The pieces are all labeled and attached to cardboard sheets using shrink
wrap.
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Even the nuts and the bolts are all labeled and arranged on the cardboards!
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The parts are well laid out. It is very easy to find what I need while
I'm working.
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Even the sails are bundled with the wings tied separately.
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I'm all set up and ready to begin!
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Day 1, hour 1.5
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Day 2, hour 4.5 - rudder finished
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Day 2, hour 6 - Oops! I built it like a Sprint II.
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Day 3, hour 6.5 - disassembled LE of elevator
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Day 3, hour 7 - I fixed it!
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Day 4, hour 8 - horizontal stabilzer finished.
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Day 5, hour 12
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Day 6, hour 12.5 - tail section finished.
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Since the garage is full, construction has moved inside.
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Day 7, hour 14 - root tube and wheels are finished
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Day 8, hour 18 - steerable nosewheel done.
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Day 9, hour 23 - all nuts finger tight just in case
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Day 10, hour 25 - trike is finished except for gas tank
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Day 11 - a friend helped me to carry the trike into the garage. I had
to remove a couple of tubes in order to get it to fit vertically through
the doorway. She took this picture of me while I replaced and tightened
the bolts.
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Day 11 - everything is back together again!
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Day 12, hour 27 - all wing struts finished.
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Day 13, hour 27.5 - leading & trailing edges attached to root tube.
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Day 13, hour 28 - fabric is on the wings.
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Day 13, hour 29 - fabric rivited, three ribs inserted on each wing,
stenciled holes for compression struts.
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Day 14, hour 34.5- all ribs fully inserted, heat cut holes in wings,
all struts attached finger tight.
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Day 14, hour 35 - upper wires attached to wings.
(four places each wing)
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Day 15, hour 38 - wings finished except for the angled compression
strut on each wing tip and securing the ribs, all wires are attached.
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Day 16, hour 40 - wires attached to front and back of trike, rudder
cables attached, seat mount attached, finished throttle assembly.
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Day 17, hour 41 - Dad helped me to attach the engine - I couldn't lift
it alone.
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Day 17, hour 41.5 - I couldn't get the fittings into the gas tank.
Dad had to do it. He is strong!
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Day 17, hour 45 - the engine is in place.
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Day 17, hour 45 - a view from the other side.
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Day 17, hour 45.5 - with all the fittings in place, I can now mount
the gas tank.
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Day 17, hour 45.5 - the engine is now completely installed, gas tank
and all!
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Day 18, hour 47.5 - seat & kill switch installed
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Day 19, hour 49 - control stick assembly installed
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Day 19, hour 50.5 - controls now installed correctly
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Day 19, hour 50.5 - a view from the back
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Day 20, hour 53 - Dad is helping with the ailerons.
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Day 20, hour 54.5 - He rivets while I take the picture.
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Day 21, hour 57 - We're playing "tug-o-war". It is VERY difficult to
get the fabric on the ailerons!
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Day 21, hour 58.5 - Fabric is finally on the ailerons! Now installing
the end caps and the stops.
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Day 21, hour 59 - Replacing the remote choke. Dad has to install the
manual choke. No directions were included! Luckily, he's a mechanic!
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Day 21, hour 59.5 - I'm ready to fly! Unfortunately, the plane is not
ready yet. The only thing left is to secure the ribs with fasteners. It
won't be long now!!
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Day 22, hour 60 - tip struts installed
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Day 22, hour 61 - ribs drilled and fasteners attached
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Day 22 - parts transported to the airport for final assembly using
a neighbor's car carrier trailer
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Day 22 - tail section completely assembled
ailerons are ready for the wings
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Day 22 - the trike sits next to my old plane.
(I'm glad that I was finally able to sell that old T-Bird!)
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Day 22 - the wings traveled to the airport one at a time.
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Day 23, hour 65 - wings and tail section attached
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Day 24, hour 69 - assembly and adjustments complete
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Four things left to do: cut/install the center fabric, break-in the
engine, have the dealer check and test fly the plane, get Ultralight Pilot
Certified.
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She has her very own hangar!
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I started to break-in the engine but could not finish because the RPM
continued to jump from 4800 to off the scale with nothing in-between.
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Since the engine was not ready to be broken-in, I taxied slowly once
down the runway and back. I made sure to keep the airspeed below 15 MPH!
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I made it back safely. What a blast!!
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Dad gets the fun job of mounting the strobe!
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Now it's complete, like the star on a Christmas tree!
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Tom tests the new Warp Drive prop. 6280 RPM!!
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Tom is preparing for her first flight.
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60 ft. take-off roll!!!
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And she's off!!
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Tom flies directly overhead.
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Coming in for a landing. Look Mom, NO HANDS!!
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A perfect landing!!
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Tom made it back safely.
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I was signed-off to solo by John Smith, BFI
on June 26, 2002 and did my first solo on
June 28, 2002.
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This is the T-shirt I wore when I did my solo.
They cut the back out of it and then signed the front.
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The rest is history!!
Thank you to everyone who helped to make
my dream a reality!!
Does anyone know where I can get another shirt like this one? Mine
has a big hole in the back of it!!
please E-mail me
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