It's like the beaver said, Life is just one dam thing after another.
The last few years have been good and bad. I've lost more friends due to aviation in the last 2 years than I have in the previous 25, and while my love for flying is unabated, my tolerance for pudknocker pilots has worn thin. It's ok to make mistakes and learn from them, lord knows I've made my share and odds are I'm going to make some in the future, but I've learned to listen and learn from others, and if someone else (experienced pilot or newly minted) isn't willing to do the same, I don't want them in my life anymore.
I took some time to reexamine OspRey last summer, look for things that need updating and worked with PA to identify parts that have changed since my kit was delivered so long ago. It's been funny to occasionally look back at this site and see statements like "She'll fly in 2012... 2013... 2014..." Now I just tell people "She'll fly on Wednesday." without specifying WHICH Wednesday.
First things first. Prior to build OspRey I cut my teeth turning wrenches volunteering at the Heritage Flight Museum, and in late 2009 I participated in the recovery and restoration of a 1950s era F-89 Scorpion. When the museum moved from Bellingham to Skagit/Bayview Airport a few years ago, the F-89 was taken apart again and moved, and while she was in pieces Hal and his crew had her painted. When it was time to put Humpty back together again, Hal "got the band back together" and gave me a call to help.
Think there's a lot of bolts in the SeaRey? Check the wing of the -89 out. Very little clearance in the wing, we had to have custom wrenches machined, and you could only make 1/16 of a turn at a time before you had to reset the wrenches. (I don't remember how many bolts there are, but there are a lot!!) Luckily, the weather was nice once it warmed up, and once we got the critical underwing bolts in we were able to relax, sit in the sun, and leisurely tighten the nuts.
She looks very pretty now. I understand the museum is having some mock Genie missiles fabricated for her pylons, and we might be getting the band back together one more time this summer.
In December the maintenance hangar at Bellingham was sold, and the entire operation has moved to Skagit. It was rather eerie to stand inside the empty space, hear the echoes of good times there and lessons I learned.
Thanks to Bill, Alan, Greg, JR, Hal, Charlotte, Mike, Einar, Eric, and all the others who let me work on their airplanes, and patiently suffered my travel up the learning curve of becoming a mechanic.
The last few years have been good and bad. I've lost more friends due to aviation in the last 2 years than I have in the previous 25, and while my love for flying is unabated, my tolerance for pudknocker pilots has worn thin. It's ok to make mistakes and learn from them, lord knows I've made my share and odds are I'm going to make some in the future, but I've learned to listen and learn from others, and if someone else (experienced pilot or newly minted) isn't willing to do the same, I don't want them in my life anymore.
I took some time to reexamine OspRey last summer, look for things that need updating and worked with PA to identify parts that have changed since my kit was delivered so long ago. It's been funny to occasionally look back at this site and see statements like "She'll fly in 2012... 2013... 2014..." Now I just tell people "She'll fly on Wednesday." without specifying WHICH Wednesday.
First things first. Prior to build OspRey I cut my teeth turning wrenches volunteering at the Heritage Flight Museum, and in late 2009 I participated in the recovery and restoration of a 1950s era F-89 Scorpion. When the museum moved from Bellingham to Skagit/Bayview Airport a few years ago, the F-89 was taken apart again and moved, and while she was in pieces Hal and his crew had her painted. When it was time to put Humpty back together again, Hal "got the band back together" and gave me a call to help.
Think there's a lot of bolts in the SeaRey? Check the wing of the -89 out. Very little clearance in the wing, we had to have custom wrenches machined, and you could only make 1/16 of a turn at a time before you had to reset the wrenches. (I don't remember how many bolts there are, but there are a lot!!) Luckily, the weather was nice once it warmed up, and once we got the critical underwing bolts in we were able to relax, sit in the sun, and leisurely tighten the nuts.
She looks very pretty now. I understand the museum is having some mock Genie missiles fabricated for her pylons, and we might be getting the band back together one more time this summer.
In December the maintenance hangar at Bellingham was sold, and the entire operation has moved to Skagit. It was rather eerie to stand inside the empty space, hear the echoes of good times there and lessons I learned.
Thanks to Bill, Alan, Greg, JR, Hal, Charlotte, Mike, Einar, Eric, and all the others who let me work on their airplanes, and patiently suffered my travel up the learning curve of becoming a mechanic.
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