My First Flight

Here is the first taxi:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zhyky9vYup0

Here's a video of my first flight. Quite a rush.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5gJE14CDXek

More TWTT Photos

http://picasaweb.google.com/haswett/TwoWeeksToTaxi#

The Two Weeks To Taxi Blitz

This blog ended when I unloaded my wings and tail at the factory for the TWTT program. The following link is to photographs of every step done in the factory: http://picasaweb.google.com/haswett/TWTTGlasairPhotos#

Future Shock...

After unloading the truck, the guys took me into the hangar where the magic happens. The is the latest 'Two Week" Sportsman. Be still my beating heart....

STAY TUNED....I'll have a whole bunch of new pictures in May when this thing becomes a real airplane.

Safe And Sound At The Factory

I made the 3 hour trip to Arlington, WA without any trouble. I thought the truck was wider than the road going over Stevens Pass, but I made it without any trouble. I'm not sure how that Mercedes bumper snagged on the back corner of the truck...oh well. Meet Tim and Andy who are helping me unload. We will be getting to know each other pretty well during the 2 weeks to taxi final assembly beginning April 16th.

Time To Go Mother Trucker...

Smooth Ride

I am hoping for a smooth ride. I have the wings on top of some tires with straps securing them in place. The other parts are wrapped in plastic, or tarps and also tied into place.

Haulin Ass....

Time to truck all of these goodies over to the factory. Man this is a big truck.

Ta Ta !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Two years 3 months and 11 days after starting this project, I am done...with the garage phase of assembly anyway. One wing is on the rack and the other is on the floor in front of it. You also see 2 flaps, 2 ailerons, the horizontal stabilizer, the elevator, a trim tab, and the rudder.

Peeking...

All of these pieces that I have been building look a little dingy because the aluminum is still covered with protective plastic. I couldn't resist removing the plastic from the ailerons. Jeez, they look beautiful!

Last Minute Fixes

Now that I don't have anything more to build, I am going over every rivet and drilling out and replacing any that have 'smiles' on them. Some of the smiles I didn't even see until I put these goggles on.

Inspection

Jerry made a few suggestions for things that I should fix, but said overall I did pretty good job for a 'first time builder'. Jerry has built 4 airplanes.

Jerry Dickson - EAA Technical Counselor

Jerry used to repair airplanes for the Air Force. Now he likes to inspect homebuilt airplanes. Great guy...wish I had met him 2 years ago.

Getting The Parts Together

Time to pull all those parts that I have been building for the last two years out of the various nooks and crannies where they have been stored...where was that other wing I built.

The Golden Spike

Here it is, I'm preparing to drive...THE LAST RIVET...!!!!!! It's a hair raising experience.

On edge

It's easier to rivet these things with the flap mounted vertically.

Wrist protection

Reaching inside the flap to buck the rivets causes wrist chafing. A shop cloth wrapped with tape solves the problem.

These flap assembly pictures are a little out of order. Here I am reaching inside the flap to rivet the skins to the spar

Putting the flaps together really makes me feel like the end is in sight. I view the end of this process with mixed emotions. I have loved building this airplane and I'll miss not being able to go out into the garage at any time and have somthing to work on. On the other hand, I'm really glad I don't have another 2 or 3 years to go.

Trailing Edge Joggle

This aileron is just about finished. I have clamped the trailing edge joggles together between two steel angle beams with some epoxy to make sure the trailing edge is straight. I then rivetted the trailing edge.

Electric Aileron Trim

The actuator arm extends through this oval hole cut in the aileron.

Electric Aileron Trim

Here is a closer look at the trim motor.

Electric Aileron Trim

While I have been building parts of the wing, I have also been finishing the ailerons. I have decided to put in electric trim. In order to do this, part of the aileron is cut away to fit a trim tab. Here I have cut a circular hole in the aileron and installed a reinforcement ring which will be covered by a removable inspection cover. The motor can be seen through the hole.

Finishing The Wing

John took to this riveting business like he'd been doing it all his life (he did work for Boing once, though not bucking rivets).

The Wing Is Finally Done. Thanks Greg. Thanks Pat. Thanks John. Your willingness to help has been one of the great parts of this project.

Finishing The Wing With John Newman

There are only a handful of rivets left to buck on the right wing. This is John Newman...jack of all trades...experienced blue water sailor (he and his wife Sandy spend 6 years circumnavigating the Pacific)...and all around great guy.

Pat Bucking Rivets

And this is the guy that made the final rivetting possible...Pat Wendt...here we are rivetting a hat section. Another half a day on this wing and it will be DONE!! Meantime I have almost finished the other aileron. One of the flaps is almost done...the other has been started...and it shouldn't take too long. I have to have all of these things done by 3-15-2007 when they need to go over to NewGlassair for inspection prior to the final "2 Weeks 2 Taxi" program. By the way, it was almost exactly 2 years ago, that I started building the Sportsman. Happy New Year.

Right Wing Nearing The Finish Line

The right wing is almost done...just 2 months after Greg and I started it!!. The bottom skins have been riveted along the forward and aft spars...

A lot of work went on between the last picture and this one. The leading edge skins were assembled and the leading edge ribs riveted inside. The whole assembly was placed on top of the wing. The ribs were riveted to the forward spar and then the skins were flush riveted to the spar. The lower skins have now been mounted ready to be riveted. At this point, you have reached the last page of the wing assebly manual....a few hundred rivets will finish the wing for now. I can easily finish it in a weekend if I can find a riveting partner...with Gregs help, I accomplished in 2 months what it took the better part of a year to do on the other wing.

Now everything has been corosion proofed...time to start putting it all back together again.

The wing skins layed out ready for alodine.

Time for some real fun...acetone is used to remove Sharpie ink...the bottle with the blue label contains DX533 aluminum cleaner...the DX501 Alodine...and finally the two part primer DEFT.

Another view of the relationship of these pulleys and the bell crank.

Anoter set of pulleys is show here projecting to the left and the aileron bell crank is at the top of the picture.

In the middle of the spar, one set of pulleys have been mounted that will route control cables to the ailerons.

And at the far end of the aft spar, the aileron hinges have been mounted.

Before the wing all goes back together again, there's a little more work to do. Here, the flap tracks are mounted to the aft spar.

And here they are after I have sprayed them with 2 part primer...ready to go back together again.

Jeez...it really did fall apart

Here are all those parts that Greg and I fitted, drilled, removed, and deburred. I have now treated them all with aluminum cleaner and Alodine. They are ready for priming.

So we did build a wing in a week...

So we did build a wing in a week...sort of. At least the hard part is done. Now all I have to do is build some of the hinges, pulley and bell crank brackets...oh yeah...corrosion proof. Should actually be finished in no time. THANKS GREG FOR A GREAT WEEK!

I get to play to.

There are only a few perfect heads in the world...the rest are covered with hair.

I can't believe it fell apart...here Greg is countersinking holes for flush rivets.

Wow...I mean totally WOW!

Are you sure the wing machine gun mounts here?

You'd think I could remember how to do this, since I have already built the left wing.

Got to label everything...because...dammit...we have to take it all apart again...and again.