Week 90 - 4 August 2004

Tonight I have nothing to report as we did not work this week. My parents were in town, so I mentioned it would not hurt my feelings not to work tonight. Greg was quick to jump on my band wagon, as his son is getting married this weekend, and he has plenty of work to complete before the wedding. Rick had nothing going on, but welcomed the free night.  So we will try again next week!! Keepem flying

-- Gary Himes

Week 91 - 11 August 2004

Hooray....The landing gear are mounted! THE LANDING GEAR ARE MOUNTED!!!!!!

First step was to mount the rear mounting using only two bolts at this time. Next the nacelle ring was cut wide enough to allow the gear to be installed. We threw away the front mount and replaces with basswood, which width wise, fit between the side and the bulkhead cutout for the wheel and was the same height of the sides. We located the front bracket according to the manufacturers instructions and did a test run.  The gear locked into place just like they were supposed to!

Drilling the holes for the front bracket presented some problems as I don't have a drill to fit inside the nacelle area. We overcame this by putting a 1/8" bit in the dremel tool and drilled all the way through the front firewall, then from outside back drilled using the needed size for the blind nuts. After the blind nuts were installed we mounted the front brackets to the bulkhead. Once this was done we set back and admired, worked the gear, and double checked things.

Unfortunately, I still have a lot of things going on so we called it an early evening once again I know some of you out there think we are moving too slowly. We feel this is a hobby and not a race, nor do we have anything to prove. Yes we have been working on this 1 year and 10 months, but the important thing is we are still friends and still working together. We know of at least one other project this size that did not pass this test!

-- Gary Himes

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