January 1, 2010
    Happy New Year...
                        might as well start a New Page

No work on it yet... today. Check back later.

Later that day...
Able to drag myself away for a few hours, 1.3 hours to be exact. No breaking news here... just welded on the strap to the second axle. Still need to weld on those pieces to the streamline tubes and it'll be a wrap, I think. (let me get back to you on that one)

January 2, 2010
    No gas...
                        no puddle

It's happened before... not only do I try and squeak all the A out of O/A... but I'm always running out of gas; both O and A.

Whether it's all in my head, or a lack of pressure coming out of the end of the hose... I can't get a puddle to run to save my life, when I'm at the end of my bottle of gas. I fought with the last line of a small weld and just couldn't get it to run. Of course, being the person that I am... I try for 45 minutes to get that metal to puddle. Nuthin!

I'll have to see if I can get over to Airgas sometime this week to get a new bottle (opens at 7:30AM and closes at 4:30PM.) I leave for work at 7:15AM and get home 6:45PM... something isn't working here.

I'd get an extra bottle of each, but I'm not going to spend another $285.00 for bottles; just the bottles with no gas. I'll deal with the slight inconvenience. In the mean time I'll look to see what I can do on the ribs... have a few modifications to do as I had mentioned before.

January 12, 2010
    Gas in the tanks...
                        but no time

My job... an hour and fifteen away. Get home... run the pup... eat... look at the time and it's close to nine. eeeeeeeeeeeesh !

Stole away a bit of time before a sales appointment I had this morning. So... the acetylene tank is now a full one. No excuses now. I'm making them... but I really don't have any valid ones to give. I'm making them... but I really don't have any valid ones to give. (and no, that's not a typo)

(yeah, yeah, yeah... I know... I can find the time to enter this stuff here... and I'm saying I have no time.)

Just like I said... No excuses now. I'm making them... but I really don't have any valid ones to give.

Update January 13, 2010 - 10:20PM:
For what it's worth. I just hooked up the acetylene tank. NOW when I go out there tomorrow, I can get started right away. No time awastin' hookin' it up. Yeah, it's the little things... but that ain't gonna get this biplane finished in a reasonable amount of time.

January 17, 2010
    Finally finished...
                        the fairings

Low pressure equals "no" pressure. Had no problem welding any of the fairings on today. To me it seems like when one of the tanks is almost empty, it's almost impossible to get a puddle going on the thicker tubing. Hmmmm....???? May it's just me.

Anyways... both tanks have plenty of their respective gas in them, and I welded on the three remaining fairings, on the streamline tube to axle joints. Lookin' purty nice.

I think I'm ready to try putting the forward gear on the fuselage... hope I don't have any issues from them twisting any. If I do, I have Whitey, and the entire crew at Alloway Airport, there to give me advice.

Next on the list is the tailwheel... and then I can push it around. Make some noises... again.

February 7, 2010
    Been fiddlin'...
                        yeah, fiddlin' with the gear

Fiddlin'... Adj. 1. fiddlin' - (informal) small and of little importance; "a fiddlin' sum of money"

Been fiddlin' around with the final two welds on the landing gear legs. Both are the joint where the streamline tubing meets the axle. Ain't been happy with them until... today. Some may call this anal. I call it fiddlin'.

I'm done fiddlin' around with them now. Now, I can take them over to the airport to see if they haven't twisted to the point of not fitting on the fuselage. I just might be fiddlin' with them some more... if they don't.

Here's a photo of the two monsters! The only thing they need is the "rib" that holds the forward and rear tubes at a set distance. This will be approx. six inches from the point where they bolt onto the fuselage.

February 27, 2010
    No fiddlin'...
                        just some wigglin'

Hauled myself over to Whitey's today. Yeah... with snow on the ground and all that good stuff. Hauled more than myself... hauled those big ass gears too.

Pulled up to the long driveway in and saw Whitey there on the tractor using the front end bucket to clear yesterday's snow from the rest of the driveway. Nobody else in sight. Didn't want to bother him but I needed to get into the hangar where the fuselage is so that I could see how these things twisted on me. Asked Whitey and he told me where the key was and to let myself in.

Found the keys but none of them worked for me no matter how many times I tried wigglin' them in the door knob. Finally, after ten minutes, I gave up. Jumped in the truck and started to drive away. As soon as I drove off the snow-covered tarmac I saw Whitey coming up the drive with the tractor. I explained the problem and he said "Give me a second and I'll let you in."

After digging the snow out from in front of the door we gained access to the inside of the hangar, which hadn't seen anyone in over a month, and there it was... my fuselage. With the help of Whitey, we flipped it over so that I could fit the gear up to it to see if I needed to do some more fiddlin'. Using 3/8" bolts, both legs attached to the fuselage without a problem. Note: The front should attach using a 7/16" bolt, which I didn't have... so, I actually may have a little fiddlin' still to do. Not much.

I still need to bend the metal ribs, for the spacers, between the front tube and rear tube, on the gear, and weld them into place. But, I am real happy to announce that there wasn't a whole lot of twisting going on welding up the gear.

Let's see... bend the metal ribs, weld those into place, drill and weld on the tailwheel bushing, attach wheels... have someone push me around so that I can make airplane noises. YES!

July 15, 2010
       1st and 2nd...
                          and 3rd thoughts

A knock on the door around 6:30PM and Steve, the guy across the street, asked what I was doing. Asked if I was ready to go over and bend those pieces I had. Said he needed to call Bill to see if he was around.

A phone call and we're on our way. About twenty minutes and we're heading back home. Sweet ! My thoughts changed to working on mounting the gear tonight... kind of excited to possibly being able to have someone push me around as I make radial engine noises; a few belches, coughs and farts and the sweet sound of seven cylinders making 300 hp.

Flipped the fuselage and aligned the front and back gear attach points, on the right gear, to their respective place on the fuselage... the 3/8" bolt slides right into the fitting on the back attach... the front 7/16" another story. tap-tap-tap-tap-tap-tap... tap-tap-tap... tap-tap-tap... damn ! tap-tap-tap-tap-tap-tap-tap... tap-tap-tap... tap-tap-tap-tap-tap-tap-tap-tap-tap... DAMN !

What's up with that ???

Kinda went through my mind what took place since aligning the gear so many months ago and then welding on the straps. hmmmm... did I? I think I did... maybe not... Looked closer at the 7/16" hole... That's it ! There's scaling on the inside of that 7/16" hole. Knew right were the 7/16" reamer was... just had to find the large reamer handle. Amazing, it was right there with all the other metal tools I have.

A little cutting oil, a few turns of the reamer handle and a few pieces of chared metal fall to the floor... it's ready for a 7/16" bolt. Aligned the front and back gear attach points to their respective place on the fuselage... the 3/8" bolt slides right into the fitting on the back attach, as it did the first time... the front 7/16" bolt... a few tap tap taps on the bolt and it slides right in.

I reamed the 7/16" hole on the remaining gear before I even tried mounting it. Long story short... apparently the gear twisted when applying ALL that heat when welding it. Must have moved 3/8" 'cause that's how far the back hole is off.

My first thought was to start heating that puppy up, in the areas that will make it move back into a position that will allow me to slip the rear 3/8" blot into the fitting. I think I'm finally understanding all that I've learned and know about building biplanes. I think...

On second thought, I'm thinking... I need to strike a few new lines on the floor... drop a few plumb bobs and see where the gear is now, compared to where it should be. I'm hoping that nothing will need to be done to the right gear (the one that went right on.) The left gear, as we know, is another story. Once I've discovered where it needs to move to, in relationship to being in the right location, I can start my heating and re-arranging. Once I get it to this point I have no clue what I will be doing. (in steps Whitey and the guys thta have done it before)

A third thought... I could probably heat and bend it so I can get it into the fitting then... naaaaah... we won't even go there.

Here you see... the gear is approximately 36" from bottom longeron to the center of the axle. Add six inches for the tire and she's sitting 42" up off the ground. Add another 12 1/2" to the center of the fuselage and there's plenty of room for the prop to swing.

July 18, 2010
       Deciding...
                          not to decide

Out to the garage workshop to make a decision on what needs to be done with the landing gear. Dropped the plumb bob along the length of the front tube on the left landing gear and saw that it gradually moved in... which, when I thought about it... would happen anyway because of how it is made. Didn't make the drops on the other landing gear... which I should.

Cranked on the O/A to light up the torch. Put a 207 tip on the end of the torch to heat up the lower cluster... "played" with it, but didn't really put the heat to it. So much is going on I'm unsure of what I need to do.

My decision to not make a decision is really a decision to give Whitey a call to get his opinion of what he would do.

July 21, 2010
       The Wonders of building...
                          a Radial Engine Skybolt

I've been racking my brain since finding this foopaa with the left Main Landing Gear. There's got to be some learning here... I'm just not getting it yet.

Heat a cluster or two to bring it back to the original, correct poistion ? Do I need to somehow jig it for alignment ? Drill the existing tube from the front attach point, somehow jig it and re-weld a new tube/bushing in it's place ?

Once I'm through this, I'm going to look back on it with a smile on my face. I just want to be at that point NOW.

I'm tired of wondering what I'm going to do... I just want to move on with it. Get to that smiling place.

July 27, 2010
       Fingers crossed...
                          and prayers

I've been re-hashing the building of the landing gear in my head... probably on the end of being excessive.

Trying to find that spot in the build process that took my beautiful, straight gear, and made an "ugly" mess of it.

I'm trying to see this "learning experience" from different angles. Decided last night that I need to check the "twist" with the rear gear connection out of the gear attach fitting. Not sure if this is throwing off the positioning of the axle (I kinda pulled the rear attach into position... a streching as if it were). Maybe... hopefully... fingers cross... praying to the Almighty... that this will allow the axle to fall closer to where it is suppose to be.

We'll see... it'll have to wait until the weekend. And yes, I'm promising myself to put time into it. Ya hear that, Jer ? Ya hear that ?

August 28, 2010
       Weeks later...
                          just a few thinkings, thoughts, options

Haven't done anything on the biplane... other than thinkthinkthinkthinkthinkthinkthink... yeah, etc.

The landing gear of course. Build a jig ? to where it needs to be... heat it until it fits ? Just heat the damn thing until it's where it needs to be ?

The room, or lack there of, is killing me. Just no room to get this done any time day or night. I'm just going to have to bring it over to Whitey's (yeah I kneep saying that). Just getting tired of doing... nothing.

Yeah, so, ya haven't read a damn thing on here for weeks. All the work I've been doing has been inside my head; Thinking, thoughts, options... thinking, thoughts, options...

I'm choking on stagnation.

July 3, 2011
       A year later...
                        more than a few thinkings, thoughts, options

Out to the garage work shop. Fitted both Main Landing Gear up to the fuselage to see what was what... as if it had changed from close to a year ago.

Looking at it hard... it appears that it might be the front pivot point that needs "adjusting". BUT, before doing that I need to re-strike a few lines, level her up and see where things land (land... airplane... get it ?... ah, never mind) when the back fitting isn't connected. HOPEfully it will be real close with only minor tweekings.

My gut feeling... I'll need to re-do the front pivot point and adjust the back fitting/tube accordingly.

I'll strike those lines tomorrow (have a 4th party to attend to at the moment... yeah, on the 3rd).

Ohhh... I'm going to make this work. You can bet yer ass I will.

July 4, 2011
       It's all coming back...
                    the realization that you can't
                         start back up where you stopped.

Thought it was 3/8", just knew it was 3/8"... but couldn't confirm it was 3/8".

As promised, back out to the fuselage to get working on finding out where what is where. (yeah, I know... not good English) First things first... level the fuselage. Took a little weaving between the fuselage and Sportster (Harley) but finally got it to read 0.o in both directions; front-to-back and side-to-side.

Next, strike the lines and then drop the plumb-bobs to see where things are. Looked on my DeltaCAD drawings and saw the width of these puppies but not the location forward of the front pivot point. Hmmm... looked at the R's prints... not there, went online and looked to see if I had posted it... naaaaaaot (phonetic spelling of exaggerated not) there either. Checked the Skybolt Builder's Manual on www.biplaneforum.com, looked on the Standard Skybolt's blueprints, etc etc etc... nuthin' close to what I remembered it to be.

Went back and checked the R's drawing and low and behold, there it was. I was reading 2.373" (not sure why it's .373) as 2.273". The second time I went back... yeah, it was 2.373" (or as I say... 2.375"). Thankyouverymuch.

It was getting dark out... I'll strike and drop those lines tomorrow to see where things land.

Side Note:
I ease back into my project, not because I want to... but because I'm forced to. I should know this. It takes me a little while to wrap my head around it, where I left things, before I can get going again.

By the way... Happy 4th of July to everyone ! Thanks to our men and women who keep our freedom... it's not free.

More thoughts...
As I'm sitting here doing a manual "spell check" I'm reading over my past posts on the page... thinking of the time "lost" between the Main Landing Gear twist and today... What's it been?? close to two years ? (I just checked it's only been a year... that's seemed like two) Maybe it was a combination of burn out and the discovery of something that I worked on for so long and hard wasn't in a useable form; a wall so to speak.

Like anything in life, we can do nothing and have no change, or move forward and make change. I haven't been beating myself up for the past year for letting it sit. I've embraced this experience, or should I say, lack of experience. It's what was needed at the time (apparently).

Rilke says it better than I...

What I Want

You see, I want a lot.
Maybe I want it all:
the darkness of each endless fall,
the shimmering light of each ascent.

In order to succeed with building the biplane, I need to embrace the entire experience; learning from it all.

More Main Landing Gear Making on the next page...