it was a piece of the control bar. But only a piece. As I examined it, I saw that it included a piece of the crossbar and part of one of the uprights. I was disappointed that this was all that was left of the control bar that I could find. This would be a problem because there were connectors at each corner that were missing. Then I thought that maybe the rest of the control bar was zipped up in the wing bag, which under normal circumstances would be the place for the control bar to be kept. So it would make sense that the rest of it would be in the wing bag, and sure enough, as I opened the wing bag, there was the rest of the control bar. I detached it and put all the pieces into the trunk of the car to bring back home. One thing that will be a challenge to fix was that virtually all the flying wires have been cut. Hopefully I can find or have made replacements. It would probably not be a bad idea to replace them all anyway for the same reason I would want to replace all the bolts while I have everything disassembled. A good move and significant upgrade to the trike.

As I had the wing bag unzipped, without unfolding the wing, I checked it out as best as I could. I saw that the front part of the keel tube is slightly bent; not enough, I don’t think, to compromise the integrity of the keel. I think it could be straightened and restored to use. The wing itself looks good, although Steve had warned me that he thought there were some small punctures I will have to find and repair later when I can assemble the wing fully. Those will be easy to repair.

Since I now had the control bar pieces accounted for, along with connectors and wires that had been cut. It was enough to determine replacement aluminum tubing.

February 15, 2010 – Flying Again Soon B-R-R-R-R

Through the EAA web site, I found that there is a guy here in the MPLS area who gives dual instruction in a WSC Trike. His name is Don Lindemann and, after he responded to my e-mail, we talked by telephone and e-mail several more times. We decided to meet for lunch at an Applebee’s in Chanhassen. We met as planned and he accepted me formally as a student and promised we will get some dual as soon as the weather warms up above freezing or so (or a little warmer, I hope!). He lives in New Richmond, WI, which is across the river from St. Paul, MN, not too far, and flies out of the airport there. It’s about 1½ hour drive from here, but I’m looking forward to it.

February 5, 2010 – Disassemble the Carriage

As I had planned, I went up to the airport again. Sandra was visiting Judy and Larry Nelson in Llitchfield but made me promise that I would keep John informed when I went up to the airport, and when I returned. There was just a little nagging fear in her mind harkening back to the last time I went to the airport.
I started to dismantle the carriage. I took off the side rails, the uprights, and the wheel plate on the right side that would need to be straightened. I took off the remains of the wheel also on the right side to determine the diameter of the bearing to order a replacement.
Without taking too much time, and without any negative incidents relative to my physical situation, I collected the parts and put them into the trunk of the car and brought them home. Thus began my research to decide if or how to rebuild the carriage.
I found that most of the main carriage tubing is “sleeved”, i.e., there are outside tubes and inner tubes. The side rails and uprights are 1.750 x .058 outer sleeve and 1.625 inner sleeve. The best supplier seems to be Online Metals Store, which is in the Minneapolis area, so I wouldn’t have to worry about shipping. At least it seems like the rebuilding is possible.

January 16, 2010 – Just a Small Heart Attack

Saturday was cold and clear, a typical Minnesota winter day. I decided to go back up to the airport for a second time and try to get the Kawasaki engine off the carriage. My foot was still far from 100% and my back had been bothering me, but I thought I could still go up and accomplish something.
I was there about three hours, and did accomplish what I wanted—removed the engine. It was hard, especially in my state of physical condition. About noon, I closed everything up and headed for home. I had some pain in my chest that I attributed to indigestion or something and even pulled off the freeway to look for a little store to get some Tums or something. Failing to find anything, I continued home. But as I got closer and closer, the chest pains, nausea and loss of equilibrium, and general sense of malaise intensified. But I made it home, about a 20-minute drive. However, as soon as I saw the bed, I collapsed on it. But I knew there was something terribly wrong. I got up and stumbled into the other bedroom where Sandra was, dizzy and literally sliding along the walls, using them to steady myself to keep from falling. Grease stains on the walls that are there even as I write this attests to my inability to maintain my equilibrium. Sandra sensed that here was a serious problem and immediately called 911 for an ambulance. To make the story short, I ended up at Methodist Hospiital in the Cardiac “cath” lab and after the insertion of a second stent (I had received one on 2006 at Gundersen Lutheran in La Crosse), I felt much better. My change of feeling was a night-and-day experience. They found that one of the arteries feeding the heart had a virtual total blockage, and the stent was now providing a passage for normal blood flow to the heart. The physical exertion at the airport probably did not help the condition, but this situation had been most likely developing for some time.
More Research
I have been asking for help from anyone who is willing to give it from Yahoo UL groups, of which there were several. One guy, Dave Engle, in New York, also owns a JetWing and has been willing to get dimensions of the parts that will need to be replaced. He’s great! He also has an owners manual and I have asked him to go have a copy made at my expense and send to me to help with the rebuild.
There are several other guys who popup on the internet when I ask questions. Jerry Pridemore, Ted Bailey, and Mark Overton have both answered questions and provided help and opinions about the project.
The Next Step
I think I need to go back up to the airport and do some further analysis and begin to disassemble the carriage. One important thing that needs to be done is to put the wing together and check out its integrity and see if there’s any damage to it. I know the keel is damaged because I found part of it in with the chopped-up pieces that the EMT’s destroyed. But I don’t know what else might be damaged. I haven’t put it together since the accident. The rebuild decision will be dependent on how many good pieces remain. If there’s substantial damage to the wing or the engine, I might be resigned to deciding it’s not possible to rebuild. We’ll see.

January 2, 2010 – A Visit to Crystal

It’s been a month and a half, Christmas is past, as is New Years Day, and it’s time to get out and around albeit in zero-degree temperatures. Dr. Eberling, my Minneapolis-area orthopedic doctor, has cleared me to be able to walk on the ankle without the boot. I decided to go up and see exactly what the JetWing looked like, since I had not even looked it over once since the accident. Steve had done a fantastic job of cleaning up the pieces and getting it back on the trailer and to our house, where he had put it alongside the garage for storage with a tarp over it. There it had stayed untouched while we were engaged in other things, primarily our preparation to move.
So when I decided to go up to Crystal, I went without any expectation but with some hope that there might be a chance to rebuild the poor, battered, and broken JetWing. Steve had said that he didn’t think there was much if any damage to the wing, and I knew the engine should be OK, so it was worth a shot to see if rebuilding was a possibility.
I drove up by myself, taking the camera to document what the JetWing looked like from all sides so I could study and ponder what to do later. Everything worked out well, and my first challenge, which was to get into the hanger on my own happened without any problem and I was able to get in to see it and check the JetWIng out. As I looked it over, I began to formulate a plan in my mind of what to do. It was pretty substantially damaged, but the nature of an ultralight like that is that it’s not made up of much, just tubing, brackets, nuts and bolts. The critical parts are the wing and engine. Both things could not be checked out easily; the engine needed to be run and tested, and the wing was in the wing bag and I could not even look it over at this point.
However, in spite of this, I began to make plans to rebuild the JetWing.