"Nest of Dragons" builds a Easy Riser

Tuesday, January 16, 2007

First meeting of "the group"

Yesterday at noon, we gathered for the first time. I only knew one person from a previous meeting. She helped me to find the other volenteers.

I gave info about what kind of airplane we will be making, what I expect from them and what they can expect from me. The usual bla-bla.

Let me introduce them with pictures first (as I don't know the right way to write their names yet). One person is still missing. Will join us friday, I hope.






Sunday, January 14, 2007

Parts arrived from the USA

While I was on holiday in France I got a phonecall that my box had arrived in the airport of Zavemtem (Belgium). Luckily a friend of me was capable to get the box. He had a van. That was a luck because the box was 3,5 m (about 11,5 feet) long.

Last week I was able to transport it to my school and open th
e box. At first I thought the box was hit hard to one side as some tubes were bend. But it seemed that those tubes were bend on purpose according to the plans. Lucky me! Buying a airtransport for a second time was not what I had hoped for.

When opening the box I found all kind of materials packed in smaller boxes and a lot of tubes assembled in packs. The packs had a paper with a number on it. At once I could see that the tubes were already at length and had proper ends to fit other tubes if needed. I realise that I need to place those numbers on each tube individually because I fear that the papers will not live long enough.

The other boxes had a very
understanding name on it. I will later describe the contains, because I had little time to see more details.

For the moment this kit looks like it is very organized. It makes me very happy to see that. Gives a good impression. I begin this project with
a heart filled with confidence.

One box (tube) I had to open at once. THE PLANS! I had to see them! Well, ... all looked fine. Very understandable. Very clear drawings and very non-misunderstandable explanations. A lot of extra notes to give more info about the importance of some issues. Again ... good for the confidence in the project.

The tube also included a poster-like advertis
ement. Waaaw! Great pictures of a Easy Riser in flight and in preparation for flight (setting up). Never saw these ones on the internet.

It became clear to me that at first I will need to make some kind of worktable. They advise to bold or glue some structure to the floor to ensure protection of the
distance between both supports. But ... I will not be allowed to do that in my school. So I will need to make some structure that can stand on its own. I guess it will become a metal structure made by the students of my school. More about that later.

On page 1 I saw already one item I did not understand. it mentions "#30 drills" . To us, Europeans, that is Japanese! It seems that the USA uses some kind of codes for drills. You can read more about those codes at http://www.madison.k12.wi.us/toki/teched/codrills.htm . It tells that #30 stands for 3,1 mm.

Well, on monday I will invite the three volenteers for the first time in the workshop. We will look at the parts. Talk about the mate
rials and the wanted end-result (finished metal frame of Easy Riser) and about the danger while working with the materials and the possible dangers for the pilot for mis-use of materails.

As always ... I will report from time to time. At first I will introduce the volenteers.