Wed Jun 27, 2007 9:10 pm
Or you guys!
Tornado
Thu Jun 28, 2007 12:47 am
When I heard about the storm damage I was more than a little concerned about the cats and aircraft, not to mention that one of the volunteers was planning to work late-night hours on Ol'927. Thankfully no one was injured and it's almost miraculous that the PT-19 and other light planes didn't get moved around. We had a little experience with tornado/high wind events four years ago:
This photo was taken from inside our hangar and shows three of the fourteen airplanes that were affected.
This was the first thing we saw when we arrived to inspect the damage--the Mooney is our airplane that we'd owned for just over a year. When the dust settled, the insurance companies totalled eleven of the fourteen aircraft, including a Husky with less than 200 hours total time. Thankfully no one was hurt, but it sure shows how fortunate the CAF was last night.
This photo was taken from inside our hangar and shows three of the fourteen airplanes that were affected.
This was the first thing we saw when we arrived to inspect the damage--the Mooney is our airplane that we'd owned for just over a year. When the dust settled, the insurance companies totalled eleven of the fourteen aircraft, including a Husky with less than 200 hours total time. Thankfully no one was hurt, but it sure shows how fortunate the CAF was last night.
Thu Jun 28, 2007 8:51 am
Howdy everyone. Well, here's that update I promised y'all yesterday...
I reckon the first thing I should do here is recognize again, one of the volunteers that is consistently a huge help to us, whether it's when we're working on the B-29, Testiclese (our engine test cell), or the B-24. His name is Jim Ballard and he's an electrical guru. This guy has come out here countless times to work some of the most unGodly hours, while at the same time, coming up with amazing solutions to some bizarre hurdles that we throw him. Often times, some of my "great ideas" become an electrical nightmare, and Jim has yet to be stumped on how to work it out. He's currently working on an interior lighting setup for the B-24 that I came up with (funny how that works, huh...I come up with an idea and make poor ol' Jim do all of the hard part
). He built up this junction box with all sorts of electrical gadgets in it, all from scratch, and is installing it as we speak. We are quite fortunate to continue to have Jim's support..........
So now back to my waistgunner's door project. When I last updated y'all on it, I believe Scott had just repositioned the gun mount so that the door could now swing into it's open position, as advertised. Now, it was time for me to come up with a latching mechanism for the door. This was difficult for me, as I now had to use my brain. I don't do that often, so I was on unfamiliar territory here.
Right off the bat, I knew that I didn't have anymore latch assemblies like the one that should really be on the door. I used the last one we had when I made the tunnel gun door. Besides, I just wasn't happy with the thought of holding this door in place with a single latch, right in the top. I'd much rather have two pins holding the door up, one on either side. I didn't really feel like designing and fabricating the bellcrank assembly that would work for the idea I had bouncing around in my head (geometry isn't my strong suit), so I went on one of my "missions" to find something laying around that I could use. That's when I found the old linkage assembly that was in the bottom portion of the old entry door that we used to have. I just realized I've already posted a picture of that find for you, so I'll move on.
Okay, the first thing I did in order to get this show on the road was to get a basic location to where I needed the latch assembly. A simple measurement and tick mark on the inner skin was the first step....
With the inner skin removed, I just transferred the mark to the inner portion of the door and started laying parts out......
Using an exsisting rivet hole as a pilot, I just enlarged it to accept a -3 bolt. I also went ahead and added the bushings needed that go between the bolt and the linkage bellcrank. This would allow me to place the linkage assembly in it's appropriate spot, so that all further measurements will be accurate.....
After that, a hole was drilled on each side of the door to allow the linkage to protrude from it. These will be the actual locking portions of this assembly. The action of how this assembly works is sort of shown below......
Since the bellcrank assembly was slightly taller than the waistgunner's door, I had to "adjust" it by trimming some material off. This took a few efforts to get it to where I thought was the correct height, but I didn't want to take too much off in one failed swoop........
The next step in this process was to make a piece of structure to retain the upper end (with the door laying on the table like this) of the bellcrank assembly. I just grabbed the first piece of aluminum angle I found laying around and went after it.......
After cutting the angle to length, I added another, smaller angle to the window frame, so that the long angle could have something to attach to. No rocket science here. I just marked the center line, drilled the appropriate hole, and installed the angle.....
When I put the angle in place, I realized that I still hadn't trimmed enough material off of the bellcrank assembly, and it was too tall. The remedy for this was to just keep on trimming........
Once I finally got everything the correct height, I just placed a tick mark on the angle for the mounting hole, and then drilled it..........
Well crap! It turns out that I had apparently stopped using my brain when I'd decided to use that "first piece of angle" that I found when starting this portion of the project. It was much too narrow and the bellcrank interfered with the angle itself.........
So, I just threw the first piece away and made another piece out of some wider, stronger, bulb angle. This was the right answer..........
Once my head was out of my butt and I got the correct angle made, it was a simple task of attaching it to the door structure and temporarily bolting the linkage assembly in place.......
So far, the plan for this linkage was working out. I just needed a latch to make all of this work now. As mentioned before, I wanted a latch assembly that looked like the ones that came on the airplane, but I was out of them. I tossed around several different ideas, but none of them appealed to me. Sure, I some pretty quick and easy ideas, but they just would've looked terrible. I needed something that was fairly easy to build (since time is obviously an issue), yet look somewhat like it belongs on there. You've heard me say it before..."If it's not original, trick people into thinking it is."
Now, I don't know why it is that I can do this, but sometimes, I can walk by an object that looks nothing like what I'm looking for, and see the end result in it. For example, do y'all see a door latch in this large piece of aluminum channel? I did.............
...So I started hacking away until it started looking like the picture I had in my head. I'll spare you the boring details of each step, all of which have been described before...........
Now, here's where my lack of knowledge in geometry came into play. I mean, I made it work, but it certainly looks like I've done it the most difficult way possible......kind of like the British when they engineered the hydraulic system on a Sea Fury
(I apologize to my British friends, but you must admit there's some truth to it 
)..........
The next item on this list of projects was to make an actuating rod to attach the handle to the linkage bellcrank. It just so happens there was the exact length rod I needed on some old engine that was laying around here. No need to let that go to waste, you know. ..........
I wanted a little more range of travel with the linkage, so I drilled another hole in the bellcrank to hook the rod to. This made all of the difference in the world, and now the latch works as planned..............
So, that's where I am for now. I plan on trying to get this stinkin' door done this week. I obviously still have to attach the latch to the door structure, along with modifying the inner skin to accomodate the latch. But with yesterday's mess from the high winds, us having to move out of another hangar (parts storage), and me feelin' like poop, I just don't have high hopes of being very productive. But we'll see.
Gary
I reckon the first thing I should do here is recognize again, one of the volunteers that is consistently a huge help to us, whether it's when we're working on the B-29, Testiclese (our engine test cell), or the B-24. His name is Jim Ballard and he's an electrical guru. This guy has come out here countless times to work some of the most unGodly hours, while at the same time, coming up with amazing solutions to some bizarre hurdles that we throw him. Often times, some of my "great ideas" become an electrical nightmare, and Jim has yet to be stumped on how to work it out. He's currently working on an interior lighting setup for the B-24 that I came up with (funny how that works, huh...I come up with an idea and make poor ol' Jim do all of the hard part
). He built up this junction box with all sorts of electrical gadgets in it, all from scratch, and is installing it as we speak. We are quite fortunate to continue to have Jim's support..........
So now back to my waistgunner's door project. When I last updated y'all on it, I believe Scott had just repositioned the gun mount so that the door could now swing into it's open position, as advertised. Now, it was time for me to come up with a latching mechanism for the door. This was difficult for me, as I now had to use my brain. I don't do that often, so I was on unfamiliar territory here.
Right off the bat, I knew that I didn't have anymore latch assemblies like the one that should really be on the door. I used the last one we had when I made the tunnel gun door. Besides, I just wasn't happy with the thought of holding this door in place with a single latch, right in the top. I'd much rather have two pins holding the door up, one on either side. I didn't really feel like designing and fabricating the bellcrank assembly that would work for the idea I had bouncing around in my head (geometry isn't my strong suit), so I went on one of my "missions" to find something laying around that I could use. That's when I found the old linkage assembly that was in the bottom portion of the old entry door that we used to have. I just realized I've already posted a picture of that find for you, so I'll move on.
Okay, the first thing I did in order to get this show on the road was to get a basic location to where I needed the latch assembly. A simple measurement and tick mark on the inner skin was the first step....
With the inner skin removed, I just transferred the mark to the inner portion of the door and started laying parts out......
Using an exsisting rivet hole as a pilot, I just enlarged it to accept a -3 bolt. I also went ahead and added the bushings needed that go between the bolt and the linkage bellcrank. This would allow me to place the linkage assembly in it's appropriate spot, so that all further measurements will be accurate.....
After that, a hole was drilled on each side of the door to allow the linkage to protrude from it. These will be the actual locking portions of this assembly. The action of how this assembly works is sort of shown below......
Since the bellcrank assembly was slightly taller than the waistgunner's door, I had to "adjust" it by trimming some material off. This took a few efforts to get it to where I thought was the correct height, but I didn't want to take too much off in one failed swoop........
The next step in this process was to make a piece of structure to retain the upper end (with the door laying on the table like this) of the bellcrank assembly. I just grabbed the first piece of aluminum angle I found laying around and went after it.......
After cutting the angle to length, I added another, smaller angle to the window frame, so that the long angle could have something to attach to. No rocket science here. I just marked the center line, drilled the appropriate hole, and installed the angle.....
When I put the angle in place, I realized that I still hadn't trimmed enough material off of the bellcrank assembly, and it was too tall. The remedy for this was to just keep on trimming........
Once I finally got everything the correct height, I just placed a tick mark on the angle for the mounting hole, and then drilled it..........
Well crap! It turns out that I had apparently stopped using my brain when I'd decided to use that "first piece of angle" that I found when starting this portion of the project. It was much too narrow and the bellcrank interfered with the angle itself.........
So, I just threw the first piece away and made another piece out of some wider, stronger, bulb angle. This was the right answer..........
Once my head was out of my butt and I got the correct angle made, it was a simple task of attaching it to the door structure and temporarily bolting the linkage assembly in place.......
So far, the plan for this linkage was working out. I just needed a latch to make all of this work now. As mentioned before, I wanted a latch assembly that looked like the ones that came on the airplane, but I was out of them. I tossed around several different ideas, but none of them appealed to me. Sure, I some pretty quick and easy ideas, but they just would've looked terrible. I needed something that was fairly easy to build (since time is obviously an issue), yet look somewhat like it belongs on there. You've heard me say it before..."If it's not original, trick people into thinking it is."
Now, I don't know why it is that I can do this, but sometimes, I can walk by an object that looks nothing like what I'm looking for, and see the end result in it. For example, do y'all see a door latch in this large piece of aluminum channel? I did.............
...So I started hacking away until it started looking like the picture I had in my head. I'll spare you the boring details of each step, all of which have been described before...........
Now, here's where my lack of knowledge in geometry came into play. I mean, I made it work, but it certainly looks like I've done it the most difficult way possible......kind of like the British when they engineered the hydraulic system on a Sea Fury
(I apologize to my British friends, but you must admit there's some truth to it )..........
The next item on this list of projects was to make an actuating rod to attach the handle to the linkage bellcrank. It just so happens there was the exact length rod I needed on some old engine that was laying around here. No need to let that go to waste, you know.
..........
I wanted a little more range of travel with the linkage, so I drilled another hole in the bellcrank to hook the rod to. This made all of the difference in the world, and now the latch works as planned..............
So, that's where I am for now. I plan on trying to get this stinkin' door done this week. I obviously still have to attach the latch to the door structure, along with modifying the inner skin to accomodate the latch. But with yesterday's mess from the high winds, us having to move out of another hangar (parts storage), and me feelin' like poop, I just don't have high hopes of being very productive. But we'll see.
Gary
Thu Jun 28, 2007 9:07 am
Sorry to hear about the bad fortune due to weather, Gary!!! I sure know what that's like -- On the positive side, at least your feline inspectors and all the a/c are safe!!!!
So, any chance of your 3 week deadline being moved out in light of what happened?????
So, any chance of your 3 week deadline being moved out in light of what happened?????
Thu Jun 28, 2007 9:29 am
I'm glad to see that everyone and everything (except the hangars) are okay. I do hope they give you some extra time considering the weather we've been having lately. It would be a shame to expect you to still get done in the same amount of time while dealing with the results of the weather.
Thu Jun 28, 2007 12:10 pm
I needed to sit down for a little bit, so I thought I'd just do a real quick update to show y'all the completion of the fabrication of the handle for the waistgunner's door.
In continuation of the last update I just posted, the next step in the process was to make a hinge for the latch itself. I just started with some standard hinge stock and started hacking away.......
I then just riveted the two pieces of the hinge in place......
...and flipped over the piece of hinge that will rivet to the latch, so that it'll make everything lay down correctly. I then drilled the holes for it and attached it to the latch with screws (this will facilitate an easy removal of the latch mechanism once the hinge pin is staked in place permanently)........
And finally, I installed an angle to be used as a return spring holder-in-placer.......
It's surprising, I know, but the mechanism works wonderfully and is spring loaded in the latched position.......
So, now that the fabrication part of this project is done, I'm going to disassemble everything, clean it up, and paint it. This won't be anything fancy, as I simply don't have the time. I'll then get it all reassembled and make the receptacles on the airframe for the latch pins to engage to. I will also likely fabricate some rub blocks of some sort on the door itself to keep the pins from making the holes in the door larger over a period of time.
Oh, and unfortunately, the folks at the Selfridge Airshow and EAA AirVenture at Oshkosh, don't really care that I'm having problems with obtaining my deadline and won't move their shows back several weeks for me. So, I'm just going to have to keep trying to get this stinkin' project finished by my original deadline.
Gary
In continuation of the last update I just posted, the next step in the process was to make a hinge for the latch itself. I just started with some standard hinge stock and started hacking away.......
I then just riveted the two pieces of the hinge in place......
...and flipped over the piece of hinge that will rivet to the latch, so that it'll make everything lay down correctly. I then drilled the holes for it and attached it to the latch with screws (this will facilitate an easy removal of the latch mechanism once the hinge pin is staked in place permanently)........
And finally, I installed an angle to be used as a return spring holder-in-placer.......
It's surprising, I know, but the mechanism works wonderfully and is spring loaded in the latched position.......
So, now that the fabrication part of this project is done, I'm going to disassemble everything, clean it up, and paint it. This won't be anything fancy, as I simply don't have the time. I'll then get it all reassembled and make the receptacles on the airframe for the latch pins to engage to. I will also likely fabricate some rub blocks of some sort on the door itself to keep the pins from making the holes in the door larger over a period of time.
Oh, and unfortunately, the folks at the Selfridge Airshow and EAA AirVenture at Oshkosh, don't really care that I'm having problems with obtaining my deadline and won't move their shows back several weeks for me. So, I'm just going to have to keep trying to get this stinkin' project finished by my original deadline.
Gary
Thu Jun 28, 2007 12:15 pm
Gary, nice job on that latch. Very creative. I wouldnt have had the slightest idea as to where to begin. Good job! 
Thu Jun 28, 2007 1:04 pm
"When I heard about the storm damage I was more than a little concerned about the cats and aircraft, not to mention that one of the volunteers was planning to work late-night hours on Ol'927"
Hi Scott, I left around 11:00 the night of the storm, but hit it about halfway back home. At one point I thought "this is it", a gust hit me hard enough that it showed a very noticeable drop on my speedo, and solid dust. But I made it in just fine, and am really glad that the planes weren't hurt. James
Hi Scott, I left around 11:00 the night of the storm, but hit it about halfway back home. At one point I thought "this is it", a gust hit me hard enough that it showed a very noticeable drop on my speedo, and solid dust. But I made it in just fine, and am really glad that the planes weren't hurt. James
Thu Jun 28, 2007 1:27 pm
Glad to hear you got home safely James!
Scott
Scott
Thu Jun 28, 2007 1:45 pm
Wow, I almost pee'd my pants when I heard of this. I'd say you are very lucky that no aircraft were seriously damaged or destroyed. I am concerned about the C-97 nose and the trailer that tipped over. I hope no parts are damaged.
Thu Jun 28, 2007 2:30 pm
PHEW How much more drama can this thread stand ?
As others have already said, the main thing is that none of the team ( two or four legged ) came to any harm.
If the trailer was well packed ( full ) damage may not be too bad. The tough decision is to empty it on its side or put it back upright first ......
I was wondering if could be righted gradually with airbags ~ that might be the way to go .....
How much more drama can this thread stand ?
As others have already said, the main thing is that none of the team ( two or four legged ) came to any harm.
If the trailer was well packed ( full ) damage may not be too bad. The tough decision is to empty it on its side or put it back upright first ......
I was wondering if could be righted gradually with airbags ~ that might be the way to go .....
Thu Jun 28, 2007 4:50 pm
Wow, thank God the roof and the trailer were the worst of the casualties!!!
The door is looking great! I love the Liliputian drum sander!
The door is looking great! I love the Liliputian drum sander!
Fri Jun 29, 2007 6:42 am
Okay, here's another update for y'all from the remainder of yesterday's work for me. It was one of those days where I felt horrible, yet had to keep chugging away on the project, although all I wanted to do was go somewhere and vanish. Nonetheless, here's what little bit got accomplished....
While the primer for all of the parts for the latch mechanism were drying, I went ahead and filled the old rivet holes for the outer skin on the waistgunner's door. There was one line of rivets, just underneath the structure that I'd installed for the latch that I had to shoot in a "traditional" manner........
To shoot the remaining rivets, I was able to cheat. I simply placed a rivet in each hole and taped them in place. Then I used the back rivet method and started hammering away.........
Once I got one row done and was happy with the results, I went ahead and did the rest of the rivets in the same manner. When you're working by yourself, this method really speeds up the process and still maintains a nice finish......
Next, I reassembled all of the latching mechanism stuff and started cutting out the necessary areas of the inner skin to accomodate the latch....
I started with making the hole for the latch pivot bolt........
...And followed that up with marking and cutting out the area where the latch handle is........
Since the handle is somewhat even with the inner skin, I needed to make some cutouts for your fingers to be able to fit under the latch assembly. I first marked where the support brace under the skin was and then found a nice round template (spark plug gasket) to make the radius I was looking for........
I then used a Unibit to make the initial hole cutouts, followed by some work with the die grinder and rotary file........
Then, I just smoothed off all of the edges......
Even with the edges nice and smooth, I still wasn't all that happy with the result. I could just hear the whining already, "That edge catches my fingers when I open the latch." So, I needed to somehow make a nicer transition to those cutouts. I opted for trying a little metal forming work here and threw together a rudimentary form block out of a piece of scrap lumber laying around........
I started by tracing the outline of the finger cutouts on the wood.......
...And then just hacked away until I got the shape I was looking for. All of this took less than five minutes to accomplish.....
I then placed the form block where I needed the shape to be made and clamped it into place......
Then the fun part. I got to whack it with a hammer! Actually, this is a time to use some finesse, as you don't want to crack the metal out. I actually kind of slide the hammer towards the end of the form block as I was hitting it. This helps stretch the metal slowly and reduces the chances of cracking.....
Then I just moved the form block to the other side and it was the same song, different verse........
Maybe with these pictures, you can get an idea of what I was working towards.......
And once that was done, I temporarily installed the inner skin to the door and installed the door in place on the airframe.....
I'm not at all happy with how the door fits now, as it has moved somewhat with all of the extra work I've done with the structure I had to install for the latch. I'm going to have to tinker with it a little bit before I'm able to complete the door, but it shouldn't be too difficult to resolve.
Sometime today, I'm going to have to pull the airplane out and run it up for Jim (our electrician). He's having to adjust some of that high-speed, low-drag electrical equipment he's installed and needs the generators online to do that. I reckon if y'all are interested in it, I can post some kind of update on an engine run in this pig.
The rest of my day will be shot, as far as productivity is concerned. We're still moving crap out of that parts hangar and it seems that they'd rather me work on that vs. get the airplane finished. A necessary evil, I reckon, but it's sure frustrating.
Anyway, I'll holler at y'all on the next update.
Gary
While the primer for all of the parts for the latch mechanism were drying, I went ahead and filled the old rivet holes for the outer skin on the waistgunner's door. There was one line of rivets, just underneath the structure that I'd installed for the latch that I had to shoot in a "traditional" manner........
To shoot the remaining rivets, I was able to cheat. I simply placed a rivet in each hole and taped them in place. Then I used the back rivet method and started hammering away.........
Once I got one row done and was happy with the results, I went ahead and did the rest of the rivets in the same manner. When you're working by yourself, this method really speeds up the process and still maintains a nice finish......
Next, I reassembled all of the latching mechanism stuff and started cutting out the necessary areas of the inner skin to accomodate the latch....
I started with making the hole for the latch pivot bolt........
...And followed that up with marking and cutting out the area where the latch handle is........
Since the handle is somewhat even with the inner skin, I needed to make some cutouts for your fingers to be able to fit under the latch assembly. I first marked where the support brace under the skin was and then found a nice round template (spark plug gasket) to make the radius I was looking for........
I then used a Unibit to make the initial hole cutouts, followed by some work with the die grinder and rotary file........
Then, I just smoothed off all of the edges......
Even with the edges nice and smooth, I still wasn't all that happy with the result. I could just hear the whining already, "That edge catches my fingers when I open the latch." So, I needed to somehow make a nicer transition to those cutouts. I opted for trying a little metal forming work here and threw together a rudimentary form block out of a piece of scrap lumber laying around........
I started by tracing the outline of the finger cutouts on the wood.......
...And then just hacked away until I got the shape I was looking for. All of this took less than five minutes to accomplish.....
I then placed the form block where I needed the shape to be made and clamped it into place......
Then the fun part. I got to whack it with a hammer! Actually, this is a time to use some finesse, as you don't want to crack the metal out. I actually kind of slide the hammer towards the end of the form block as I was hitting it. This helps stretch the metal slowly and reduces the chances of cracking.....
Then I just moved the form block to the other side and it was the same song, different verse........
Maybe with these pictures, you can get an idea of what I was working towards.......
And once that was done, I temporarily installed the inner skin to the door and installed the door in place on the airframe.....
I'm not at all happy with how the door fits now, as it has moved somewhat with all of the extra work I've done with the structure I had to install for the latch. I'm going to have to tinker with it a little bit before I'm able to complete the door, but it shouldn't be too difficult to resolve.
Sometime today, I'm going to have to pull the airplane out and run it up for Jim (our electrician). He's having to adjust some of that high-speed, low-drag electrical equipment he's installed and needs the generators online to do that. I reckon if y'all are interested in it, I can post some kind of update on an engine run in this pig.
The rest of my day will be shot, as far as productivity is concerned. We're still moving crap out of that parts hangar and it seems that they'd rather me work on that vs. get the airplane finished. A necessary evil, I reckon, but it's sure frustrating.
Anyway, I'll holler at y'all on the next update.
Gary
Fri Jun 29, 2007 6:57 am
will we ever see gazzas funniest photos and the photos where you have injured yourself?
with all that metal cutting surely you lost some flesh if you havent im amazed.. Mr Austin the $6m dollar man hehehe
with all that metal cutting surely you lost some flesh if you havent im amazed.. Mr Austin the $6m dollar man hehehe
Fri Jun 29, 2007 7:25 am
sabredriver wrote:will we ever see gazzas funniest photos and the photos where you have injured yourself?
with all that metal cutting surely you lost some flesh if you havent im amazed.. Mr Austin the $6m dollar man hehehe
Well, as with most mechanics in this business, I've had my share of injuries. I've broken nearly all of my fingers at some point or another, not to mention countless gory cuts and slices to the flesh. My hands have been particularly abused and I have semi-chronic issues with them. However, I have tried to get in the habit of wearing gloves when working, particularly with sheet metal, and they help tremendously (although on my last few posts, I noticed that I'm not wearing them in most pictures
).
I could've posted some pictures of an event several months ago, when I fell off the top of the B-1 stand while painting the top of the B-24. However, with the "minor concussion" that insued, I don't remember much of the actual event, so I'm sure that I don't remember if I took pictures of it anyway.
I try to be careful, and I'm not sure that I've ever had request for injury pictures, but if I do happen to cause any of that hilarious harm to myself and make a big bloody mess, I'll be sure to post it for y'all.
Okay, maybe not.
Gary