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.