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Cold weather musings

Haven’t done much on the plane for a few days now. We have been in the grips of a winter storm, followed by a cold snap. We got several inches of snow; anywhere from a couple inches in the front yard to maybe 2′ drifts closer in to the house. The temps throughout the 3-day weekend never got above -7, and the wind was blowing. This is not weather conducive to going outside for anything non-essential.

During the last build session, I tried cutting a few of the bushings needed for the wing. The results were not great. While a chop saw will go through and make a beautiful clean cut, it will also randomly launch the cut-off piece somewhere in the shop, often with a nice big chunk out of the end. Not what I was after! I did get one bushing cut successfully, and another done after much filing to get it down to its final size.

After doing some research, I believe I’ll end up building a band saw sled to cut the bushings. I can make it with a nice end stop to cut the tubing to consistent lengths, and it should make it relatively easy to get an acceptably square cut. I’m hoping the cut ends turn out clean enough to dress with a brief time with some sandpaper.

The bloody compass is still very slowly seeping fluid. I suspect the face plate is not perfectly flat. I think for now I’ll leave it, but at some point I’ll need to drain, disassemble, and maybe use a thin coating of Aviation Form-A-Gasket on the black rubber seal. At least everything works well, it looks great, and the LED light is quite effective. I have no idea why I’ve invested so much work into a mag compass, to be perfectly honest… but it’s been an entertaining project. I just like restoring old things.

I’ve had no success at all getting answers out of “CKD.aero” regarding the pricing and availability of parts and subkits for the Celebrity. I’ve been trying to get pricing for the wing tanks so I know whether to plan on using them or not. It just feels like Fisher got bought by people who have no clue what to do with it. The website has been stripped of any pricing or availability information. It took me weeks to get anyone to even respond to an email, and despite a couple of promises I have yet to get a useful response from anyone. I guess I’m on my own. It’s a shame, but I did decide to build from plans; I think I’ll be able to muddle through.

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Pause button

I haven’t had much opportunity to do any construction for a few weeks now.  The garage is a disaster with a remodel project going on, and I’ve been busy selling my side business.  Hopefully in another week or so I’ll be able to get back to it.  The first order of business will be to try out the steamer to soften up capstrip for the ribs.

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Second guessing

Not me.  I made my choice and I’m happy with it.  But I swear I have not had this much well-intentioned second guessing since I announced my engagement to the woman I’ve been married to for nearly four decades.

“You should build a Hatz.”  No, I love the look of the Hatz but it’s not LSA.  “Oh, a Hatz Bantam.”  Nope, sorry.  I’m tired of aluminum, it’s got a welded fuselage (which I did not want to build) and at the time I was looking was designed ONLY for a Jabiru engine, nothing else.  “Oh, you should build a Murphy Renegade.”  Ummm, nope.  Two-strokes are simply not an option  for me.  And on and on, with every non-LSA, or steel fuselage, all aluminum or single seat variation on the planet mentioned.

“Oh, just go find someone’s abandoned project.”  No thanks, I think I can do fine at creating my own problems, no need to try to find what someone else did wrong or “different” along the way.  I’m not traveling the country inspecting half-built (or wrecked) airframes to see if they’re suitable.  And would YOU buy that plane that was built but has been sitting for a few years, and has never flown?  Maybe there is a reason it’s never been given an airworthiness certificate.

Holy crap.  Can’t a guy pick an airplane and build it without everybody on the planet having a better idea?  No matter.  I’m building on.  I learned my lesson the first time around.  It’s really easy to get wrapped up in so much well meaning advice that you spend a few thousand hours on something like this, and never finish it.