May 5, 2007

Happy Cinco de Mayo! I got my stitches out last Tuesday and the wound looked pretty fragile still so I've been laying off it. Matt and Jon came over to work on their ribs a little today. It has been a while but they seem to have a good enough time when they are over here. They like helping but are a little scared of making something that lives will depend on one day. A humbling feeling indeed. Helps keep me just anal enough I think.

I worked a little on the structure for the station 10 rib and the second station 5 rib. I can't clean up the last station 5 rib I glued yet, because it takes a good amount of force with my dominant hand to get the staples out. It can wait.

On another note, this is the two-year mark since I started building. So, where am I now? I have built all of the fuselage frames, all of the tail spars and ribs and almost half of the wing ribs. Not incredibly speedy but not bad considering, during essentially the same time period, I am just completing my master's degree in astronautical engineering on top of working full time. Even if I did have all the parts done, I wouldn't have anywhere to assemble them, so again, no rush.

Where am I going? At this rate I will probably finish off the wing ribs and spars (except the main wing spar, I'll have to figure out the space problem to tackle that one later) before the end of the year. I'm getting a little itchy to start assembling something so I'll probably focus on the tail next, which I think will fit in my garage. I may try to build some of the tail hinges first to save some cash. Still, more time than money. Some local folks who are building tin cans may be able to help me with some skills there. Beyond that, I think specific planning can be futile, so I won't even try. Onwards!

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