There has been an opportunity to work on our airplane; lunch break. It is only 45 minutes minus travel time from the office to the airport but, believe it or not, I can get some work done.
As you can see, the tail feathers are all done.
On to the wings!
I now have firsthand knowledge of the airplane builder’s saying that “once you have completed 90% of the airplane, you only have 90% left to go” At least that is how it seems lately. Not that I am complaining you understand, because the progress has actually been very good.
Tonight I installed the rudder, hooked up the control cables, and adjusted and safety wired the turnbuckles.
The other day I finally got to leave the GPS on long enough for it to “find itself”. It aquired 10 satelites and gave me a 3D fix, position and altitude. Since the field elevation is a known value, it was easy enough to confirm the GPS altitude was right on. Just moving the plane forward 20 feet gave me a speed and direction of travel. Everything checks out OK
And the big news! Shain, the painter called last night and said that the wings were finished! This morning I met him at the paint booth and we installed the necessary brackets, loaded the wings into the trailer and transported them to the airport. Then he helped me install the wings.
This evening Jean and I went to the airport and started installing the tailfeathers. Pretty exciting , this airplane building.
We are getting an airplane built by bits and pieces. Since the last post a week ago, there have been numerous “little” things done. Replacement of a carburator bowl (leaking from the factory), black stripe on the side to seperate the white and yellow, wiring for the landing light, wiring on the EGT sensors.
Getting ready for the wings!
Challenger II 