To All:
Here is the update from this weekend's work session:
Fins and Wings - The F&W team made tremendous progress this weekend. This was due
primarily to an increase in manpower that came over from the Airframe team. Since most of
the airframe work is completed, the entire
Airframe team became available for other duty and were quickly integrated into the
other teams. As a result, the tapered leading edges for the fins were fitted and glued to
the fin sections. The fins were notched to clear the rear centering ring and test fitted
into the airframe. Finally, the completed fin assemblies were covered with fiberglass. The
tapered leading edges for the wings were then cut out of 1/8-inch ply and glued up and the
tapered outboard edges for the wings were cut out of basswood stock. In addition, some
preliminary work was done on cutting out the wing fairings from blue-foam stock.
Motor Mount - The Motor Mount team also made great progress this weekend. The two motor
mount tubes were joined together with a tube coupler and four parallel lines, 90-degrees
apart, were then drawn along the length of the motor tube. Drawing the parallel lines was
time-consuming but necessary and required some detailed measurements and marking. The
channels that the fin
tabs will plug into were cut from 1/4-round stock and glued to the motor tube along the
parallel lines. The forward bulkhead was fitted with the 4-inch plug that will mate the
bulkhead to the forward end of the motor
tube, and the bulkhead was also marked and holes were drilled for the U-bolts which
will serve as the recovery system attachment points. After the carbon-fiber rear centering
ring was finish-sanded, the entire motor
mount was test fitted into the airframe. With the motor mount temporarily installed,
the wings and fins were also test fitted.
This weekend's session was an outstanding example of "teamwork" and was
probably the best work session we have had. As a result, we are in very good shape with
respect to the overall project timeline.
Our next building session will be Saturday, April 27, at the workshop in Claremore.
Hope to see everyone there.
Hal
