254R - RFT

[Ron Shannon]

[RFT = Report from the Trenches]

Along the way to those grand "finished and flying" announcements,
progress happens in small steps, or so I'm told. So in celebration of
small steps....

A month and a half ago, I picked up the new Jabiru 3300 at Jim
McCormick's Pacific Jabiru in Fresno. It's one of the new iterations
with hydraulic lifters. Still in the box & pickled, but like any brand
new engine it looks impressive, so I pop the lid and look at it at least
once a day. :-) Got the mount powder coated white for $60. Looks great.

About three weeks ago, I got a nice new hangar off the waiting list at
KSNS. Unlike the old one, it's not rusty, doesn't leak, and has oodles
of room to actually do work. Of course, had to move the project a mile
to the south side of the airport. That took 15 pickup truck trips and
most of four days, but well worth it. Feels downright palatial now. A
month and a half ago, it seemed like I couldn't do much. Waiting for
parts, tools, space, whatever. No more. LOTS of stuff to do now.

Two weeks ago, I got the horizontal stabs mounted. A whole lot of work
setting that up, and doing the struts more than once. (Don't ask.)
Forward stab attach brackets are just set with wingnut clecos so far.
Have ordered some special high cycle Click Bond nut plates, with the aim
of reducing rivet holes in the bulkhead. They'll get here sometime.
Still, the stabs are flying "on the numbers" and I can see and shine a
penlight straight through all four elevator hinge holes, so that's gotta
be good. It was a big thrill to finally get some wing-ish looking things
on the fuse.

Finished some spiffy wooden scaffolds to hold the wings, and yesterday,
actually got the wings loaded up next to the fuse, ready for strut
building. Another big thrill. Am expecting Dave Fife will ship the
Hoerner wing tips and tail tips any day now.

Today I made & installed the elevator trim tab control horn left side
(doubler) called out in SB 110520. Can't imagine how it was designed
with just one side originally. It's obviously much stronger now.

The biggest hangup is my 50 minute one-way commute to the hangar, but
considering everything else is going pretty smoothly at the moment,
can't complain too much about that. Certainly doing my part to support
the oil industry though.

Have created a project web site (a work in progress like all the rest)
at http://n254mr.com, where there are annotated pictures of most of the
above items. I should note I'm very lucky and grateful that Jim LePard
continues to take an active interest in the success of this project he
started. We're in touch all the time, and he's very helpful.

Have also been trying to keep flying, and had a super three-day CAVU
trip to the 22nd Annual West Coast Piper Cub Fly-in at Lompoc, CA, last
weekend. It included a somewhat hilarious side trip in the Cub, deep
under the LAX Class B into Van Nuys (VNY) and out again, sans
transponder. It's written up on the site, if you're interested.

Next week I'm off to Minneapolis on Wednesday, then to Oshkosh on Sunday
the 23rd through Wed. the 25th, with an agenda (meet MAM builders!) and
a shopping list. Hope to meet everyone who's going to be there.

Ron
254R

831-251-8412 (cell)



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