Mantua, New Jersey
Original Site:
September 2004
E-mail: usav8or@yahoo.com
working on the...Radial Fuselage.
July 12, 2010 Shapes... of things to come
Actually... "of things to come"... is a little bit of a misnomer. The shape I'm alluding to is the BIG ol' round circle that is the diameter of the radial that I already picked up (so it's not "of things to come".) Picked it up going on two years, soon. Yeah, that old cliche' applies here... "how time flies."
Time to give a few curves to this boxy fuselage.
Just ordered the additional material for the Upper Wing Center Section. What to do while I wait ? Had no real plan. Yeah, shoulda woulda coulda... but didn't.
With the fuselage out in the garage, and the 44" diameter circle routed (the plywood engine blank), I thought it'd be kinda nice to have that centered on the firewall so that I could start playing around with the stringer stand-offs.
Twas nothing to align it... it was all about fighting with my environment... as usual. But, hey, I'm happy to at least have room that I need to rearrange... instead of no room at all. To get things centered, I taped a few pieces of twine to Station 0.o; cross-ways and vertical. Gave me a close approximation where I could clamp the two-by-four to the engine blank... fine tune it from there. A few holes drilled and drywall screws screwed later and I'm ready to start that next project; the stringer stand-offs and their stringers. Kinda like a milestone tonight. Yeah !
July 14, 2010 lost... in thoughts
One of those moments... in Limbo tonight... decisions... need to decide/figure out what to do with the firewall.
Went through the usual gyrations...
Went on line to see what others have done; the biplane builders photo gallery, the Steen Aero site. Looking to have it with a Travel Air Mystery Ship kinda-sorta look. Looks like the firewall on the Mystery Ship is the radius of the radial. The photos on the sites that I looked at are of no real help. No help for a Radial Skybolt builder that is.
Almost saw a few photos on the Steen site, of the Model 14, that were of some help... but alas... no. Kinda-sorta looked like what I was looking to do. They stopped working on the 14 in early 2005. Stopped short of helping me with those photos, or should I say lack of photos.
Did a search on Google for Travel Air Mystery Ship and found the photos I've seen before... nothing on the bare fuselage. Next step is to look at Tony B's books to see what he suggests.
As I was looking through some of the photos in the biplane builders photo gallery I saw bits and pieces of the biplane that I've constructed but haven't attached to the framework yet; torque tube brackets, walking beam, reverser, etc etc. Looks like I have time to weld these on while contemplating the firewall.
Time to seek out some advise from Whitey this weekend.
Oh yeah... spoke to my friend Steve, from across the street, tonight. Asked him about bending a few more metal ribs (for the landing gear) and he said it shouldn't be a problem to do it this Saturday. He's going to check with the guy who has that HUGE bending brake. Nice... get those bent and I'll weld them onto the landing gear, hang them on the fuselage and make them square.
Plenty to do when I spend time thinking...
Shot from the pilot's seat. Blind, and it's not even up on it's 36" high gear.
July 16, 2010 Plans.. A to Z... er D.
Okay... needed to figure out a plan "C."
Plan "A" was to work on the Upper Wing Center Section; still waiting on the wood and I don't want to cut the tubing to length until I know how long they need to be for "my" Upper Wing Center Section.
Plan "B"... attach the Main Landing Gear. With the issue of last night... I'll need to clear even more room to do that. I'd like to have a nice day to lay it out and drop the lines... then do whatever I need to do to it to get it corrected.
Thus... the need for Plan "C." Yeah Plan "C." Figured out what to do for Plan "C" today. Plan "C" was to call Aircraft Spruce and ask them when the hell I'll be getting the back ordered wood I need. Did that... and the woman on the other end of the line (very pleasent) told me that it wasn't back ordered, it was on the cut list and that it would take a few days before shipping.
My first thought... GREAT ! I'll be getting it in a few days. My second thought... crap! I had the tubing sent separately and spent $15.00 to send $35.00 worth of tubing, which I wasn't going to work with until I had the wood all into place. (didn't think of that until I had them make a partial shipment of the order... the tubing)
Plans A, B, and C... never needed a Plan "D" until now. Didn't take me long to think of something... How about attaching all those miscelaneous bits and pieces that I've made but haven't welded onto the fuselage ? Yes ! Spent close to two hours "figuring out where exactly the bits and pieces go, how I can mount them, and to answer the second question with another question... What tubing do I need to weld into the fuselage for supports?; mounting tubing, supports, etc." I'm not sure what Mr Pitts was thinking when he placed an Idler Arm here or there, but, unless I have 12" of tubing mounted with a weld to just one lower longeron, on one end of the 12" tube, I'll need to put in a few extra pieces of tubing that will support the other end of that 12" tube. (am I making any sense?) As soon as I get the tubing welded in I'll take a few pictures of it to clarify.
By the way... the exact location for those additional pieces of tubing are behind Station 105.o. The other Idler Arm, and yes there are two on the "R" Skybolt, and the Reverser are okay with where they are mounted and the tubing that they can mount to.
Need to place an order for one piece of 4130 tubing, .625" x .o58 x 5'. I'll order that on Monday and have it ride with the wood. I should be able to catch them before it ships. should...
July 23, 2010 10 Dollars.. or 2 Hours... your choice
Here's your learning for today... Aircraft Spruce doesn't pack tubing in with wood. That's the reason, or part of the reason, for my writing tonight.
Called Aircraft Spruce on Monday or Tuesday of this week. Wanted to add that five foot piece of 5/8" x .o58 tubing to the wood order that was still being cut. Spoke to the service rep, who was very polite, and she politely told me that they probably wouldn't pack the tubing in with the wood because in the past customers had complained about the oils rubbing off onto the wood. I said I understood and ended my call.
Okay... I want to get moving along with things... start to attach bits and pieces to the fuselage; parts that I've had
made for quite awhile now. I have the time so I might as well do it. Looked the other night for the tubing... I must have
a piece of it somewhere around here. Not that it's a common size for the Radial Skybolt, but I know I had purchased some
back sometime... I made part of the Idler Arms with that size tube. I only used 2" of a piece of 5/8" x .o58 and you need
to purchase at least 12" of the stuff. There's got to be a piece somewhere.
Didn't find it the last time I looked and I nearly gave up this time looking. Should have just spent the $10.00 to ship the $15.00 piece of tubing, but I didn't... knew it was here and I wasn't going to lay down and give in to the "easy" way out by just buying a piece. (you can Read... wasted time.)
Enough with the long winded story... finally found a piece of what I was looking for. Turned out to be a "test" piece for the Stick-to-Stick Pushrod tube on the Torque Tube I made.
Finally, with the tube in hand, I was able to cut all four pieces that I needed. (used the small tube cutter I have) Hope to tack these in the fusleage tomorrow, along with the additional cross-tube supports that I need.
End of long-winded story. We now resume our regularly scheduled programming.
July 24, 2010 It's a plans built.. not a Kit.
You hear builders "complaining" about the plans on some of the homebuilts out there; they don't tell you how to do "this" and they don't explain how to do "that."
It's a homebuilt, buddy. Get over it !
Most of the homebuilts that have been around for awhile, Skybolt, Tailwind, Spezio, Knight Twister... were built for the personal satisfaction of the guy designing and building it. A design of the basic structure was all they needed. Fitting it out with all the necessary parts and pieces... just along for the ride; they figured it out as they went.
If you're one of those guys complaining... get over it! Grab one of Tony B's book and read about what to do... talk to a few guys about it and see what they've done. You just might learn something.
Case in point:
The two Idler Arms I need to install show where they go, but not how they go... as in how they are attached. Twenty minutes of thinkin' and sketchin' and I have a plan. Hope to execute it tomorrow.
July 25, 2010 I had it.. so I put in an itsy-bitsy amount of time.
Point six hours. Yeah... whatever.
Doesn't feel that good putting in a WHOPPING .6 hours. Almost embarassing to me, regardless of what others think...
Cut the 1/2 x .o49 for the Idler Arm supports. About ready to start notching them and saw the Harley on the other side of the fuselage... about 1" from the fuselage. With the chance of more thunderstorms tonight, ain't gonna push it out into the driveway. (by the way, it's 10:30PM when making this decision)
Just thought of throwing a sheet over it... tomorrow night, yeah, tomorrow night.
On the side note... Received the wood from Aircraft Spruce yesterday. Point no hours, on that. DAMN !
If nothing else, this blog reminds me of the things I didn't do, and/or need to do.
August 1, 2010 Movement.. 1.6 hours forward and 1 1/16" backwards.
A little bit of time on both wood and metal... filed off the excess glue from the 2nd Nail Strip for the Upper Wing Center Section then cut and fitted the first set of Idler Arm supports. Other than moving slowly forward towards the completion of the project, not much else to say.
Always thinkin':
I keep thinking of how I want to approach the Main Landing Gear. I'm in denial... I still can't believe that it's moved that much; 1 1/6" back. I'm allowing it to fester... all the while getting more pissed about it. Need to put it behind me... push through it like I've done with everything else. I'm refusing to let it break my resolve.
I'm taking an extra long weekend this coming weekend. Hope to put a few days on that particular "learning experience."
August 3, 2010 Down time and other joys... consume it... don't let it consume you.
Work progressed on the fuselage tonight... not much, but at least most of it was forward progress.
The fuselage is still flipped with the gear on it. (still need to take care of that issue) Was able to tack the Idler Arm supports on at Station 105.o. Started fitting up the Idler Arm supports at Station 137.o and pretty much had to stop there. Wanted to tack them on but need to flip the fuselage in order to have the tubing flush with the correct side. 10PM kinda put a damper on moving the Harley outside... not to mention the pain in the ass it is to manuever it past the fuselage.
The usual fight with my workshop environment. Had a little down time too. Reminded me of this past weekend.
Had a 172 Scheduled for Sunday (actually thought it was for Saturday and showed up... that's another story.) Got a call on Saturday around 5PM... an issue with the front tire took the plane out of service until, I guess, Monday. Not a problem... one of those things ya just gotta do with an airplane... make repairs. Same with your tools, even something as simple as a tube cutter. Finally, after all those tubes I cut with my "new" tube cutter, a flat spot appears. Ever try to cut a piece of tubing with a cutter with one part of the circular cutter flat? Kinda locks up on you at that one spot.
I put up with it until there's just no more putting up with it, aka... the damn thing won't spin on the tube, rather the tube spins in your hand.
Okay... a little down time for the cutter. Thought, yeah thought... it'd be an easy change. Ahhh... not quite. Won't go into the details of it, but it probably took 15 minutes to get the disc lined up and the pin back into place. Yeah... like I said, you're going to find a little down time during the build. Gonna find you'll be fighting with your work space at times too (most of us will.) Hey, it's all a part of the experience. Consume it... don't let it consume you.
August 5, 2010 Back to playin'... playin' with puddles That's what I'm sayin'...
Ahhhh... felt great to be out there... in the 90 degree temps of the garage, welding again. (a little dry, get it?, humor). I just crack myself up some times.
The first two weld lines were solid... albiet, not very purty looking. The ten that followed were looking good again. Half the battle between a bad looking weld, and one that looks great, is positioning. Getting in there... support for both arms so that you can guide both the tip of the torch, and the tip of the welding rod, around in a fluid motion, making a nice golden puddle. yeah.... sweeeeeet
And if you didn't pick up on it yet, I'm welding again... welding the Idler Arm Support tubes. Had to stop short of doing both top and bottom 'cause of the same issue I had the other day; late night, this time a chance of thunder storms, and the pain in the ass of moving the bike in and out. A lot more less than a little under an hour. It's sumthin', just not a lot of sumthin'.
August 31, 2010 steppin' back... into the project... yeah, 'bout time
An ebb and flow... that's how it's been feeling lately. Not sure why.
Someone close to me said... Why is it that in order to live what is next, there always seems to be some answer one needs to arrive at ? why not just enter ? take a step. take a chance. feel a feeling. accept a truth. She wasn't talking about building a biplane, but I'm applying it here.
Took those words she said to me... walked out into the garage workshop and started writing... started making a punch list of things that I could get moving on... maybe even before I get to that gear. If it was an answer I wanted from the twisting of that main gear... to hell with it. Just need to push through it. Spending too much time on "why."
Stepping back into this project... feels good. Right now... just a few words; here and written on that punch list. The future still to be written.
October 3, 2010 steppin' back... into the project... yeah, 'bout time
Back to writing about the build. yeah... writing. Hmmmm... nothing has been going on with it recently with the build.... other than thinking about it 1/2 the days wondering what the hell happened with that landing gear. Knowing that thinking about it doesn't get things done... needing to take it to Whitey's and work through it. It's bigger than me... this issue with the gear.
Up this morning at 5:30. Just may take that ride. Talk to Whitey about it. yeah...
Easy enough to blame the lack of work on the landing gear "issue." Perception is reality.
Update:
Yeah... an update. Went to the airport... not a soul in site. I'll just have to call Whitey sometime this week.
Took the Main Landing Gear off the fusleage. Flipped it so that I could finish notching the second Idler Arm Support. Tacked it onto the fuselage.
October 9, 2010 road trip... to Whitey's
Made it over to Whitey's today. Nice day to ride the Harley.
Got to the airport and the gang was all there. All asked how the biplane was coming... said that's one reason why I'm here. Told them the issue I'm having with the landing gear and said that I wanted to bring it over next weekend.
Asked Whitey if he'd be around and he said that his social calander is open next weekend. Told him that I'd give a call before coming over.
Looks like I'll have a decision one way or another next weekend on the landing gear; fix the current ones or start over again.
December 27, 2010 avoiding... a road trip to Whitey's aka... getting the fire going
Yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah... it's been awhile, and no, I haven't fallen off the face of the earth. And no, I haven't given up on the biplane build. And no no no no no...
Just thinking of this DAMN ! landing gear. And my failure to make it "right" the first time. Been trying to think of what I've learned from making it wrong the first time.
Lately, for the past two months and prior, I've been thinking of how to proceed.
If I bring it over to Whitey's there isn't much I'll be able to do other than for him to tell me if I can work with the gear I already have made or if I need to start over. In either case, I'll need to clear out enough room in the front part of the garage workshop in order to 1. fix the existing or 2. re-make the entire main gear.
I don't really feel like bringing it over to Whitey's to only spend time to set it up and make sure that I drop all my marks to make sure that we're seeing where the gear "is" and where it "should be." If I do all that here, I could just have Whitey come on over here.
I've spent a lot of time thinking of this solution. (haha) Now all I need to do is put things into motion.
Getting started is like building a fire. It takes some time to get it going, but once you have the flames leaping from the logs... it's an easy thing to keep the fire stoked.
December 31, 2010 A long time... coming
I've finally figured out how I'll approach all of this "twisted" gear schtuff...
Was thinking that I would try to salvage the streamline tubing (it would cost about $255.00 for two pieces). Figured I'd trim it off at the place of the weld. I made the gear MUCH wider than what the plans called for so I figure I could pull it in an inch or two and be fine with using it on the new gear.
I was sitting on that thought for about 10 minutes and had this thought. (and here's my learning) Why not just cut one of the weld joints of the streamline tubing, or other tube... whatever needs to be cut, and make the adjustment to where the axles need to be. It may even come down to replacing a tube.
Not that I'm looking for a shortcut, God knows I get all the learning I can out of building this biplane, I'm only correcting the twist in the gear. yeah yeah... that's the ticket. At least I think that its the answer... if not, I have a plan B.
Happy New Years ! all !
January 2, 2011 Its a start...
Over to Whitey's to "hang out" with the guys. Wanted to talk to Whitey about what I wanted to do. He said to go with splitting the tube and sliding another tube inside of it to extend the length. Also said to toe it out about 1/4". Sounds good to me. I'll check with a few others on toeing in.
Cleaned up the garage workshop so that I can fit the gear on the biplane and work on it without having to have the door open.
Tonight I decided to continue welding up the Idler Arm brackets. Welded up the one side and then flipped the fuselage (which meant I had to move the Harley out of the garage so that I would have enough room to flip it). With the fuselage flipped I'll finish up some misc. welds on the Idler Arm brackets and then I'm ready to work on the main landing gear.
I think its going to be a good year for work on the biplane... yes, a good year indeed.
January 4, 2011 Finding... the truth.
More welding... just easing back into it. Again... good, but not pretty, welds. Just not able to get those stacked dimes... mostly because I'm not finding any support for steadying my hands when I'm twisted half upside-down.
Haven't thought hard about the Main Landing gear lately. I've done enough thinking of it over the past year. Like all my decisions... its all gray until the gavel comes down BANG!!!... and my truth is told!
The teacher who is indeed wise does not bid you to enter the house of his wisdom but rather leads you to the threshold of your mind.
- Khalil Gibran
June 16, 2011 The first steps... to learning.
For years... since I can think back and remember, I've been searching for that thing that could give me that feeling I've had while immersing myself in flight. (and by flight I don't have to be flying... I could be reading, talking, building that biplane... anything that has to do with airplanes)
I've jumped out of airplanes, kayaked in white water, SCUBA in the chilly waters of the Atlantic... and still couldn't find it. Over the past few months I found that "thing." And really... It wasn't something that I could go off and find, although that part of the journey was necessary in "finding it."
This discovery was nearer than near. Funny... now that I look at the title of my blog, it was stairing me in the face all THAT time, "Zen and the Art of Building a Radial Engine Biplane".
It was a mindfullness that I was seeking... that feeling of "being there in the moment" that I felt when I fly. Looking back in my readings by Richard Bach... he touches on it in many of his books; Illusions, Jonathon Livingston Seagull, One, A Bridge Across Forever... I'm now reading it in books by Jack Kornfield; A Path With Heat, A Wise Heart, After the Ecstacy the Laundry... The writings of Rainer Maria Rilke...
But hey... I'm not here to force thoughts into anyone's mind...
but WAIT ! it's my blog... guess I can do what I want, eh ? Lets not call it force, then... we'll call it sharing.
Anyways... here's one by Rilke
Widening Circles
I live my life in widening circles
that reach out across the world.
I may not complete this last one
but I give myself to it.
I circle around God, around the primordial tower.
I've been circling for thousands of years
and I still don't know; am I a falcon,
a storm, or a great song?
It's back out to the work shops for some cleaning up so I can get back into the mindfulness of building my biplane. It's been a nice break...
June 18, 2011 Does thinking about it count ??? I didn't think so...
Did a little bit more than think about getting back into the Radial Biplane project (that just sounds so cool.. how about Clipped Wing 300 hp Radial Engine Biplane project... cooler yet...) I digress.
As I had mentioned, a clean up was in order. Spent a little over three hours working around the garage work shop to get it close to being orderly. Still have my tools I want to put into "likes" but the work shop is ready for action. Now if I sold the Harley... I'd have plenty of room without having to wheel it in and out each time I want to work on it.
Tonight it's some studying to see where I left off and trying to figure out what I wanted to do with the Main Landing Gear. Just a matter of reading over some of these posts... that's the nice thing about keeping records like this... the opportunity to look back and find out what it was that you were doing before you decided to take a hiatus.
Time to hit the "books."
July 2, 2011 Does thinking about it count ??? just checking, again...
Decision was made to start back on the biplane... yeah I know. A few days after the decision I'm off to a sales meeting up in Minnesota (corporate headquarters for Skyline Exhibits). Back home last Monday and... yeah, still getting into it, on to it, around to it... something like that.
Was out in the garage work shop looking at it today. I can remember doing this repeatedly during this build... "stalling" the start. It's always worked itself out once I get going at it. Just one of those things... a necessary before starting. (really???)
I miss the build and I miss the writing and I miss the learning and I miss that feeling I have when working on it. Actually... I get that feeling just thiking about starting back up on it. (haha) That's not good... I could be at this stage forever.
all kidding aside... I need to rig a jig for it. Shouldn't be much work.
July 3, 2010 A year later...
more than a few thinkings, thoughts, options
For the life of me I can't think of the reason why I started writing about the Main Landing Gear on the fuselage page. Yeah, whatever... to be continued on the Landing Gear page.
March 15, 2012 The worst thing I could've done...
mount the gear ???
Last night I started to tack and weld in one of the reversers tonight. Could only tack and then weld 1/2 of the reverser... need to let the tube coold down so that I can ream the one side (that I welded) so that I can slide the tube inside of it (keeping it aligned).
Spent the rest of the night starting to mold the shape of the fuselage. Using a few pieces of corrugated board, I picked up from work, I started to cut the shape of the top of the fuselage. Not sure if it's going to stay like that, but at least it's a start.
Back out to the garage work area tonight. Measured for exact placement and then tacked on the 2nd reverser and idler arm. (gotta sell the Harley... it's in the way of me moving freely around the fuselage; slowing down my progress) Needed to take a few preliminary steps before tacking the pieces in AND the Harley being in the way... as you can see by the amount of time taken to tack in these two piece.
Spent the rest of the night looking at a drawing of the TravelAir Mystery Ship and a few photos of it. I'm deciding how I'm going to take it's lines and transfer them on the my Radial Skybolt. With some modifications it's going to look pretty nice; in other words... kick-ass !!
I'm not so sure it was a good idea...
Since I've mounted the fuselage on the gear I seem to be spending a lot more time staring at it, visualizing how it will look if I do this... or if I do that to the shape. Kinda fun to be at this stage... I just don't want it to slow me down too much.
March 16, 2012 That being said...
I did a double take...
I'm holding off on doing the complete weld on the fittings for the reversers and idler arm until I take off the main gear so that I can flip the fuselage around for better welding.
That being said... I took a look around the fuselage to see what I had already made that I could attach. There isn't a lot that needs to be attached to the fuselage (I'm one of those guys that like minimal over all decked out to the nines... it'll look nice with a minimalest look and feel... helps to keep the weight down too) An easy install would be the two sets of rudder pedals I created oh so many years ago. Needed to cut the 3/4" x .o35 axles for each of them. Did that in realatively short order... now to move on to the next thing. (note: I took the picture this morning 3/17 for the blog... thus the day late date on the photo)
That being said... I took a look at the plans to see what hasn't been made that needs to be attached to the inside of the fuselage; saw fairleads and push rods... looks like a good place to start. Might have been a good place to start... but it wasn't an easy start.
Looked and looked for the "Piper" fairleads that were mentioned on the drawings. Nuthin'. Saw several options in Aircraft Spruce and figured they'd be okay, but wasn't sure. Threw the question out to... you got it... the biplane forum. Got a response from Beej in short order. He used the ones that were listed with ACS. Several others mentioned the same thing. Okay... easy enough. Now how about those Fafnir RE4H6 bearings for the push rods... yeah, no luck finding them either. For some reason I thought to check with Steen Aero for them. Yep, there they were for $61.79 each. I need a total of, um, 12. Yeah, that's a total of $741.48. But wait... I've got plenty more bearnings to purchase before this puppy flies. Yup... that's a lot more money for just bearings.
And, oh by the way... all bearings aren't created equal. Best to stay with the bearings called out on the plans least the earth rises up to smite you.
Called Aircraft Spruce on Monday or Tuesday of this week. Wanted to add that five foot piece of 5/8" x .o58 tubing to the wood order that was still being cut. Spoke to the service rep, who was very polite, and she politely told me that they probably wouldn't pack the tubing in with the wood because in the past customers had complained about the oils rubbing off onto the wood. I said I understood and ended my call.
Tonight I decided to continue welding up the Idler Arm brackets. Welded up the one side and then flipped the fuselage (which meant I had to move the Harley out of the garage so that I would have enough room to flip it). With the fuselage flipped I'll finish up some misc. welds on the Idler Arm brackets and then I'm ready to work on the main landing gear.
More welding... just easing back into it. Again... good, but not pretty, welds. Just not able to get those stacked dimes... mostly because I'm not finding any support for steadying my hands when I'm twisted half upside-down.
It was a mindfullness that I was seeking... that feeling of "being there in the moment" that I felt when I fly. Looking back in my readings by Richard Bach... he touches on it in many of his books; Illusions, Jonathon Livingston Seagull, One, A Bridge Across Forever... I'm now reading it in books by Jack Kornfield; A Path With Heat, A Wise Heart, After the Ecstacy the Laundry... The writings of Rainer Maria Rilke...
Decision was made to start back on the biplane... yeah I know. A few days after the decision I'm off to a sales meeting up in Minnesota (corporate headquarters for Skyline Exhibits). Back home last Monday and... yeah, still getting into it, on to it, around to it... something like that.
Spent the rest of the night looking at a drawing of the TravelAir Mystery Ship and a few photos of it. I'm deciding how I'm going to take it's lines and transfer them on the my Radial Skybolt. With some modifications it's going to look pretty nice; in other words... kick-ass !!
That being said... I took a look around the fuselage to see what I had already made that I could attach. There isn't a lot that needs to be attached to the fuselage (I'm one of those guys that like minimal over all decked out to the nines... it'll look nice with a minimalest look and feel... helps to keep the weight down too) An easy install would be the two sets of rudder pedals I created oh so many years ago. Needed to cut the 3/4" x .o35 axles for each of them. Did that in realatively short order... now to move on to the next thing. (note: I took the picture this morning 3/17 for the blog... thus the day late date on the photo)