Part 10 – Tying it all Together

I have rediscovered something that I already knew about this project – said something being that I can work a lot faster than I can afford to. I made a promise to myself early on that I would not let the airplane interfere with the other important aspects of my life including my family, my church, and my work (the money earning kind.) Obviously the writing of this narrative falls somewhere low on the list since it’s been nearly forever since I have put electron to storage device for this purpose. (That’s pencil to paper for you old guys.) Unfortunately, the airplane building also had to take a back seat temporarily for a couple of reasons which are not germane to this discussion and a couple of others that are. For instance, my shop is unheated and it’s been mighty COLD around here this winter. Money, or the lack thereof, also plays a part, particularly around the holiday season. Have I mentioned yet that grandkids are expensive? This is especially true when you turn Grandma loose with the checkbook. I say that in jest because Grandma occasionally sees fit to allow me to use the checkbook, not the other way ‘round.

My point is that the airplane building part of my life is just that – a part of my life that has to blend in with the other parts for everything to work right. I have also heard it said that it is common to hit a slump in a project that takes this long and I believe that plays into this to a certain degree. So, now it’s time to quit looking for excuses and get back to work. I did this initially by throwing some money at the airplane and forgetting to hang on tight enough. Consequently I now have two beautiful silver motorcycle rims neatly laced to my Ken Perkins hubs, sporting new rubber tires that are ribbed in a traditional aircraft pattern. No landing gear you understand, just the completed wheels. Look pretty cool standing up by themselves in the garage though. Also in the works are the control cables going from the bellcrank back to the elevators and the cables which brace the empennage. Surprisingly, cables are kind of fun so long as you avoid creating little pointy things to stick in the ends of your fingers. Cables are also fun because you don’t need to buy any special tools to work with them – you just borrow the special tools from a trusting friend. To quote Tweety Pie, “He don’t know me vewwy well, do he?” Just so something useful will come out of this diatribe, here is a little trick I was taught about working with cables. Before cutting the cable, first wrap a piece of masking tape around the cable with the cut location being in the center of the tape. Once around is plenty and makes it easier to get the tape off later. Place the cut across a solid metal surface like an anvil and use a cold chisel to make the cut. It only takes a smack with a hammer and the cable is cut cleanly with no sharp pointy things left sticking out. Leave the tape on the cable until you are ready to insert into a swage or Nicopress® sleeve to keep it from raveling. Works like a charm every time.

A couple of neat things have happened since the last installment that I would really like to mention. First, SpaceShipTwo has finally been unveiled and my sons can tell me some of the less secrete things that are happening in Mojave, CA. Everybody brags about Burt Rutan being the ultimate homebuilder since much of his work has been in that field. It’s a little hard for me to equate that fabulous construction facility with my little shop however. But that’s not the important point. The key words are “experimental aircraft” not “homebuilt” although that’s where a lot of the real experimenting is done. I think the real secrete behind Burt R. is that he’s always looking for some new, unique, and better way of getting something done. SpaceShipOne was all of those things in addition to being a relatively safe way of doing something that is inherently not safe. SpaceShipTwo has to do all of that over again and, in addition, carry passengers in a manner that will give them an experience worth the $200,000 they paid to be there. On top of all that, SpaceShipTwo and the new White Knight just look sooo cool!

The second thing that has been going on is me – flying. If you’ve been flying for a long time or equate flying to driving a car, then being able to just go fly might not seem like such a novel thing. However, I have been dreaming about flying for so long that being able to actually do it is a real kick. What’s more, I have discovered that flying is even more fun when you can do it with somebody. My very first passenger was my grandson. He was just 4-years old and pretty much sat there with wide eyes the whole time but you couldn’t shut him up once we got back down. We’re both ready to do that all over again. My next few passengers were Young Eagles, which is to say kids between 7 & 17 years of age and my daughter. My wife is a 5^th grade school teacher and our EAA chapter organized a Young Eagles ride for the whole class. What a blast! The weather was great that day and smiles were everywhere.

My real goal, however, was to take my wife up. Now Sharon is usually more than a bit nervous about flying, even in a giant spam can, so getting her into a Cessna 152 took some resolve on her part. This last Saturday her nerve was up, the weather was good, and an agreement was reached. This is THE RIDE that I wanted to go perfectly because I want a constant passenger once the Air Camper is ready to go. So, out to the airport to get in some quick takeoff and landing practice and then the big ride. As I came in after the last practice landing I passed Jerry D. taxiing the other way in his RV8. This was fortuitous as it turned out. The nice lady in the terminal had mentioned in passing that they had to hand prop the 152 earlier in the week. I didn’t think much about this as I was the second renter that morning and the previous pilot had just completed 1.2 hours and my three touch and goes had added another 30 minutes to the battery charging time that morning – and the engine was nice and warm. Consequently it was with a sinking feeling that I watched the prop turn over about a half revolution and stop. This was after I got Sharon into the airplane, all belted up, earphones on, and had given her a cautious preflight briefing including emergency procedures should the engine stop. Did I tell you that she was nervous to start with?

I quickly got on the radio and asked if there was anyone available who could hand prop a 152. Shortly Jerry replied and said he would be back real soon and would help out. Now Jerry is an ~~old~~ experienced crop duster with lots of hand propping experience so, no sweat – at least on my side of the airplane. Once he got his plane parked and came over – all our troubles were behind us – NOT. Jerry knew all the right words to say, especially when he discovered that the starter was still engaged making that prop all the harder to pull through. He had me set the mixture, throttle, mags, etc. just so and started flipping. It popped a few times and almost started once while Sharon kept saying things like “let’s just forget it” or “I don’t want to see him have a heart attack.” Finally Jerry gave up and was headed for the hanger to get a set of booster cables. I decided to try the starter one more time and, guess what, it started right up with no hesitation at all (laughing all the way.) Long story short, we launched and flew over some beautiful Kansas scenery for about 45 minutes with nothing else exciting (except the landing – but that’s another story.) Sharon said, “That was fun.” in a surprised voice and then went home and called our daughter to brag. Now that’s what I was after in the first place – a fun time and a good story to remember for a long time. Boy, do I owe Jerry a big one now! See you next time.

Tom Stinemetze

The Airplane Nut

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