2008 Recap

12/31/2008

Here are the goals that I pasted from a post I made one year ago:

Goals for 2008

-go to Oshkosh

nope. (went to the biplane expo instead)

-have the fuselage on gear

nope. (still toying whether to use Groves or not)

-acquire engine mount and paint

yup.

-all 4130 primed

nope.

-all controls working

nope.

-plus whatever else I can afford/ fit in

-weld good enough to trust myself beyond tacking.

nope (but close).

I did deviate a lot however. What I did achieve was:

-made new instrument panels and modified all instruments to white faces (huge undertaking it turned out).

-finished all aileron linkages plus slave struts to completion including rigging, all primed and mothballed for final assembly

-built I-struts and I-strut lower attach bolts modified with a tie-down ring, all primed and mothballed

-all wings rigged, drilled and set in stone, then disassembled the plane

-modified an existing fuel tank (added a fuel sender), primed and top coated, made new tank retaining straps, final dry fit then mothballed

-modified rudder pedals (added stops fore and aft), painted to top coat, now finished

-fitted upper wing center glass fairing (not an easy task..was a pain)

-finished center bow and center upper wing leading edge ply

-plus whatever other tidbits I forgot to mention

Goals for 2009

It seems goals are meant to be broken, but here goes in no particular order:

-finish torque tube and elevator linkage up to paint

-finish all welding 'extras' on fuselage then paint it

-complete landing gear

-add floors or foot boards

-add seats and backs

-choose and fit an elevator trim mechanism

-fit a fuel valve with extender arm to rear pit (for top tank)

-fit tail wheel

Above all, I really want this thing on its gear and growling by the end of 2009, well, maybe not growling, since it probably wont have an engine yet, but you know what I mean.....