The pieces are all labeled and attached to cardboard sheets
using shrink wrap. |
Even the nuts and the bolts are all labeled and arranged on
the cardboards! |
The parts are well laid out. It is very easy to find what I
need while I'm working. |
Even the sails are bundled with the wings tied
separately. |
I'm all set up and ready to begin! |
Day 1, hour 1.5 |
Day 2, hour 4.5 - rudder finished |
Day 2, hour 6 - Oops! I built it like a Sprint
II. |
Day 3, hour 6.5 - disassembled LE of elevator |
Day 3, hour 7 - I fixed it! |
Day 4, hour 8 - horizontal stabilzer finished. |
Day 5, hour 12 |
Day 6, hour 12.5 - tail section finished. |
Since the garage is full, construction has moved
inside. |
Day 7, hour 14 - root tube and wheels are
finished |
Day 8, hour 18 - steerable nosewheel done. |
Day 9, hour 23 - all nuts finger tight just in
case |
Day 10, hour 25 - trike is finished except for gas
tank |
Day 11 - a friend helped me to carry the trike into the
garage. I had to remove a couple of tubes in order to get it to fit
vertically through the doorway. She took this picture of me while I
replaced and tightened the bolts. |
Day 11 - everything is back together again!
|
Day 12, hour 27 - all wing struts finished. |
Day 13, hour 27.5 - leading & trailing edges attached
to root tube. |
Day 13,
hour 28 - fabric is on the wings. |
Day 13, hour 29 - fabric rivited, three ribs inserted on each wing,
stenciled holes for compression struts. |
Day 14, hour 34.5- all ribs fully inserted, heat cut holes in wings,
all struts attached finger tight. |
Day 14, hour 35 - upper wires attached to wings.
(four
places each wing) |
Day 15, hour 38 - wings finished except for the angled
compression strut on each wing tip and securing the ribs, all wires are
attached. |
Day 16, hour 40 - wires attached to front and back of trike, rudder
cables attached, seat mount attached, finished throttle
assembly. |
Day
17, hour 41 - Dad helped me to attach the engine - I couldn't lift it
alone. |
Day 17, hour 41.5 - I couldn't get the fittings into the gas tank. Dad
had to do it. He is strong! |
Day 17, hour 45 - the engine is in place. |
Day
17, hour 45 - a view from the other side. |
Day
17, hour 45.5 - with all the fittings in place, I can now mount the gas
tank. |
Day
17, hour 45.5 - the engine is now completely installed, gas tank and
all! |
Day 18, hour 47.5 - seat & kill switch
installed |
Day
19, hour 49 - control stick assembly installed |
Day
19, hour 50.5 - controls now installed correctly |
Day
19, hour 50.5 - a view from the back |
Day 20, hour 53 - Dad is helping with the
ailerons. |
Day 20, hour 54.5 - He rivets while I take the
picture. |
Day 21, hour 57 - We're playing "tug-o-war". It is VERY
difficult to get the fabric on the ailerons! |
Day 21, hour 58.5 - Fabric is finally on the ailerons! Now
installing the end caps and the stops. |
Day
21, hour 59 - Replacing the remote choke. Dad has to install the manual
choke. No directions were included! Luckily, he's a mechanic! |
Day 21, hour 59.5 - I'm ready to fly! Unfortunately, the
plane is not ready yet. The only thing left is to secure the ribs with
fasteners. It won't be long now!! |
Day 22, hour 60 - tip struts installed |
Day
22, hour 61 - ribs drilled and fasteners attached |
Day 22
- parts transported to the airport for final assembly using a neighbor's
car carrier trailer |
Day 22
- tail section completely assembled
ailerons are ready for the
wings |
Day
22 - the trike sits next to my old plane.
Anyone want to buy a 2 place
T-Bird with 10 hours?? |
Day 22
- the wings traveled to the airport one at a time. |
Day 23, hour 65 - wings and tail section
attached |
Day 24, hour 69 - assembly and adjustments
complete |
Four things left to do: cut/install the center fabric,
break-in the engine, have the dealer check and test fly the plane, get
Ultralight Pilot Certified. |
She has her very own hangar!
|
I started to break-in the engine but could not finish
because the RPM continued to jump from 4800 to off the scale with nothing
in-between. |
Since the engine was not ready to be broken-in, I taxied
slowly once down the runway and back. I made sure to keep the airspeed
below 15 MPH! |
I made it back safely. What a blast!! |
Dad gets the fun job of mounting the strobe! |
Now it's complete, like the star on a Christmas
tree! |
Tom tests the new Warp Drive prop. 6280
RPM!! |
Tom is preparing for her first flight. |
60 ft. take-off roll!!! |
And she's off!! |
Tom flies directly overhead. |
Coming in for a landing. Look Mom, NO HANDS!! |
A perfect landing!! |
Tom made it back safely. |
I was signed-off to solo by John Smith, BFI
on June 26,
2002 and did my first solo on
June 28, 2002. |
This is the T-shirt I wore when I did my solo.
They cut
the back out of it and then signed the front. |
The rest is history!!
Thank you to everyone who helped to make
my dream a reality!!
|
I am taking my time to read and re-read the
instructions. I check the diagrams and part numbers several times before
attaching anything. As suggested in the manual, I am not going to rush through
this project.