August 30, 2008
       Tubes...
           Stations...
              they're all starting to look alike....

I'm talking about what station is what station is which station. Station 77.o to Station 85.o isn't Station 77.o to Station 105.0.

I was happy to get back at it... after figuring out the bungee truss dilemma, I started knocking out the intercoastals. Do ya think I would look closely at what two cross tubes I'm measuring between? Do Ya ???? Three notched, I mean botched, tubes and a few hours later... I do just that. What do ya think I discovered ???

Tomorrow... I'm back at it... yeah, back at notching tubes I already thought were notched !

September 3, 2008
       Just about there...
           but I'll double...
              maybe even triple check to be sure.

Yeah... still working hard at it.

The tight quarters of the garage work shop has probably doubled the amount of time that I've recently put on notching the tubes.

If you recall, one side of the fuselage table is pretty close to the far wall, just giving me enough room to squeeeeeeze between it and the table. Add to that equation having to measure, cut and notch tubes to fit snug and it's a whole 'nother ball game. I'm not only fighting to get to the spot I want to get to, but I'm fighting with working in that confined space. Not to fear... I'm just about done with the notching of the basic fuselage now.

Three more tubes to go and I'll be ready to double check the fuselage to make sure that I haven't left any tubes out. And then... for shits and giggles I'll triple check it to make sure that I haven't over-looked what I first double checked.

Another day or two and I'll be spinning my 'bolt on that rotisserie !

September 9, 2008
       Finally...
           I'm finally able to weld 'er up...

After a few session of replacing "unacceptable" pieces of tubing I'm ready to start finish welding the fuselage. Spent ALL of tonight fighting with my workshop environment.

There was a good chance that it was going to rain tonight. That ment that I couldn't take the fuselage off of the table and set it on a few wood block, on the front lawn, while I dismantled the two tables I used to build the fuselage on. I figure that would have taken me maximum of one hour. Instead I had to dismantle the tables while the fuselage rested on top of them. First I had to take the MDF tops off, then unbolt the one table from the other while balancing the fuselage on the remaining one, then unscrewing and removing the MDF top off the second table, followed by unbolt the legs and folding them down with the fuselage still siting on top. (whew)!

That, my friends, took me a solid three hours to complete. I'm glad that I didn't take the fuselage outside 'cause it started to rain about a half hour before I was finished taking the table apart.

On second thought... it would have only taken me an hour to do with it sitting on the front lawn. I would have had it down and packed an hour and a half before it started to rain. Probably would have had a good portion of that rotisseri built too. ahhhh... well

Click here for a few shots of the rotisseri. Because of the tight quarters, you can't really see too much of it. It'd be nice to have a long shot of it... all I could get were bits and pieces of it.

September 25, 2008
       No more reasons...
           to delay in welding her up.

I was never looking for a reason not to weld her up, it's just that there seemed to be an endless list of things that still needed to be completed before I could begin the final welding.

For weeks now I've been ready to start "tomorrow night" on that first completed weld but there was the tubing that I thought I had that I still needed to purchase, what I thought would be a night to make the fuselage spit turning into several nights, cutting three tubes for two tubes, just to mention a few of the extentions to starting "tomorrow night."

It's amazing at how fast the build is going. Well, you need to see it from my perspective. I started to cut the pieces out for the ribs back on January 6, 1994. Yeah... 1994. And for whatever reason, it took me quite a few days/weeks/months to build the ribs. Now all of a sudden, which really isn't all of a sudden (sorta reminds me of the stories you hear about the over night success of some band or actor or writer, when in reality they've been hard at work towards this "over night succes" for years.,) everything is coming together at once.

Parts are begining to appear... Got the throttle quads finished not too long ago, the empennage is close to welding up, just found and bought that big ol' radial that I'd never thought I'd find, and now I'm to the point of putting the finish welds on the fuselage. Milestone after milestone have been passing me by. I need to sit back and relax for a few moments to revial in all this exciting stuff !

(enjoying the moment)

Ok.. it's back to work. No more reasons stopping me from begining to weld her up. Let's get 'er done !

September 27, 2008
       Nope...
           haven't started yet.

Wanted to see the presidental race debate last night. Laid back on the couch about 8:50PM and didn't see a lick of the debate that started at 9PM. Didn't open my eyes until a little after 12AM. ahhhhhh... well. A little cleaning up, both inside and out today. Thatched, re-seeded and laid down some starter fertilizer.

Had some work done on the truck and I'm waiting to pick it up before I start welding that fuselage.

       correction...
           just made the first two welds !

I feared this moment for hundreds of hours. After all that weld practice, I have yet to put torch to that big expensive jungle gym of tubing out in the garage work shop... until now.

As with other things that we do to push things off for awhile, we busy ourselves with other projects instead of diving head first into the inevitable. It wasn't that I didn't want to do it... I just didn't want to screw it up.

The past is past now, as is the inevitable. I won't claim it will be smooth sailing for the next hundred hours or so, but I'm pretty confident that my good welds will get better and better. (by the way... start at the tail when you weld. Why ? Well, if this is your first time welding, welding up a fuselage at that, you'll get better looking welds as you move forward. The forward welds will be the ones you and your passengers will be looking at each time you/they climb in to go flying.)

If you're hesitant about making that first weld, don't. Don't, as long as you've done your homework and practiced practiced practiced.

Each day... I'm getting closer to that first flight.

September 29, 2008
       It just wasn't happening...
           last night.

The welds I was doing last night were good and solid... pretty good looking too. But trying to get at them was a pain in the ass. Twisting this way... turning that way... leaning over... reaching under... my mind just wasn't connecting on how to approach the cluster and make welding effortless... until tonight.

I don't know if it's the minimal amount of experience from the previous five weld clusters or just happenstance, but I looked at the cluster tonight and was able to get in there and make a run with that golden puddle. (The heaven's opened up, a choir of Angels appeared.) I could see where I needed to run the weld lines. And it wasn't neccessarily an easy cluster. There were five tubes running into the cluster.

After completing the one cluster I went back and finished the other without a problem; a cluster that I was racking my brains about the night before.

I'm keeping my fingers crossed hoping that it wasn't a fluke. We'll see tomorrow.

October 9, 2008
       Let the games...
                                 ...begin.

No no no... the Olymipics were a few months ago. We're talking about building a biplane on this site, or at least I try to mention it each time I write something on here.

What I'm talking about are some of the mental gymnastics you'll be putting yourself through, oh yeah... you'll have your share of physical feats you'll need to accomplish while welding up the fuselage too.

A few of the welds on the Radial Skybolt fuselage are relatively easy to approach and weld. Not much to think about. But then you've got others that you need to sit back and think about for a few minutes; figuring out how you'll be welding it up, what welds to do when. You sorta want to map it out, see it finished before you've started on it. And even after you've done all this homework you'll find yourself staring at it wondering how the heck you're going to get that flame in there to make a good solid weld.

I'm not here to tell you how to make that weld, I'm here just letting you know that you're not the only one that is going through this same routine.

I started out taking about a 1/2 hour to do a weld, then an hour to do a weld, now it's two hours to do a weld. It's not that I'm getting crappier at welding, I'm just welding clusters with more and more tubes. Started out with three and now I'm welding up seven tubes at a time... and I'm enjoying it.

October 15, 2008
       The time to weld a cluster...
              ...is squared by the number of tubes coming into it.

Just when you think things are running pretty smoothly, ya hit a wall.

I thought I had a handle on these clusters. The last two or three seven tube clusters were surprising easy. Not fast, but I wasn't fighting it. Then in walks eight... I started off just like any other night; stepping back to map out my moves.

I usually weld the vertical joints first, starting on the outside and working my way into the "mass." After running all of those lines, I'll weld the joints that are running parallel with the longerons. Easier said then done on some of these larger clusters.

ok... moving along nicely And then I hit the mother-load of all cluster pockets (a cluster pocket is where a mass of tubes forms... ah.. well.. it looks like a pocket.) The amount of heat that I had to put into it, the sticking of the rod to "cold" tubing, the constant reheating to get it hot enough to run a puddle... the list goes on and on and on.

I don't know where the time went (well actually I do), but three hours had past from the time I lit up to the time I was ready to close the valves on the tanks. A lot more of that bending and arching and streching and straining and and and...

I think that's the one and only eight tube cluster on the Skybolt. It's all down hill here..
                    uh yeah... right.

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