UPDATES CONTINUED April/May 2006 We spent lots of time deciding about our instrument panel and even longer assembling it. We are both new to electronics, but we quickly got the hang of things. The back still looks a bit like spaghetti but we are gradually tidying it up into a loom so it looks more like cannelloni. It was nice clean work and fairly enjoyable. Hardly any swearing except when we tested the radio and found one of the microphones didn't work. Because it didn't work we couldn't even hear the swearing! We e-mailed the manufacturer in Germany. They responded asking if we had tried moving the little switch on the side as per page 3 of the manual. Of course we hadn't. Manuals are for sissies. Anyway it sorted out the problem. We reached a major milestone in April. After several completely hashed up attempts at soldering and some very burnt fingers, Peter finally gave in and borrowed Ian's reading glasses. It made a huge difference instantly. It comes to all of us eventually. We now have at least six pairs of specs placed around the workshop.
June/July 2006 Goff Moore came to see us last November and we tried really hard to put him off building a Europa. We failed miserably. Although Goff has decided not to build his own Europa (for the time being anyway), he has joined us and bought into our project. We waited until his cheque had cleared before telling him that his main task over the next few weeks is to finish the filling and sanding! We let him sit in the plane just to get the feel of it. Goff has a share in a Mooney and he kindly agreed to take us on a trip to Blackpool. So here are some pictures of three aircraft builders enjoying a rare moment of leisure.
The following text is from Peter. He has an accountant's sense of humour: "Whilst Ian was away on yet another
holiday Peter started work on the speed kit. When he came to use the resin
pump it wouldn't work and he noticed the hardener tank was full of crud.
It appeared that the hardener had become like sludge all on its own. This
entailed emptying the tank and cleaning it out. Peter used acetone for
this and it was a very difficult job getting rid of the gunk. Eventually
it appeared to be okay but upon re-assembly the hardener reservoir developed
a leak. Peter subsequently discovered that the seal is damaged by acetone
but he thought it best not to tell Ian! Ian ordered a new seal from the
States and upon re assembly everything was fine." Here is th finished inspection hatch in the wheel spat: We also now have a fourth member of our team, Peter's new Weimariner Egan: We have found that if we smear honey on
parts we need to sand, Egan's rough tongue soon smooths the surface for
us. (Only joking). |
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