Swamptooth

Hangar Storage

2012-02-09T19:09:00.000-08:00

Trying to clear some workspace in the hangar again.

Rain

2012-01-23T16:59:00.000-08:00

Hangar pretty dry, but a giant mess. Spent some 5-S time.

Wing Stand Deployment, 7 January 2012

2012-01-08T09:50:00.001-08:00

Don and I spent maybe half an hour yesterday evening moving stuff out of the way and positioning the wing installation fixtures for a dry run with an actual Bearhawk wing.
We chickened out when we realized
(1) how heavy the wing is, with no longitudinal crossbracing installed yet;
(2) how high we would need to lift it;
(3) how little time we had.
We opted to delay the first wing lift until we add more bracing and come up with some kind of stable step arrangement.

Wing Installation Fixtures Complete

2012-01-05T22:47:00.001-08:00

About an hour and a half spent by Don and I. Brandon helped too. Got the crossbracing on there. Kids were up too late.

January 2, 2012 - Wing Stands on Wheels!

2012-01-05T17:11:00.000-08:00

Woke up to a strange sight: really dense ground hugging fog covering the LA Basin, but ending just about a half a mile from my house. The tops of buildings and a crane were poking above the fog.

Then, after breakfast, took the family to the South Coast Botanic Garden, where I took this idyllic photo of children frolicking along the main thoroughfare through the gardens, laughing and holding hands.

Of course two seconds after this photo was taken, Brandon and Audrey tripped over each other and piled up on the asphalt, skinning Brandon's knee and leaving Audrey with a cut lip, and bleeding profusely from the mouth. Clearly it was time to change gears and go work on the Bearhawk.

Lisa and I took up where Don and I left off on New Year's Day, installing the leg extenders on Wing Stand #2. When they were both on wheels, we rolled them out on the ramp for a PR shoot:

The long spindly legs combined with the uneven ramp surface made the fixtures appear to tilt at crazy angles, so we rolled them right back inside.

All that's left now is to complete the crossbracing to give these fellas enough stiffness and strength to roll around with a wing on top.

January 1, 2012 Progress

2012-01-05T16:49:00.000-08:00

Lisa, Don, and I Spent about 1.5 hours on the morning of New Year's Day working on the Bearhawk. First task was installing legs on Wing Stand #2. This was mostly Don and Lisa drilling indiscriminately while I covered my eyes.

In parallel, we got the Varner miter saw up running, and used it to cut leg extenders from pressure-treated 4x4 purloined from a long-abandoned Swamptooth landscaping project. Unfortunately we ran out of lumber and had to take a very long long lunch break to steal another 4x4 from my front yard.

After cutting to length, with nice square ends thanks to the Varner saw, we drilled out holes for the casters, using a drill block intended for rivet removal, clamped to the square end of the post:

Next we enlarged the pilot hole with a worn-out 1/4" bit and then a 5/16 spade bit before threading in the caster (obtained at no cost from the Varner Compound).

Next was the tricky part: getting the leg extenders properly positioned onto the fixtures. To do this we initially eyeballed the height and clamped them up. By this time it was just Don and me.

We then fine tuned the height of each leg and reclamped everything to drill bolt holes to attach the extenders. We got one stand done and partially crossbraced before Kent came over and our productivity ground to a halt.

We didn't keep careful track of hours, but the 2nd half was from about 6:30 to 9:30, so 3 hours times 2 belly buttons. Total project time for the day: 3 x (1.5) + 2 x (3) = 10.5 hours.

Wing Stand On Its Feet

2011-12-31T11:45:00.000-08:00

About two hours spent, with DV. And Audrey. Some of that two hours was spent setting up the makeshift heater: a heat gun clamped to a light stand. 12/30/2011.

Waiex Christmas

2011-12-25T19:32:00.000-08:00

Christmas gift to myself: about 20 minutes of project planning on the Waiex. Sonex provides only hard copies of the drawings, so to really get organized I am spending time going through the drawings and distilling them into a digital bill of materials (BOM), which will help me efficiently plan out processing and assembly of the airframe kit parts.

Facing Reality

2011-12-18T19:13:00.001-08:00

Not much has been happening on either airplane, but especially the Sonex (actually a Waiex). Part of it is the required trip to the hangar, which although pretty convenient is still proving a barrier with numerous small children in the mix.
So to shift the balance, I have set up a satellite workshop in the garage. This little offshoot of the My New Invention Heavy Industries leviathan will be dedicated solely to piece part work on the Waiex on days when I don't make it to the hangar.
One issue though: I still need to run this whole concept by Don, having run off with his drill press and stripped the main facility of key capital equipment that may be needed for the Bearhawk.

Wing Installation Fixture Hardware

2011-12-04T20:21:00.001-08:00

Hit the depot for bolts to install the removeable legs. Maybe 20 minutes of procurement time. $17.88.

Back to the Wing Installation Fixtures

2011-11-30T17:53:00.000-08:00

Next step: installing the legs. 10 minutes clamping up the first leg, but now I need hardware. Tomorrow.

Swamptooth Live Again

2011-10-19T20:38:00.000-07:00

It Hurts Me Too
Big Tin Truck
The Dark End of the Street
Billy (with John on lead acoustic & backing vocal, and Jose on percussion, pictured here without me)

Wing Fixture Platforms Are Done

2011-10-03T18:01:00.000-07:00

Maybe 30 minutes nailing up the shelves. Up next: installing legs and feet.

Saturday Progress

2011-10-02T09:14:00.001-07:00

Forgot to post my 20 minutes of headway from yesterday. At Miramar Air Show Today.

Shelves almost done

2011-09-30T21:14:00.000-07:00

About 70 minutes spent nailing on the deck (shelf one) and framing (shelf two).

First wing fixture shelf frame

2011-09-29T13:30:00.000-07:00

35 minutes at lunchtime. Still have to nail down the shelf.

10 more minutes of progress on wing fixtures.

2011-09-28T13:56:00.001-07:00

Hey, ten minutes is better than none. Also, managed to get more of the frame assembled without breaking any Varner bits.

Another Bit

2011-09-27T21:46:00.000-07:00

10 minutes, token progress, but still managed to break another of Don's drill bits.

Framing up the wing fixture "shelf."

2011-09-26T17:06:00.000-07:00

About 15 minutes spent on the Bearhawk after work today. Had to spend some time clearing rock and roll paraphenalia our of the work area first.

More Wing Fixture Progress

2011-09-25T22:44:00.001-07:00

Spent about 30-45 minutes cutting pieces for the wing fixtures, Will Fischer helping.

Wing Fixture Fabrication, Day Two

2011-09-18T22:37:00.000-07:00

Put together eight legs yesterday, and started working on the platform frame today.

Wing Fixture Progress

2011-09-17T07:39:00.000-07:00

Building wing installation fixtures. Broke Don's 1/16 bit and then decided to forget about predrilling.

Wing Fixtures and Hangar Inspection

2011-09-16T16:17:00.000-07:00

In the process of building fixtures for installation of the wings onto the aircraft. Because of the lengthened main gears, the bottoms of the wings mount seven feet AGL.

The plan is to finish them tomorrow before the annual hangar inspection by the fire department.

Pondering Waiex engine choices

2011-09-06T08:47:00.000-07:00

Sick Day

2011-05-25T14:37:00.001-07:00

No progress on the Waiex today due to another virus brought home from 1st grade.

Waiex Days 5-6

2011-05-24T12:07:00.000-07:00

Light progress because I am running a low grade fever.

Yesterday I stopped by the hangar and spent about 30 minutes of project management budget getting a bill of materials (BOM) started, so we have a framework to begin tracking all the fabrication tasks.

Today I spent about 0.3 hours setting up a work history log.

Waiex Tail Kit Inventory Complete

2011-05-22T13:14:00.000-07:00

Don and I spent 1 hour completing the inventory against the plans bill of material (BOM). We did not measure total lengths of angle and hinge stock, but all types are now "in stock" at MNIHI Aircraft Works.

Day 3 - Tail Kit Inventory

2011-05-21T19:31:00.000-07:00

1 hour and 20 minutes minutes unpacking and inventory.

Waiex Day 2

2011-05-20T20:57:00.000-07:00

Didn't want to start without DV, so just migrated the nascent project into the hangar and recreated the on-pallet condition. Will put the wrapper back on so Don can still open his present.
Whole activity took less than an hour all told, of which only 20 minutes was touch time with the boxes. We also dragged out Gober (the compressor) and filled the tires on the station wagon.

Quandary

2011-05-20T11:20:00.000-07:00

With the launch of a second aircraft project, it may be time to spin off the MNI Aircraft Works into a separate blog, and return Swamptooth to its original raison d'etre, music. Hmm.

Waiex - Day 1

2011-05-19T20:17:00.000-07:00

Yes, we have been making so much Bearhawk progress that we need a second project just to keep ourselves from overheating. The tail surface kit arrived today. Since it's Don's birthday present, better wait for him to open it. I'll give him 'til tomorrow.

Phase 2 of MNI Heavy Aircraft Industries

2011-04-24T01:33:00.000-07:00

http://www.sonexaircraft.com/aircraft/waiex.html.

To my complete surprise and delight, Bill informed me today that he ordered the tail kit for my birthday!

Other major events today:

1) Kent, who was the first person on scene when the Bearhawk arrived, and who has been great fun to hang out with over the past year, took a large part of his day to walk us through the puzzling array of tools we received. I'm not sure that I've seen anyone in a field possess such an in-depth knowledge of almost every item in a tool kit.

2) The Great BatmobileTM vs Airplane Of Our Choosing Race was formalized after a contentious battle over terms. The opposing party, dressed in a red jacket of questionable pedigree (possibly stolen from a waiter or the recently deceased Michael Jackson) is now in a heated wager with the keepers of this blog. Stay tuned for details.

3) Discussion of the formation of MNI Party Barge, LLC, a Nevada Corporation, was entered into. This would complete our domination of air, land and sea. Not to mention sound. The discussion was tabled for a later date.

Parts from floor to ceiling

2011-04-20T21:26:00.000-07:00

In order to claim actual physical progress, we sorted through all of the loose parts that came with the extra wings. Bill is going to begin the cataloging progress. We also have the third-most-complete wing hanging up on the north side of the rear part of the hangar. The presence of a fully functional B-17 was a bit of a weekend distraction. Hopefully this weekend will find the airport free of awesome classic airplanes.

Still Some Standing Water

2011-03-21T15:57:00.000-07:00

Front area had dried out (except carpet), but ther was still a puddle along the wall shown here. Swept it out and adjusted the fan locations.

Hangar Flooding

2011-03-20T19:41:00.000-07:00

Rainwater flowing along the northern edge of the hangar. Big roll of sheet aluminum standing on edge in a puddle. Moved a bunch of furniture and the drums, pulled back the carpet, swept out the standing water, and put the big shop fans along the main flow paths. Still recovering from pneumonia, so ran out of steam. I'll check back tomorrow.

New Wing Parts

2010-11-08T17:46:00.000-08:00

Don and I picked up the abandoned Bearhawk project for $1500 from EAA Chapter 96, Compton, CA. The previous builders got pretty far on the wings, with components mostly complete and one wing partially assembled.
Tonight: began inventory. 0.2 hours.

With or Without You

2010-11-02T20:05:00.000-07:00

Don ponders his favorite U2 song.

Chicago Knowhow

2010-08-17T13:13:00.000-07:00

Illuminating visit from the Knaacks (pere et fils). The elder Knaack has built a Mustang II and is currently working on both a Stuart S-51 and a Harmon Rocket. He liked the Bearhawk, including our flush rivets and .040 wing skins.

Storage, Revised

2010-06-28T11:30:00.001-07:00

Here is the new location for parts (and toy) storage. Note the temporary carpentry workbench at left. This will be used until we have built Chapter 1000 standard EAA workbenches.

Chin Ups

2010-06-26T00:01:00.000-07:00

Hangar Storage

2010-06-24T12:01:00.001-07:00

If DV is in agreement, this 8-foot shelf will move to the left-hand side of the back wall. Which currently houses most of the man's earthly posessions.

Phone Blogging Again

2010-06-24T11:14:00.001-07:00

Finally fixed my phone E-mail settings, so I can blog in real time
from the hangar, like the old days (December 2009).
Mobile blog capability is crucial, given my short attention span and
numerous distractions waiting for me when I get home.
When I patched my default and backup SMTP servers, a whole bunch of
old E-mails went out immediately, including some posts intended for
this web log. Hence the several puzzling items that appeared
yesterday.

Painted.

2010-06-23T20:03:00.002-07:00

Spent two hours painting the rest of the hangar floor.

We will come back later to touch up with brushes.

Looks really good!

Tamper Shrink Fit

2010-06-23T20:03:00.001-07:00

Tamper has been fixed. We heat soaked the cast iron head at 325 deg. F. for one hour and then pounded in the handle.

Prep: the handle had been filed to a small end chamfer and greased at the chamfered edge with sewing machine oil.

We used a sheet of oak and a ten-lb barbell plate to protect the kitchen floor.

Project time = 0.3 hours.

2nd Time Around

2010-06-23T20:02:00.001-07:00

A Mini Project

2010-06-23T20:01:00.004-07:00

The wing strut attach point should be on the other side of the landing gear leg.

Mosquito Hawks

2010-06-23T20:01:00.003-07:00

These big bugs ...
Removed over 160 carcasses the other day, but looks like very few live ones are still around now.

Wing Fixture Plans

2010-06-23T20:01:00.002-07:00

Been designing jigs to facilitate installation and removal of wings.

Soul Searching in Montana

2010-06-23T20:01:00.001-07:00

We have seen the airplane, and have some further questions to ponder.

It's -20 F right now.

False Alarm

2010-03-23T22:34:00.000-07:00

Well, our ELT works.

I stepped out of the hangar and saw a guy in a city vehicle headed my way. Uh oh. Did a lightning-fast hangar scan for combustibles, etc. If there were any I would have thrown them in the trunk of my car.

He rolled up next to me and asked how long I had been here today. Since about 2:30 PM. I looked at his conspicuously displayed antenna and he explained that he was trying to track down the source of a 121.5 MHz emergency beacon. Probably somebody's airplane's emergency locater transmitter (ELT) had gone off accidentally. Meaning with NO accident.

I volunteered to check my ELT. I knew we have one for the Bearhawk, but I was relieved when I was actually able to run into the hangar and find the big orange ELT in the first cardboard box I laid my hands on.

I walked outside and cycled on my ELT, heard the warble of the DF equipment in his truck, and turned it off again, demonstrating that our hangar was not the source of the distress signal. He thanked me and rolled on.

Afterward, I looked it over, and the date of manufacture was February 1975. Battery had probably not been checked in several years. It worked anyway.

Later I saw the city guy parked outside a hangar down the row on the other side. I gave him the long distance thumbs up/down question, and he shouted the update to me: he had found the hangar that seemed be be the source of the radio beacon, and called the culprit at home.

As I left for dinner, it was my turn to roll by and interrogate him. The U.S. Air Force Rescue Coordination Center was calling him from Langley (Virginia) every 10 minutes to find out if he'd found the beacon yet. The dude whose hangar it was still hadn't shown. "Yeah, he lives right nearby and he said he'd be right over, but it's been 40 minutes."

Nuisance ELT transmissions on emergency channel 121.5 are one of the reasons for the change over to the new, 406 MHz GPS-linked ELT standard. For now, I can legally put this old one we already have in the Bearhawk (with a new battery of course), and it would probably start transmitting if I crash land, but there's a good chance that help would never arrive due to incidents just like this one masking my signal. Oh, and 121.5 will no longer be monitored by satellite, so we'd be at the mercy of ground stations and passing aircraft that might be monitoring 121.5 or 243 MHz. I know I don't do that often when I am out flying. Much more likely to be on Flight Following or Flightwatch, or just the next frequency on my flight plan.

Yeah, maybe we should spend the money (~$1k) and get a new 406 MHz ELT, synched to our GPS. Besides our precise position, data transmitted to "Langley" would include aircraft type, registration, and home phone numbers.

Bearhawk Crash Update

2010-03-12T20:59:00.000-08:00

Thanks to the Bearhawk mailing list, I found out about an update to the only fatal accident involving the Bearhawk. The accident happened last year, and resulted in all three on board dying. Tests are starting to point to carburetor icing as the cause.

What is also interesting to me is that there is actual video from onboard the airplane. This is an excerpt from the report:

"The camcorder was largely destroyed by the accident; however, the tape (8mm video cassette) received only minor damage and was also sent to the Board's vehicle recorder for review..."

There are some interesting observations about the sounds they hear, and whether or not it came from the engine or the movement of the actual camera. It would be great if the NTSB had easy public access to this kind of evidence, and I'm considering filing an FOIA request for a copy when the investigation is concluded.

I'll post an update when the final report comes out, which should be in May of this year.

Unmanned Aircraft Systems

2010-03-08T18:13:00.000-08:00

There was an article in one of the latest Aviation Week magazines about the British Mantis UAS (or UAV depending on who you are). It was amazing how fast it went from concept to development, and it seems that could potentially apply to experimental airplane design. That there are so many interesting designs for these craft, and several of them have the ability to stay aloft for long periods of time.

Bullet Proof?

2010-02-28T12:26:00.000-08:00

While chasing that philosopher's stone of general aviation, the "bullet proof" piston engine, I ran across this stimulating post on aircraft engine reliability.

Based on the data posted, I estimated the fleet-wide odds. Over a 25 year period this is the rough-order-of-magnitude fraction of aircraft engines (including automobile engine conversions) that experienced catastrophic in-flight failure:

Lycoming: 1 in 1000
VW: 1 in 120
Ford/Subaru: 1 in 30
Mazda: 2 out of 3
Chevy: 4 failures each

This is based on actual NTSB accident investigations back to 1985, compared to aircraft fleet sizes currently registered (as of 2009).

The truth is probably significantly worse for the Subaru/Mazda because there were very few flying before 15 years ago or so. People have been flying behind Fords since the 1930s (Model A) and the VWs since the 1970s and maybe earlier. Chevy enthusiasts have been trying to fly the "big block" engines but most have been using the Corvair. I am disappointed the Mazda engines did so poorly here, because I had/have high hopes for the Wankel (rotary) engine.

The VW conversions actually come out looking pretty good. The Aerovee slated for use in our Sonex probably does better than above because the data includes ALL Volkswagen derivatives.

The poor record of the Chevy conversions may be slightly overstated, but then again maybe not, because if the author's data is to be believed, apparently there are currently NONE registered (I cheated and divided by one). The first thought that springs to mind is that they all must have crashed or scrapped!

As a postscript, I will add that the engines that I found most often mentioned as "bullet proof" are the Lycoming O-235 and O-360. That's encouraging news for our Bearhawk, which sports the latter.

Bearhawk CD

2010-02-27T21:27:00.000-08:00

Got a package from Russ Erb today. Hopefully it's more than just the back issues of Trials & Tribulations. Oops, I mean "Beartracks."

Bearhawk Discussion Group

2010-02-24T20:41:00.000-08:00

While the Bearhawk might seem to be on the more experimental side of the experimental airplane spectrum, that's not always a bad thing.

Yahoo's aptly named Bearhawk support group is a great resource. I mean, where else can you find people telling you how to position your pitot tube, put skis on your plane, and land it? Yeah, I thought so. I've been getting the daily emails, but really need to delve into the old messages.

One of our concerns is the fact that we need to find out what revisions have been made between the time this plane was originally worked on, and now. The people in that group are really helpful and intelligent, which is what we'll need to have on our side in the coming months...

Torrance Fire Department

2010-02-23T19:48:00.000-08:00

Should be satisified with our hangar's new fire extinguisher: 2A-10BC rated. $30 at Lowe's.

Jig Planning

2010-02-22T20:58:00.000-08:00

Took measurements today for the wing installation jigs.

Where to start?

2010-02-22T20:05:00.000-08:00

It's taking a while to absorb everything about the Bearhawk. Up until a few months ago, the Sonex was at the forefront, so all of my focus was on learning about a small aluminum plane. Catching up on the Bearhawk has been quite the challenge, with so many sources of information (the fairly simple plans, actual manuals, magazines, forums, and so on...). There's a sort of DIY/Wild West mentality about the Bearhawk vs. the structured factory plans that come with the Sonex. I guess that embraces the experimental nature of this plane. And with the changes made by the original builder of this one, it makes it that much more...interesting.

A few observations from what I've looked at so far:

1) The mods we were planning on making are probably a great idea, because they will get us that much more insight into the current structure.

2) We'll need to do a lot of material inspection and measuring to ensure that this thing ends up solid but not overweight.

3) One mod we discussed (large access panel on the empennage) is in the builder's manual, so I don't feel so guilty about the damage I did to the fabric during the horizontal stabilizer removal. Knowing that, I probably could have removed the four final screws in something less than the four hours it actually took me while lying on the ground in -6 F winter weather.

Next up we'll come up with a good plan of attack, and then systematically improve and complete the plane.

Manuals are Here

2010-02-18T20:51:00.000-08:00

Just downloaded Eric Newton's Bearhawk builder manuals. I already had the Fuselage volume, but Don plumped for the Wings and Finishing volumes.

Naturally, I am starting with Finishing.

My end of the bargain is to order Russ Erb's Bearhawk data CD. Lisa will do it for me, since she actually has a PayPal account.

Cabin Configuration

2010-02-14T16:10:00.000-08:00

We're not planning on using these Cessna 152 seats, but they're kinda useful for trying out seating scenarios.

Hands Clean For Now

2010-02-01T23:01:00.000-08:00

We are WAY ahead of where we ever thought we'd be with a Bearhawk by now. So far ahead that we really don't know what to do next! I have not been able to meet my goal of getting my hands dirty every day with AIRPLANE BUILD, because I simply don't know what to work on.

Hence, there will be a period of "hands clean" progress (studying, reading, learning new skills), but I will still try to get my hands dirty as often as I can.

Inventory

2010-01-17T11:03:00.001-08:00

Haven't been slacking on the airplane, just on blogging! Been conducting an inventory and studying the plans.

Bringing It All Back Home

2010-01-10T08:25:00.000-08:00

Bearhawk is in the truck. Should reach home base today.

Ramps and Pulleys

2010-01-04T15:38:00.000-08:00

Last few days have been spent making arrangements for the trip to Montana, and the inspection, disassembly, loading, and stowage of the aircraft once we get there.

Also convincing ourselves it's a good idea to cross the Monida pass in January in a 24-foot Budget truck.

Blogger Issues

2010-01-01T23:42:00.001-08:00

Having trouble posting from my phone. But hangar paint is almost completely dry.

Painted!

2009-12-28T22:50:00.000-08:00

Spent two hours painting the remainder of the hangar floor.

We will come back later to touch up with brushes.

Looks really good!

More Floor Painting

2009-12-27T13:46:00.000-08:00

The whole family returned to put down another gallon of Glidden Antique Silver. We painted a walkway next to the door to facilitate egress when we are painting the entrance next time.

We also used a special primer to prepare the central area previously subjected to oil drips. We will paint there next.

Project time unknown but probably at least 2.5 hours, including moving furniture beforehand.

Also, I have been working on repair of the tamper mentioned in the last post. We are almost ready for the interference fit of the handle into the head.

Landlord Wrangling

2009-12-22T22:30:00.001-08:00

Went to the airport office to file proof of liability insurance and request repairs/upgrades. Mixed success. The door may get fixed tomorrow but I was told the dust curtain is a "cosmetic" issue and therefore not the city's bailiwick. The ceiling vent may get installed before Jan. 11 if they can find a better contractor.

Diversion: Tamper

2009-12-21T20:54:00.001-08:00

Spent an hour or more attempting to repair the tamper whose handle snapped off several posts ago.

Vic may be pleased that I got some use out of his mitre saw, but only to cut the handle off clean. The hard part is getting the wood out of the tamper head socket, which is several inches deep. I am mostly done, thanks to a 1" spade bit and a dull hole saw.

Antique Silver

2009-12-20T14:57:00.001-08:00

Is the color we ended up with for the floor. Shown is the result of about two hours' work by Lisa and me, with 1 gallon of semi-gloss latex.

Salt Lake Meetup

2009-12-20T00:03:00.000-08:00

Don and I made our Bearhawk travel plans today, and will be meeting in Utah for the flight up to Helena on the 7th of January, in a Canadair regional jet. I will be flying from LA to Salt Lake, and Don will be flying separately from the Varner Compound in an undisclosed location in the American Southwest.

From the airport in Montana's capitol, it's only 3 miles to the Budget truck location. Then we'll use the truck for local transportation.

Just How Big is that Tin Truck?

2009-12-18T22:05:00.000-08:00

Today at lunch I ran over to Budget with my 8' tape measure and measured a 24' rental truck (the same size truck is available in Helena, Montana). The good news is that the Bearhawk should fit in the truck. The bad news is that we still have to figure out how to get it up the ramp, which is too narrow for the airplane's main gear.

Project time ~ 0.8 hours.

What a Puny Plan

2009-12-17T23:30:00.001-08:00

Yesterday: more illness, and a pre-dawn trip to the ER for Brandon. Turned out to be an ear infection. What I'm trying to say is no airplane work yesterday.

Today 0.2 hours of cleanup for floor paint. I'll hold off on buying paint until the day we'll use it.

Bearhawk transport concepts:

A) Fly to Montana, take off wings, stow plane in 24' Budget moving van. Drive home. Problem: doors reported to be 7' tall, while this Bearhawk is 7'3" (thanks to extra long landing gear. Need to get an actual door measurement at my local Budget lot.

B) Buy or rent a trailer.

C) Hire an airplane mover. $$$.

A Fledgling Leaves the Nest

2009-12-15T20:01:00.000-08:00

2/3 kids are still running fevers, but the worst is over, so back to every day work toward AIRPLANE BUILD.

But first, I need to acknowledge the first flight of one of my other airplane projects, the Boeing 787 Dreamliner, to which I have devoted most of the last five years of my professional existence (as Moog Inc. Project Engineer for the leading edge high-lift actuation system). After well over two years of delays to the first flight, the Dreamliner finally "slipped the surly bonds of earth" for the first time late this morning, I wanna say about 10:25.

At the same moment, I launched my 787 glider - purchased from the Boeing gift store more than two years ago - across the sea of cubicles.

Yes, though the rubber band was cracked from age, waiting for this day, I "flung my eager craft through footless halls of air ..."

It slammed into the ceiling and broke.

But that's OK, because the real airplane flew successfully.

So back to the Swamptooth airplane project. Today I swept up the hangar and made a shopping list to get the floor painted. Total project time ~0.1 hours.

"Mad props" to High Flight by John Gillespie Magee, Jr.

VIP Visit

2009-12-10T21:40:00.001-08:00

Spent about 0.5 hrs cleaning and sweeping to prep for floor painting.

Later in the evening, Matt Munson stopped by to tour the facility and assess suitability for droid assembly.

Storage

2009-12-09T22:33:00.000-08:00

Don and his stuff, freshly moved out of storage (the stuff, not Don).

We've been planning the Bearhawk retrieval operation, and it's not going to be pretty.

Heavy Rain in So. Cal.

2009-12-08T14:36:00.000-08:00

But not much evidence of moisture in the hangar, despite warnings from the previous occupant. Maybe it dried out before I got here.

There were two damp spots: this one by the wall and another in the corner.

Ten Years of Trade Studies

2009-12-07T20:42:00.000-08:00

Appear to be at an end. The deposit check is in the mail.

Uh oh.

Getting Closer

2009-12-06T23:44:00.001-08:00

Just to indicate how close, today I downloaded the Bearhawk
Builder's Manual for the fuselage section. I'm scanning it now for wing strut attach info.

This was the first expenditure specifically allocated to a particular model of aircraft, for building purposes.

Pothole Patching

2009-12-06T22:24:00.000-08:00

Before we could repaint the hangar floor, we needed to repair some small potholes located right about where the aircraft nose would be positioned in the hangar.

To do the job, I picked up this premixed patching compound at Home Depot. It's weird stuff, but it works pretty darn well. Best way I can describe it is like pea-sized gravel mixed in a dry but very sticky slurry, hard to stick a trowel into, the whole mess black as pitch (a close relative). One little bucket was more than we needed. You wouldn't think it could fill a hole nicely, and it doesn't ... until you pound it REALLY hard. I guess it's the same stuff you see the road crew steamrollering hundreds of yards at a time. I'm starting to appreciate the need for the steamroller!

Well, we didn't have a steamroller, but we did have Don Varner, and an 8"x8" landscaping tamper. BANG! BANG! BANG! Being former rock-and-roll types, we had earplugs handy, but Don went and apologized to our next door neighbor, who turned out to have his hangar filled up with old cars and a WWII jeep.

Once you really compact this patching compound, it lightens in color and gets rock hard. The technique we ended up with was to mound up a tarball of the compound sticking well above the hole, whack it a dozen times or so with the tamper, add more little dollops around the edges and anywhere it was still black, and whack it some more.

You can see the main hole and three little ones in this picture. The little ones appear grey, signifying full compaction, and the big one is darker because we had just sprinkled water on it to accelerate the curing process. You can also see where the tamper handle broke! To get the edges fairly flush, we were striking with the tamper slightly out of vertical to get more impact on the corner of the tool. Snap!

Fortunately, we were almost done at this point and were able to finish the job (shown in the first picture) with a rubber mallet striking a metal trowel held flat against the patch. We would have had a clean edge on that one too, but the underlying asphalt was very poor quality locally and was starting to blow out around the edges.

According to the instructions, when you're done pounding the pothole patch, it will bear full weight (even before final cure). Lucky thing, 'cause Don almost immediately drove a car over the main pothole, to unload some boxes into the corner of the hangar.

Total time was about two hours on Saturday afternoon (I'm posting this a day late).

Now we just need an airplane!

Test Square

2009-12-04T20:02:00.001-08:00

Back to work. Tried a patch of Glidden interior semi-gloss white. Seems OK so far, with maybe one drop-sized spot of bleed-through, possibly from an underlying oil stain.

We'll check tomorrow and try to assess durability.

We also did some brush touch-up work on the walls and conduits. Total time in hangar: about 75 minutes.

The Bearkhawk Pitch

2009-12-02T22:27:00.000-08:00

Don and I are conducting intense trade studies on the partially complete Bearhawk up in Montana, with more questions answered by the builders, and also by the airplane's designer, Bob Barrows, who Don telephoned yesterday. As for me, I haven't been to the hangar in four days. My cold is clearing up, so I should be back in action (painting the hangar floor) tomorrow or Friday at latest.

This photo is from Oshkosh, July 2009. Will and I went for a demo ride in that Bearhawk. Will loved it almost as much as I did. We taxied out on the main runway in front of the huge flightline crowd, many thousand aviation enthusiasts awaiting the arrival of the Airbus A380. As we taxied by, lots of people waved and snapped pictures, probably thinking we were about to launch on an aerobatic routine, but we just did a max-performance takeoff and headed East over Lake Winnebago. The Bearhawk took off like the Great Glass Elevator, thanks to the Lycoming O-540 under the cowl and the constant-speed prop. The tail came up in a few seconds and then we were airborne almost right away, and climbing much faster than I am accustomed to.

The owner/builder, Mark Goldberg, made his (very nice) plane available to Avipro (the kit manufacturer) for Airventure 2009, but he was not around when we arranged for the flight with head honcho Keith Vasey. The demo pilot chick was a 737 captain from Florida, moonlighting with this gig for Avipro. When I asked if Will could ride along, she first asked if he was a good flier, meaning would he get airsick. I looked at the nice upholstery and tried to sound confident when I vouched for him. The truth is Will had never been in a small airplane before. Luckily, he not only lived up to my billing, but totally enjoyed the flight, grinning from ear to ear even during the steep turns and stalls. No vomit comet.

Anyway, I felt immediately comfortable in the airplane, very at ease with its handling and performance (it just FELT safe), but I definitely missed the sun roof modification, which was included in the display aircraft, but not the one I rode in (or in the published plans). I now consider the sun roof an absolute must for my own Bearhawk, both for enjoyment and traffic spotting.

Montana Feedback

2009-11-30T16:46:00.000-08:00

I have excused myself from getting my hands dirty the last couple of days due to an apparent sinus infection. Good times.

But Don did get an answer from the bearhawk builder in Montana, with responses to our earlier queries.

Key points:

Project was started in 2000; owner is now selling due to medical issues. Aircraft was built in the garage of an EAA technical counselor who was involved "from day one" (Probably because it was the owner's first project.) Very encouraging.
No cargo door because it's not in the plans! (I guess it was a later, builder initiated improvement). Relatively straightforward to retrofit, but does involve some welding. And removal of fabric covering (which is Stits process, by the way).
The Airframe & Powerplant mechanic who did the evaluation rated the sheet metal work on the wings as "fair" due to some imperfect riveting (rivets not flush, or not bucked/crimped perfectly). This is good news because it is not a dimensional issue (i.e. wings are straight!). We will want to remove wing skins and redo some riveting.
The same A&P rated the TIG-welded fuselage cage as "good."
All material and hardware came from a known good supplier (Aircraft Spruce). Except the engine, which was salvaged from a damaged aircraft (engine was not damaged, but was overhauled to zero time). Also, project includes a constant-speed prop from same source. Bonus!
Building logs are not 100% complete, but should be OK.
The landing gear is 4-6" longer than called for by the plans, a modification intended for rough fields/bush flying.

Overall, this is encouraging information and makes sense. Slightly better than I was hoping, actually.

Traffic Paint

2009-11-28T19:08:00.001-08:00

Picked up supplies for a head-to-head test of asphalt floor covering paints. One gallon of traffic paint, and a smaller quantity of indoor/outdoor semi-gloss latex.

I plan to conduct the test tomorrow.

Walls are Painted!

2009-11-27T18:33:00.000-08:00

The whole crew was on hand for 2-2.5 hours of painting: rolling semi-gloss over the white primer.

There is still some minor brushwork to be done before we move on ... To the floor.

Primed and Ready

2009-11-26T00:30:00.000-08:00

After my closest-yet pass with flaking out, I rallied and spent a bit less than three hours completing the primer coat on the remaining four walls. It was all detail brushwork.

There's a darned good chance we'll skip the detailing on the topcoat, which is why I spent a bit more time.

Now for Thanksgiving, I just need to make sure I'm out of town by noon, so that my "traveling" exemption will apply for the day.

Semi-Gloss

2009-11-24T21:59:00.000-08:00

Picked up two gallons for the top coat. It was late, and I knew Don was not coming tomorrow, so I then played the guitar instead of opening up the primer can at this hour. Oh, did I mention the Squier and Pignose have been in here for a couple of weeks?

Sang an electric version of "Jim Jones" (great natural reverb and got the creepy feeling that I was being listened to from behind the metal wall). Time to go sleep.

The vehicles in here are not what I always imagined.

Questions for the Helena, Montana Bearhawk Builders.

2009-11-23T21:55:00.001-08:00

Was the rear cargo door left off because the fuselage frame was modified?
How difficult do you think it will be to rework the fabric skin to include this door?
Why are you not completing the project?
Have there been any design updates issued that you have incorporated since your plans were issued?
Why do you think the inspecting A&P only rated the work on the wings as fair?
Who were your major hardware suppliers?
What is the total time on the O-360?
What is the history on the propeller?
What kind of building logs did you keep?
Was this your first aircraft build?
Did you have any help along the way from inspectors or mechanics?
What kind of welding did you use for the fuselage?
What was the most difficult part of the build process?
What fabric covering system did you use?
What did you use to paint your welded fuselage frame?
Do you have any jigs or fixtures that might be useful for completing the project?
How much longer is the landing gear than the standard bearhawk?
How far along is the wiring?
Were you going to set this plane up as a constant speed prop?

How We Roll

2009-11-22T21:38:00.000-08:00

Took the whole family and spent about 3 hours priming the walls, while the kids battled for hegemony over the tricycle and the CD boom box (Vic's old one).

Will spun The Stone Roses, Willy and the Poorboys, and Fairytale for our travails, before declaring that he was tired of listening to music.

All six walls have now been "rolled," with about 40% of the touch-up ceiling brushwork done.

Matt requested a full view of the hangar. He did NOT request the wagon, but's that's just "how we roll."

Good Enough

2009-11-21T20:12:00.000-08:00

I hope "good enough" will become a theme here in Hangar M.

0.4 hours finished the remaining sanding, but due to some paint that fkaked off while sanding, there may be some final mudding and re-sanding.

One Day of Sanding Left

2009-11-21T11:25:00.000-08:00

Still puzzling over how to post smaller pics from my phone. My attention span is too short to return to the problem at my home PC.

Another 0.3 hours sanding. I can't drag this out much longer, which means the weekend is just in time.

What Not to Wear While Painting

2009-11-19T23:38:00.000-08:00

0.3 hours of finish sanding, in the same clothes I wore during my pitch at a design review earlier today.

The other day, while Don was painting, I forgot to turn out the lights as we were closing the hangar door. I reached back in through the narrow gap with my navy golf jacket on, and as my arm brushed the wall by the light switch, I got wet paint on my sleeve. Actually it was primer, not paint - and specifically chosen because of its renowned stickiness.

I rushed home and Lisa somehow got almost all of the the white primer off my jacket. Then we dropped Don at the Green Line for a dangerous, nighttime, light rail odyssey back to Burbank (though Compton and Watts via the Blue Line, then the Red Line all the way to North Hollywood, thence by car shuttle courtesy of unamused girlfriend).

So anyway, today, I took that jacket off and put a denim work shirt over my customer interface finery. It's impossible to sand drywall mud without getting white powder spots on your clothes, but they dust off pretty easily.

Petros

2009-11-18T20:35:00.000-08:00

Dinner with the design review - Petros in Manhattan Beach.

But I stopped by the hangar and got in 0.1 hours of sanding on the way here!

White!

2009-11-17T21:46:00.000-08:00

Don spent 4 hours sanding, cleaning, and priming 5 of the 6 walls. I showed up for the last half hour to set up the lighting kit.

We met a ragtag crew of hangar rats, who tried to rope us into several dubious adventures, and offered generous use of tools - about three hangars' worth.

One of them turned out to be a former coworker!

(Note: reader Matt pointed out I should be reducing my photo sizes. Starting next time, I will!)

Putting the "OK" in Token Progress

2009-11-16T22:22:00.000-08:00

Okay, so I have another cold, and I'm at the beginning of an all-week, all-day design review for which we prepared all last week - and the entire weekend.

So I'm not really charged up to go work on AIRCRAFT BUILD.

And actually, today, all I had time for was to stop by the hangar, on my way to dinner with the customer (at the Chart House, in Redondo).

So I changed the sandpaper on the sander, and sanded for maybe 10 minutes. Then I left.

Hey, I said at the beginning that TOKEN progress is okay. It's also OK to begin and end this post with the word "okay."

Come Learn to Fly

2009-11-15T18:31:00.001-08:00

Quiet Sunday, with the kind of beautiful, cool weather that Glenn and I used to refer to as "come learn to fly" conditions.

Sadly, I was stuck at work all weekend! Still, I got 0.4 hours of hangar improvement in yesterday and half of that today.

Sanding Almost Done

2009-11-14T10:22:00.001-08:00

All that's left is between the ladder and the door.

There is a girder very near the left hand wall that precludes access with the electric sander, requiring hand sanding, so that is taking the most time.

Boring Day = Good Progress

2009-11-13T16:47:00.001-08:00

0.7 hours sanding. Two walls completed today, with two left to go. Unfortunately, I will be working the whole weekend, but maybe we can still paint.

The New Kid in Town

2009-11-12T22:58:00.001-08:00

Great expectations; everybody's watching you.

True Grit

2009-11-12T22:54:00.001-08:00

Tonight: sore throat. I was tempted to create a new exception for non-febrile cold symptoms. Nope, not backing off now. Still, I dragged my feet leaving the house and didn't get in the car until 9:30. Hit Home Depot (closed), Lowe's for 120 grit paper, then checkout and 0.2 hours of sanding with this little yellow number, which Lisa picked up today. [See following post for photo].

Afterward, I walked Lacey to do her stuff in the grass behind the tiedowns on Taxiway Alpha. Within spittin' distance of the old man's ramp. I picked it up anyway.