Time to retire this blog.  
 
The plane is completed and so is phase 1 flight testing. I am now flying under phase 2 of my airworthiness operating limitations. (For those that don't know the lingo, all planes have operating limitations of some sort spelled out somewhere. In the case of experimental aircraft the operating limitations - which for phase two operations are essentially the same as normal aircraft - are printed out and become part of the airworthiness documentation)  
 
The Hobbs meter has accumulated over 100 hours and I have flown the plane twice to Oshkosh - once with Kathy and once solo to Airventure 2011. I also flew to Crossville TN in early October 2011. That trip is 400 miles each way. A trip of that length requires a fuel stop in my Sonex unless I have a huge tailwind.  
 
I have taken Kathy up in the plane for several fun trips, including the traditional $100 hamburger. In our case it was an $86 KFC Buffet Dinner in Bloomington, Indiana. We had a grand time.  
 
I have had some of the teething problems others have reported with Aerovee CHT temps, but many small changes have led to many small improvements. The engine and I have settled into a comfortable relationship and it has performed very nicely.  
 
The plane has not been a maintenance headache, but it always seems that oil changes etc, keep coming up too quickly. It turns out, that usually means I have just been having too much fun and putting on hours at a fast clip.  
 
I have a lot of little things I may do over the winter, but none that are pressing. I did my first condition inspection in early September and found the aircraft in excellent condition so mostly I intend on just taking care of it in the next 100 or so hours the same way I have in the first.  
 
I had intended to write up some posts about flight testing and individual flights but I think that isn't going to happen. I have given a couple of presentations about building the airframe, the engine and flight testing along with Dan Walton to our local EAA chapter. I also wrote an article about flying into Airventure for the first time in my Sonex for our chapter Newsletter. You can read it by following the link on my home page to Chapter 153's website. It is in the October 2011 newsletter.  
 
At Airventure and Crossville as well as via email and phone calls, I have met and talked with a lot of builders and the just curious who have visited my site and this blog. To all of you who have expressed your thanks and appreciation for creating my site, I'm just glad you enjoyed it and hope you found it helpful or entertaining. It was almost as much fun creating the site as building the plane.  
 
The truth is however, I just don't enjoy writing and now that the project is finished, what ever inspired me to write, write, write, is now gone, gone, gone!  
 
As ever, feel free to contact me with any questions. I love to talk about my airplane.  
 

Posted by: Bob (You can e-mail me at bobmeyers@meyersfamily.org)

The weather broke a little and I was able to finally get back in the air this week. I got almost four hours in. 
 
First two flights were dedicated to getting me back in shape - since I hadn't flown since the third of December - and making sure the engine was all back up to snuff after the break in maintenance. 
 
The first was all pattern work and I knocked the rust off quickly. The engine and airplane felt great so the next flight I just cranked it at WOT and did east west speed runs for 30 minutes. 
 
Next up was adding weight. So I added two sandbags for a simulated wife and went out and checked out how she handled. The weight made quite a difference on take off and I could feel in throughout the flight but all was just fine. 
 
I then put in a third sandbag - but didn't refill the 30 pounds of fuel I burned off in the first sandbag flight - which left me 30 pounds short of the 1150 max gross I have in mind. 
 
I did pattern work at the new weight and still had good enough performance as well as fine handling. I must have been nervous though as I kept getting over the numbers with too much speed and had to do several go arounds mixed in with the landings. 
 
All of the days had some good flying drawbacks, haze, breezy etc. but I did get some good crosswind practice for my initial flight. 
 
Less than ten hours to go until I complete phase I testing. Looking for more good weather this week. 
 

Posted by: Bob (You can e-mail me at bobmeyers@meyersfamily.org)

That's correct. This is the first entry for March and since tomorrow is April first, this will be the last March entry! 
 
It's just been too cold or rainy. I have been to the airport and all items have been addressed on the airplane. She is just sitting there waiting for upper 40's at least. 
 
Soon... 

Posted by: Bob (You can e-mail me at bobmeyers@meyersfamily.org)

Well it's been forever since I posted anything. Cold and snowy around Chicago.  
 
With an unheated hanger and the plane due for a head torque and valve adjusment that means - my usual winter hiatus. The temps hit 60 this week so it was back to the hanger. 
 
Yesterday I completed the torque and valve job. I had gotten to the hanger on a warmish late December day and changed the oil and some other stuff. After the head torque, I did an engine run and all was well with the engine. However, I had an EGT probe that seemed like it was going flakey on the last couple of flights and it was dead during the engine run. 
 
My keep alive battery in the EFIS died over the winter so I also have to replace that. It will still be awhile before I get back in the air as the temps are already starting to recede. 
 
I'm looking forward to a fun spring. 

Posted by: Bob (You can e-mail me at bobmeyers@meyersfamily.org)

...that I post some new pictures. 
 
It's only been four months since the last log file. The problem is that not a lot of pictures accumulate quickly when I am not building something. 
 
There probably won't be any pictures again until late spring! 

Posted by: Bob (You can e-mail me at bobmeyers@meyersfamily.org)

... but as it turns out, not that cold or windy Friday. So I put on my long johns and got about another hour and a half and eight landings in the log book. It was mostly a test of flying in 32° temps. 
 
Not too bad. It started right up, with no preheat. I could see my breath in the cockpit and there was little sun, but I was warm enough. With some better clothing I could go into the mid twenties I think. I'm not really interested much below that, but that should give me some occasional days over the winter. 
 
The mixture could use about another 1/8 turn richer from were I'm at but not anymore. Timing seems fine also. The oil temps however never got over 145°. 
 
Dan Walton took off his oil cooler deflector and I think I may make mine removable. My oil cooler inlet is already two square inches smaller than the plans call for and oil temps are fine with warmer OATs. My deflector is riveted on but I could easily convert it to a bolt on. I may do that when I torque the heads - which it is now time for. 
 
I also bought some tube sand so I am ready to start adding weight to the airplane. It will still be hit and miss on when I go up again but it was a nice surprise that a good day popped up. It's was also reassuring to have had a good experience at that temp. 

Posted by: Bob (You can e-mail me at bobmeyers@meyersfamily.org)

Oh well, after the great run of good flying weather, it may have finally ended. The day after my last post was my last day of flying since then. That was a great day with well over two hours in the air and quite a few landings. 
 
I did have a great chance yesterday morning, but I arrived at the airport without my wallet! Without my keycard, I couldn't even get onto the field. What a goof. I had already gotten a late start and I had some afternoon commitments that forced me to abandon going back out for a second try. 
 
I do suspect that some nice days will pop up and I will be able to get some time in, but with an unheated hanger, it is going to be tough to complete the phase 1 testing before spring. 
 
As per the rest of the build, I seem to be very much on the slow side. Oh well, the flights have gone safely and I'm very pleased with the results. Consider this a heads up not to expect much progress and even fewer posts for the next few months. 
 
I will be prepared to take advantage of good weather when it comes but I have already decided to plan for phase 2 flight not starting before April of next year. 
 
Take care, see you in the spring. 

Posted by: Bob (You can e-mail me at bobmeyers@meyersfamily.org)

The first two weeks of November have been great for flying. Since the 6th, I've had seven flights for a little over eight hours of flying. 
 
During this time I had my first day where I got two flights in. I also have started to do pattern work. In those seven flight I have 17 landings. 
 
The two problems I had faced, ignition timing and fuel mixture have largely been resolved. The new ignition setting has worked out wonderfully. I am no longer advanced on the secondary. Further testing has shown that I might be ever so slightly retarded on the secondary but it is so close that I can't determine that for sure.  
 
Because of the difficulties I had in making the adjustment to the rotating magnet housing, I made some additional markings on the engine to use for alignment. These new markings helped me establish where I was and how far I moved the magnet housing. They will help a lot if I try anymore minor adjustments. 
 
The mixture is clearly very close and is probably as close as can be practically set. As the weather changes so does the air density. Sonex recommends that each spring and fall you adjust the mixture a small amount to keep up with the changes. 
 
On my first flight with the new setting it had gotten much colder and I decided the mixture was close but could be adjusted one small increment richer. All of the next flights however, I didn't adjust the needle because the days had gotten warmer again. On those flights the mixture was perfect. 
 
So for now I'm going to leave the mixture right where it is until we get a little closer to December. 
 
The test flight program itself is now fully in swing. After some very tentative slow flight, right up to stalls, I finally was able to go ahead and fully stall the airplane. It reacted very gently. Some pre stall buffet and then a clear, straight ahead break. 
 
I also have started to do runs to obtain data for calibrating the airspeed indicator, establishing Vx, Vy and best glide speeds. I have also determined that the shimmy I get just after takeoff is from the nose gear wheel coming to a stop. 
 
The shimmy is interesting but hard to describe the cause. The wheel hub has three large sections that can be thought of has wide spokes. They are solid and alternate with three passages of the same size that air can flow through. The nose pant only covers from the hub upwards so the bottom of the wheel is visible. 
 
Because the Sonex has nose wheel steering, when I put in left rudder in full power climb (left because the prop goes the wrong way on a VW engine) the wheel is now turned into the slipstream a bit and as it stops spinning the air passing through the wheel excites a vibration of the gear leg. Once it comes to a stop the vibration stops. It is very short but noticeable. By varying the pitch angle and/or letting off the rudder a bit for just a couple of seconds as soon as I notice it, I can make it stop immediately. It never returns while in flight no mater how I maneuver or how uncoordinated the maneuver is. The wheel must have to be spinning down too just the right frequency for it to happen, then when it stops spinning it is gone. 
 
That's all for now, I gotta go fly. 

Posted by: Bob (You can e-mail me at bobmeyers@meyersfamily.org)

I finished up my break in maintenance yesterday and the plane was all ready to go for a flight today. It didn't happen, and the weather doesn't look good for the tomorrow. 
 
I finished up the floor project last week. Over this past weekend we had a lot of family time as my oldest son prepared to drive to Oklahoma City to start training to be an air traffic controller. He was on the waiting list a long time and had begun to think he wasn't going to get called. 
 
If all goes well he will become an enroute controller in Palm Dale. 
 
All went very well with the head torquing and valve adjustment. I also adjusted timing and enriched the mixture. A ground test run went very well also. I was prepared to fly yesterday, but I was running out of daylight by the time I finished all the work. So I just rolled the plane back into the hanger. 
 
I probably could have flown some today but I would have had to work around some weather so I just scrubbed for now. I'm all ready to go at the next opportunity and am looking forward to seeing how my newly adjusted timing will work out. 

Posted by: Bob (You can e-mail me at bobmeyers@meyersfamily.org)

I am running an altered break in schedule because of my original oil leak. As previously mentioned, I did a 10 hour break at five hours. I decided to go ahead and do my 10 hour break at 15, with an extra oil change in the middle. 
 
Last Friday I had the best flight yet and got over the 15 hour mark on the Hobbs. Dan Walton and I have been comparing notes and following his test showing his secondary as still advanced, I tried flying without the secondary on mine. The temperature difference was dramatic, so as I suspected, I am still advanced on my secondary. 
 
Being able to fly, as long as I wanted at any RPM and stay well within the green, I was finally able to test my mixture per the factory instructions. I set the RPM at around 3000 and leaned the mixture. I then flew straight and level for a couple of minutes. My exhaust gas temps reached a little over 1340° and stayed there. I then pushed the mixture full lean and watched as the EGT's dropped about 40°. 
 
According to Sonex, I am still a little lean, as the temps should drop about 90°, but clearly, I'm getting close. A little richer and more timing adjustments ahead but I feel like I can see the end of getting the engine set correctly. 
 
I missed out on a lot of good flying weather as I have been installing hard wood floors in the upstairs hall and bedrooms for the last week. I should finish that in a day or so and then get back to the hanger and torque the heads, etc. 
 
Hopefully, the good weather will return and I can get some more time on the plane. 

Posted by: Bob (You can e-mail me at bobmeyers@meyersfamily.org)

I flew one hour morning flights Sunday, Monday and Tuesday this week. 
 
It had warmed up quite a bit and on Sunday I flew into an inversion. It was 75° on the ground and 80° at 3000 feet. It was 80° on the ground by the time I got back. 
 
With the temperature rise it was hard to tell whether I had made any progress on baffle arrangements. I did try some things others had done but did not see any clear cut results. 
 
However, I have gotten much better at managing the temps so I can get in some nice flights. Yesterday I even deployed the flaps for the first time. I also have gotten very comfortable taking off or landing on any of the runways so I have lightened up on my minimums for wind speed and direction. 
 
I have 14 hours on the HOBBS and will be doing some more break in maintenance soon. 
 

Posted by: Bob (You can e-mail me at bobmeyers@meyersfamily.org)

The hours are building up. I flew flight five on the first, six on the fifth and seven today, the sixth of October. Maybe flight eight tomorrow on the seventh! 
 
I have made little progress on reducing the temps however. I still need to step climb. I did work my way up to 4500 feet yesterday. They say it takes time and everything else looks fine. My landings are improving greatly. Today I had a modest crosswind and it handled very nicely. 
 
On all three of the last flights I left the Gary class Delta airspace and started wandering around in my test area. All is well and I am starting to explore more of the airplanes flight envelope. 
 
The oil leak is stopped but there is a lot of oil coming out of the oil breather tube onto the belly. This was not unexpected, but I am surprised at how much comes out the breather tube. 

Posted by: Bob (You can e-mail me at bobmeyers@meyersfamily.org)

As has been pointed out to me recently, I have not posted much lately. There has been much to do but no flying until today - I was in the air for over an hour. Good landing and it was on the short runway - 02 
 
After my last post I decided to tackle the oil leak. I am happy to report that after today's flight the engine was nice and dry. No leak! 
 
Cylinder number 1 remains as my hottest cylinder but running at 3000 rpm I was able to keep it hovering around 420. Sometimes 423, sometimes 417. All the others stayed under 400. 
 
I have pictures of the engine work I did and will post them sometime soon. 
 
I also had my static system and transponder checked it's now legal to use it. 

Posted by: Bob (You can e-mail me at bobmeyers@meyersfamily.org)

I went up again today. This time for just a couple of minutes short of an hour. Earlier in the week I went to the hanger and checked out the secondary ignition system. I replaced the lower plugs and all was well. 
 
I did a number of little things and buttoned up the plane to be ready to fly. With todays flight and some ground running the other day, I have hit five hours on the Hobbs meter. 
 
Time for break-in maintenance.  
 

Posted by: Bob (You can e-mail me at bobmeyers@meyersfamily.org)

Where are the updates? Well, there aren't a lot of pictures of things getting built so it is hard to gather stuff for a good post. 
 
There is flight testing going on however, and not just for my airplane. I flew for the second time on Thursday and was up for a little over 20 minutes. I had planned on more but had a couple of issues that I decided to come back down for. 
 
The flight mostly went well. The airframe displayed no quirks and I managed a very smooth take off and the landing was so much better that the controller - who also witnessed my first landing - commented on how much nicer it was. 
 
The engine temps, oil temps and oil pressure all stayed within acceptable limits and I may be over the worst of the break in temperatures. However, I have either a timing issue with the secondary ignition or a fouled secondary plug. I haven't determined which yet. 
 
I also had an unexplained glitch and self recovery of my charging circuit. A little mysterious at this point. In some ground running all is well now. I am not electrically dependent so the engine will keep running without any juice but I would like to understand what caused, or is causing the failure. Still working on it. 
 
I hope to have those resolved soon and fly again. 
 
Later the same day I drove to Aurora and watched Dan fly his first flight. That was also a lot of fun. 
 
More soon but it will mostly be blog posts for awhile I think. 

Posted by: Bob (You can e-mail me at bobmeyers@meyersfamily.org)

I can't believe I didn't post a link here. I just forgot. Over the last few days I have sent out bunches of e-mails to various lists and individuals but I forgot to post a link here to the first flight log. 
 
Here are the pictures 
 
In summary: On Tuesday I flew the aircraft for six minutes. The flight was supposed to be circling at or above 2500' in the KGYY class delta. It turned into a large, wide and low once around in the pattern because of high CHTs. 
 
Never the less it was a very successful flight that gathered a lot of data. 
 
More flights to come. 

Posted by: Bob (You can e-mail me at bobmeyers@meyersfamily.org)

I had my airworthiness inspection today and I now have the certificate. I wasn't holding back information in the last entries. I didn't know it would get scheduled this soon. Needless to say I am pretty happy. 
 
You can see my smile in these pictures. 

Posted by: Bob (You can e-mail me at bobmeyers@meyersfamily.org)

OK, all computer issues resolved so I can post a log again. 
 
Here it is with all the latest pictures. 

Posted by: Bob (You can e-mail me at bobmeyers@meyersfamily.org)

Still some remaining computer issues, but they are mostly resolved. I might be able to post pictures by the weekend. 
 
Today is a rainy morning and I'm finishing up the airworthiness paper work. I also can resolve a nagging car issue so no hanger trip today. Yesterday however, I completed weighing N982SX. She is a little plump. The final weight was 693 pounds. 
 
As a nose wheel aircraft I pay a penalty for that additional structure. I also added some with the electrical system - which includes a backup EFIS battery, a beefed up panel with air vents and a support structure for the transponder. The added fire extinguisher and strong support of it, the ELT and the baggage area added some pounds. 
 
Not to worry, Kathy and I can take a full load of fuel and baggage. 
 
I have also finished up a number of tiny items.  

Posted by: Bob (You can e-mail me at bobmeyers@meyersfamily.org)

I had Oshkosh this week and some other non building items to clear up but still a good week. 
 
I prepped for some items that I would need a second set of hands for and had Kathy come out to help. I got the engine running at a lower Idle 900-1000 rpm which is a bit high but fine for just getting going. I am also able to turn 3200 static rpm which is also a bit high. 
 
I may be a bit too lean but it is hard to tell. The engine takes throttle through the whole range and runs smooth at all but the lowest rpm setting where it is just slightly rough. Fuel flow shows a good range between high 4gph and low 6gph when leaning at full throttle. 
 
I have been too chicken to run the engine long enough to get the EGT's up hot enough to test before the #3 CHT starts to cross 400. This is not unexpected and I feel that I am in a good range for flight testing. 
 
The only concern is that I do get a small amount of oil out of the rear of the engine, either the Cam plug (common) or the main bearing seal. Hard to tell. At this point after conferring with various sources, it is not out of the ordinary and not a concern for flight. I will be keeping a good eye on it. 
 
I have also completed a lot of small items on what is now a very short list of things to do before the airworthiness inspection. That includes getting three identical electronic bathroom scales and weighing the airplane. 
 
The weight however is without some items and with others - fuel and clecos - that won't be in the final empty weight. Allowing for all that I will be over 650 which is not bad for a nose dragger. I will not be tipping the scales over a portly 700 which has been done on nose dragging Sonex's 
 
Some of the weight comes from a newly added fire extinguisher that was bought at Oshkosh. This has been planned for and sits on the other shelf opposite the ELT. 
 
I plan on sending my DAR all the paperwork tomorrow or Tuesday and setting up a time for the airworthiness inspection. I still have a number of big pieces detached from the airplane but will be putting them back on tomorrow to get a good weight and balance on the airplane. 
 
I should have my computer issues cleared up this weeks so maybe some pictures soon. 

Posted by: Bob (You can e-mail me at bobmeyers@meyersfamily.org)

After a false start followed by some trouble shooting, the engine turned over and I started the tuning process. I am very close to having it purr after about a total of 1/2 hour of running, two to three minutes at a time. 
 
Sonex has a method for setting up the electronic ignition trigger magnet before first start. It sucks. 
 
I think the method may have worked reliably when the trigger magnet was smaller, but it didn't work for me with the newer big magnet. It was perfectly centered under the trigger module with the mag and magnet perfectly aligned as per the instructions and video. 
 
The first turnover yielded nothing. Just a prop spinning from the starter. After a quick double check of fuel and air, then power to the spark source, another attempt yielded the same result. I tried again with a larger throttle opening but never got a single bang from all of these efforts. 
 
Fuel was confirmed as was air, so it had to be spark or spark timing. I unbundled all of the trigger to coil wiring and routed each wire to make sure it went to the correct coil. The top module triggers the coil that fires the front lower plugs. All wires and plug wires routed out just as they should. 
 
I next pulled a plug and wedged it between the exhaust pipe and the exhaust spring assembly with the plug wire installed. With fuel off, mags off and other safety precautions taken, I loosened the trigger magnet and rotated it past the trigger module and could hear and see the spark. 
 
The problem was the spark did not occur when the magnet was centered under the trigger module. It was quite a bit early. Since the spark was OK it had to be spark timing, so I aligned the top mag and its magnet and then set the trigger magnet to the approximate location I had found triggered the spark. I put everything back together and it started right up. I have the video and will post it in a few days. 
 
After it started, it was rough so I pretty quickly switched off the electronic ignition and let the mags run the engine by itself. This made it run smoother and it ran nice and smooth when I leaned the engine almost to idle cutoff. 
 
Since the mixture was way rich I leaned the mixture needle aggressively and this clearly was better. I then did some runs adjusting the trigger magnet to get better timing. It took two very small moves towards the center of the module. After those moves I was unable to tell the difference between the mags or the electronic ignition.  
 
Then I started to work on getting the mixture needle set in the right place. I got overly aggressive on my next two moves and ended up too lean. I dialed back and got to a really smooth but not quite perfect spot. I then made two moves on either side of this point to see which way to go to improve it. 
 
I ran out of time at this point and decided to leave the final adjustment until tomorrow. 
 
I had also been checking for fuel and oil leaks before and after each run. The fuel system didn't show any problems, but near the end of the runs I noticed some drips of oil from the rear of the engine. It is more than a tiny amount but not large enough to cause me to stop tuning. I will have to look it over carefully to see if it will turn into a major issue. 
 
Other than that it was a tremendous day and very satisfying to run the engine. 
 
Some work tomorrow and then Oshkosh. 

Posted by: Bob (You can e-mail me at bobmeyers@meyersfamily.org)

I've kept at it this week and it has been a lot of fun. I've taken some pictures and was going to post them this weekend but that will be delayed. I wouldn't expect any pictures for a week or so. I have a lot to do and some computer issues to work out. 
 
Today I hooked up the pitot and AOA hardware. What was even better was the ATIS at Gary was for winds 22 gusting to 29 straight down between the hangers. The Enigma can be used on very slow ultralights so the airspeed indicator comes alive at about 15 mph. The winds were more than enough to register so I rolled the airplane out into the wind and had steady readings in the mid to upper 20's with some gusts. The AOA also said I had no lift! 
 
The plane was really rocking as the wind burbled around it. It was really fun. 
 
I should have more to report on Sunday. 

Posted by: Bob (You can e-mail me at bobmeyers@meyersfamily.org)

There's an airplane in my hanger! 
 
Yesterday the big move took place. It went really well with the help of a ton of family and friends. I have edited all the pictures and have put together the latest log entries. However, I have not written the text yet so I'm just publishing the pictures. I will write the text and update the main page over the next couple of days. 
 
Here is the first log, which covers the end of polishing. 
 
Here is the second log, which covers the first prep steps for the move through the move itself. 
 
As a special bonus, Chris Williams took video of the fuselage lift off of the trailer. Here is a link to it. http://www.sharkfamily.com/brian/GOPR0331.MP4 
 
It was a great weekend, and now all I have to do is put the pieces back together. Another step to first flight. 
 

Posted by: Bob (You can e-mail me at bobmeyers@meyersfamily.org)

I thought I would post a midweek entry here just to keep everybody up to date. 
 
No pictures to post and I won't be posting any more until after the move. I'm sure I will have move pictures up by Sunday night if not on Saturday. 
 
We have made tremendous progress on polishing but there is still some to go. The wings are all done expect for S on about 1/2 of a wing surface. That is not much work. The wings themselves had all of the F9 and C passes and most of the S pass completed yesterday. Today was control surfaces gear fairings and some wing surface S work. 
 
The only piece requiring F9 and C work is the aft fuselage bottom skin. That needs some finishing work in the morning and then Thazin and Kathy should knock that out pretty quick - it only gets bottom quality polish. It will then be temp fastened to the airplane. It has been in storage for over a year. 
 
Besides the great looking polish, I reached another milestone. I can see out of the windscreen and see clearly out of the canopy. Until last night both items still had protective plastic on the outside. The windscreen was opaque so you couldn't see out or in. I now have an airplane cover that fits over both. The entire airplane is still covered in plastic because of all the polishing grime, but now the windscreen and canopy are protected by the cover. 
 
Last night, before I put the new cover and the plastic drop cloth back on, I sat in the airplane and looked out for the first time. This morning before I started work, I did the same thing again with the garage door open. The extra bolts securing the windscreen has minimized the distortion at the horizon. It's not perfect but the view is very nice and better than I thought it might be. 
 
Thazin and Kathy have worked tirelessly and have put in a tremendous effort - and great workmanship - on the polish. Without them I would not be going to the airport this weekend. 
 
I have talked with my brother Jeff and he is bringing his trailer which I intend to use for the wings and the table. Dave from my EAA chapter is bringing his trailer for the airframe. My Dad will be coming down and I have the kids and their friends lined up for muscle. The weather also looks good. 
 
So on to the airport. 

Posted by: Bob (You can e-mail me at bobmeyers@meyersfamily.org)

It's looking good for a trip to the airport a week from today. Still a couple of man days of polishing but I will have help. The rest is just organizing for the trip. There is some work I can do before the airport, but very little needs to be done before the trip. 
 
We've made a great deal of progress on polishing the wings. Here are the latest pictures. 

Posted by: Bob (You can e-mail me at bobmeyers@meyersfamily.org)

The fuselage is done. Just the wings remain to be polished. 
 
Best of all, I have set a date to move the airplane to the airport. July 17, 2010. It's a week later than I hoped but I will be able to make it and my ride is available. 
 
Instead of going to Air Venture I hope to be doing my phase one flight testing! 
 
Here are some shiny pictures. 

Posted by: Bob (You can e-mail me at bobmeyers@meyersfamily.org)

It is hard to get pictures of the polishing work but I do have some and put together the latest log file with them. 
 
It gets really messy and I have been reluctant to use my camera much. We have mastered the clean up really well. The pads have washed up in the machine very well without leaving any mess behind. 
 
Enjoy the pictures. 

Posted by: Bob (You can e-mail me at bobmeyers@meyersfamily.org)

I have had other things going on as well but a good amount of work has gone into the plane since I finished painting. 
 
Kathy has even given me a hand at polishing. Almost half of the fuselage has had the bulk of the compounding done. That is a good amount of work. I'm using Nuvite F9 on mill finish 6061 and it takes a lot of passes to come out nice. I will follow that with just a pass or two of the C grade of Nuvite compound and then the Nuvite 'S' polish, but the F9 passes are about 80 percent of the work. 
 
Flying tomorrow and Monday. 

Posted by: Bob (You can e-mail me at bobmeyers@meyersfamily.org)

Sorry to have gone so long but I took some time to just do other stuff and forget about fiberglass for awhile. Congrats to the Blackhawks. 
 
But I did manage to work through my fiberglass blockage and finished the painting with an minimally acceptable result. 
 
Here are some pictures. 

Posted by: Bob (You can e-mail me at bobmeyers@meyersfamily.org)

Holiday, Blackhawks and flying, but there has been some time in there for fiberglass prep work. 
 
I want to have the remaining pieces ready for paint by Sunday at the latest. We will see how tomorrow goes. If it goes OK I might even be ready by Saturday. 

Posted by: Bob (You can e-mail me at bobmeyers@meyersfamily.org)