This is Your Captain Speaking…

I am taking the flying mail tube down to LA this week for work so there won’t be much to update. If I can avoid the seasonal apocolyptic fires, I hope to be back at prepping buckheads this weekend.

I didn’t get much completed this past weekend as we decided to garage sale and craigslist the crap that doesn’t fit in the new house. Kinda happy to do that so I get some more space in the garage.

Perhaps I will order a tool or something tonight so it’ll be waiting for me when I get back. That counts for project time right?

Bulkhead Madness!

I’m almost ready to have the parts forest primer party. One more section of the 706 bulkhead to drill and prep, then soap and water/solvent treatment for what seems like a hundred pieces big and small. With some luck I can get that all done by Friday and prime over the weekend. I’m out of town on a shoot next week so it would be great to look forward to some actual assembly when I get back.

As for the bulkheads, some of the parts were done over a year ago, so I’ll need test assemble before priming to make sure I remember how it all goes together. Also there’s quit a few spots that you don’t rivet yet, so I need to mark those before starting to rivet.

Parts of 706, 707, 708 bulkheads

F-711 clecoed together

Example of the various pass-thru holes you have to drill.

The New Workshop

The new home for 07M might actually be slightly smaller in square feet. However, it’s great improvement overall. No more stairs to climb, an open floor and a big garage door will help me configure the space as needed as the fuse structure comes together. I only have one 20 amp circuit in the space now so I’ll need to run at least one more out here eventually.

Already I see that the power tools will work better against the back wall so I’ll need to bribe Annabelle to help me move some benches and such. Also on the list will be some weatherproofing. This was originally a carport so it wasn’t enclosed and insulated as well as the house. Can you say expanding foam?

Next up look for airplane status update. Attending first Sounders game tomorrow night, so it might be a couple of days away.

My Buddies

They are friendly… Really. Now I need to teach them how to rivet.

Back in business!

I have lots of changes to write about. I’ll post them over the next few days. First off, though, I have relaunched 07M on wordpress.com. The biggest reason is that I’ll be able to take photos,write and post straight from my iphone. So that should enable me to keep better track of my progress and post more often. Secondly, I’ll lose a little flexibility to customize my CSS and format my posts, but I will gain automatic wordpress updates and avoid breaking my own site. I don’t want to loose building time because I have to read CSS for Dummies again. And finally, as long as I go with the vanilla offering, it’s free! No hosting charges or renewals to remember. So now I can spend that 50 bucks or so at Avery or Cleveland or Van’s. Onward! Tomorrow, I’ll take you on a tour of the new 07M home.