Today David asked me to go fishing with him.  I haven’t fished for years (for very good reasons too)!  I thought it would be a great time on the water, a day spent with friends and the hope of MAYBE catching a fish or two.  I also had a chance to learn how to throw a cast net. 

Debbi caught a few bait fish and shrimp from the dock before we left my boat landing.

What a great day to be on the water!  I love getting up early and getting out while it is still a cool part of the day.

A whole day fishing and all that was caught by five aggressive and motivated fishermen was two sting rays…. I didn’t have one bite!  Now you see why I haven’t fished for years. 

The motley crew.  We actually had the best time fishing and messing around on the dock on the Folly River (behind Folly Island, SC)

This is how I like to do my fishing…. at Walmart.  No fishing licence, no getting up at the crack of dawn, no sunburn.   Fish in a bag!  What a revolutionary idea.

I won a free copy of Windows 7 Ultimate for having a Windows 7 Launch Party at guess where….my house!!  It is a strange way Microsoft is introducing the new operating system.  So next week on the Oct 23, I have invited a bunch of friendsover to see the new operating system and have some burgers and beer.  Should be fun!  I have already received my party package complete with streamers, napkins, cards, and a bunch of other shit and my free software.  Actually, I am so enthusiastic with the software, it wouldn’t have taken much for me to have a party to show off the features anyway.  

Because of the party, I decided my computer desk need to be refinished.  I was a bit embarrassed with my grungy desk and it needed a new look if I was going to have guests over checking out the new software.  The refinishing came out great, but my computer was disassemble and posting wasn’t possible.   This will be a quick catch up on this week’s activities.

The instrument panel is now cut out.  I hope to start cutting instrument openings next week.

The submerged NACA scoop came out really nice.  All work was done from the inside of the plane so no repainting was necessary .

The inside part of the NACA.

I made a duct from the NACA to the eyeball vent which will be installed on the the arm rest cover.  It has a little bit of a weird shape to clear the aileron torque tube.  I also will install a pilot controlled door in the the vent duct to allow for pressurization of the cabin when flying in rain or when extra ventilation is needed.

This is how the vent will look in the back seat. 

I was going to use a piece of Alum to make a control handle for the overboard oil heat door, but after I made it I found it weighted in at 15 grams. 

I then remembered I am using the same style knobs for all interior electrics controls and can also use it for the heat door.  The knob only weight 8 gms for a savings of 7 gms over the Alum part and it works just as well.  It will give me a more consistent look for the interior.  I will recycle the alum part for an exterior canopy latch.

The purge valve dump push/pull system is completed.   I have started checking out options for the wiring install.

 I have just returned home from an enjoyable 2 hr flight from Tampa to Charleston, SC.   190 mph at 6.3 GPH at 11,000 ft.  You really have to love these canards! 

I flew down to Tampa on Friday to spend the weekend with Jerry Schneider and witness the birth of his new canard, “Web Slinger”.    

What a great experience.   Jerry’s cozy has some very unusual and interesting features.    It uses an Aero Canard turtle back which significantly increases the headroom (front/back seats) and extended strakes.    The belly NACA scoop feeds large tubes which provides air to a down draft cooled engine, oil cooler and the FI system.  It has an IO320 with a controllable MT prop, a motorized forward opening canopy, electric nose lift, etc.  Overall Web Slinger is a very unique and interesting plane.

Vance was kind enough to fly out from Houston for the test flight.  A smart move by Jerry as for the last few years he has spent all his time building.   We stood around watched and cheered.   A couple of bottles of champagne were opened to commemorate the occasion.

Web Slinger flew very well but ran a bit hot which is a problem that plagues a lot of new planes.   Jerry, welcome to the Hot Engine Club.   Your new trouble shooting membership will only last for a year or two so have fun while you can!

Vance and I spent the weekend with Jerry and Debbi and I can tell you Jerry was one happy and certifiably crazy guy.   Is Elvis alive well?  YES, he lives at Debbi’s house!   Debbi loves Elvis Presley and she has a well outfitted Elvis Room, so Vance had the pleasure of sleeping with a life sized Elvis watching over him this weekend.   Jerry loves Spider Man and wore his SM shirt all weekend (or should that be his S&M shirt?).  He hardly had any sleep this past week because he was so jacked up about Saturday’s flight.   He told me this morning, he finally had a good nights sleep (which I guess is either the relief of a great first flight or a direct result of all the beer we drank at the Oktoberfest).    Thanks Jerry for a great weekend!   Folks, if Jerry and Debbi ever offers to visit you, take them up on it!  You’ll be in for a crazy good time.

Vance showed me a new free website he is using for flight planning.  It is called Nav Monster  ( www.navmonster.com ).  What a great find!  I fly a lot and usually rely on lots of different websites to gather information.  By far, this is the best one I have every visited.  It actually gathers info from my favorite websites, organizes the data and presents it all on one page.    I thought it would be good to share something new with the group.  You too might find it useful.    Thanks Vance.

 Congratulations Jerry!!   Your hard work has crafted a unique and different kind of canard.  Looking forward to seeing you again at the next fly-in with your new bird.

Today was spent cleaning up the NACA opening and glassing the back side of the flange of the instrument panel.   The purpose was to add a more strength to the flange and being solid glass (instead of a sandwich of glass and foam, I can tighten the screws tighter to provide better clamping force for the instrument panel.

 I first removed the foam core from the back side of the old panel.   What a messy job!

 Then seven layers of glass was added to the flange along the sides of the plane.

I decided to use West Epoxy (instead of MGS) because of West’s superior adhesion quality. 

Tomorrow I am flying down to Tampa to visit Jerry Snider who just completed his Cozy 4.  On Saturday Vance will be conducting the first flight.  Sort of like giving birth…..  Ah, I remember the day well when I first flew Tweety.  Quite memorable.   Vance and I will conduct an exhaustive inspection of the plane on Friday and after the flight on Saturday it is celebration time!   

5.1 hrs worked today.