My funny wife

Oh yeah.. When I got home after picking up the project, there was this little post-it note on the mirror... A translation for those who may be confused at the terminology: (A) Lancair flys - that's this project.. (B) PhD in hand - Michelle is back in school going for her PhD in Biomechanics.. (C) 3:10 marathon - My Boston Marathon qualifying time.. Last year I was 30sec off, wasn't even close this year. (D) Slot to Kona - Michelle has hopes of getting a slot to the Ironman World Championships in Kona, HI.. (E) Another Garel - Our mothers are hoping this win's the contest (though not hinting at anything - we're not trying at this moment)..

Inventory

For an airplane that appeared to be complete (and fiberglass), there sure was a whole lot of small hardware that needed to be inventoried. I spent 5.5hrs inventorying bolts, nuts, valves, washers, cotter pins, rivets, AN fittings, etc.. There are a few things that are missing, nothing that can't be fabricated, but I'll still check back with the previous builder to see if he comes across any of it.

Buy my Sidewinder

The other day posted the sidewinder on barnstormers.com.. It's been a great 2 years, and now I want to build..

From the ad:
SMYTH SIDEWINDER • FOR SALE • 1215TTAF, 1057 STOH, 2500SMOH on o320, compressions at condition insp (10/06): 78, 74, 79, 78. Oil analysis for past 2 years. Burns 1qt every 10hrs. All logs. Cruises 135kt at 7gph. Blue Mtn. EFIS G3 lite, SL30, GX50 IFR GPS. Asking $28k. • Contact Michael Garel - located Austin, TX USA • Telephone: 512-289-4031 • Posted February 25, 2007

Picking up the new bird...

Alarm went off at 3:30am, and I had a swift kick to get out of bed by my lovely wife.. I swung by Ron's house and we were on the road by ~4:15. The drive up to Marshall, TX was beautiful (at least what we saw of it).. Took 79 almost all the way. The further northeast we got, the more open the countryside was, and huge trees began to line the roads. We arrived about 9:15am, and began loading. The most interesting part of the loading was having the fuselage hanging from the engine mount by a shop lift, while I held the tail end, and Ron stabilized the wing stubs. We slowly proceeded to push the plane back onto the platform we built to support the wheels. The wheel width was wider than the trailer, so we had built a platform for the wheels to sit on. Finally, by about 4pm we were ready to hit the road (only 2 hrs later than planned!) The first 40 miles were really nerve-wrecking. I envisioned the plane flying off the trailer.. However, our only issue was a strap that loosened within the first 2~3mi. We made it back to Austin at about 10:15pm. Michelle had called some neighbors who arrived when we did, and helped to carefully unload it. The Lancair was off the trailer and in the garage by 11:30pm. Pfew.. that was a long day..