marksires

Administrators
 View profile  See their activity

  • Content count

    927

  • Joined

  • Last visited


Everything posted by marksires



  1. marksires added a post in a topic Yamaha Apex Skytrax Adapters   

    How much horsepower is the adapter/reducer combination going to be designed for?  The full Turbo'd power or something less?  If around the 200HP range or more, that opens the engine up to a lot of experimentals.
    Mark
     
    • 0


  2. marksires added a post in a topic Finally starting new hangar!   

    Door is up and secured.  A few more issues to fix that cascaded from the pivot tube issue, but worked through them all and got it up.  Amazing how much easier it was when it actually fit.  It took us 30 minutes after we had all the fixes done to get it lifted and the pins in.  Another 30 minutes and the top rollers were done.  Of course the fixes took most of the day, so once it was up, we were done for for the day.
    That was yesterday.  Today we ran all the hydraulic lines across the top, which was tricky since there isn't a lot of room above the door, and since it is a metal building, we had to fabricate mounts to  secure them too.  But all that is done, and the next task is to put the hydraulic pumps in place, hook up the wiring, bleed the system, and then see if it goes up!
    The forklift can go live back at Sunbelt rentals yard, and my credit card will be much happier next month!  
    Mark
     
    • 1


  3. marksires added a post in a topic Hi all, I'm back home   

    Went back to Warm Minnesota from the Frozen Gulf shores?  This was the coldest winter in a long time here in North Florida.  We got some actual ice one night!  Horrible!  
    • 0


  4. marksires added a post in a topic Finally starting new hangar!   

    How thoughtful of them!
    • 1


  5. marksires added a post in a topic Finally starting new hangar!   

    From what I've read, the Harbor Freight one works well, just buy a Milwaukee blade to put on it.  But I probably don't need it.  I have an angle grinder to cut the tubes - that's what the manufacturer uses.  If I have to cut the pins, I have a metal band saw, the kind on a stand you just sit and wait for it to gnaw it's way through, then shuts itself off.  Probably better buy another blade or two though.  In fact, looking at it, I'd probably rather make  a spacer to extend the inside of the 'keeper' than cut the pin.  I have some 1/4 steel that will work perfect for that.
    Mark
     
    • 0


  6. marksires added a post in a topic Finally starting new hangar!   

    Spent several hours Sunday trying to get the door up.  Not the most fun I ever had, 16' x 45' x 4,000lbs of steel balanced on a reach forklift trying to fit it in place with what should be 1/4" clearance on either side.  Failed, it wouldn't fit, it was too wide.
    I was pretty bummed, thought I must have messed up a measurement setting the columns, and had no idea how I would fix that.  After we got the door safely back on the ground, which was almost as difficult as getting it up in the first place, I started measuring things to see what I had messed up.
    Turns out I didn't mess up after all.  After I measured the door, the pivot pin tube protrusions on the door and on the columns, the total width of the door was 45' 5/8"  The door opening is 44' 11 3/4" (have a +- 1/2", so within specs).  So I called the manufacturer Monday to see WTF was wrong.  The tube protrusions on each side of the door are supposed to be 1", they were 1 1/2" on one side, 1 5/8" on the other.  Combine that with the 1/4" narrow on the opening, and bingo, it is about 1" too wide.  Apparently the welder that put the tubes in the side supports didn't feel like measuring that day.
    The manufacturer said I could cut the tube protrusion back to 1" on each side, which I'll do.  I'll also have to cut the pivot pins down also, probably 1/2" each, since the tubes are sized so the retention bolt keeps the pin in place - shorten the tube, shorten the pin.  The tubes won't be a big deal, the wall thickness is 3/16" at the most, but the pins are 2 1/2 or 3" solid steel.
    I didn't use an bad words or yell at them, sh*t happens, and it is fixable.  However, I'll have to see what they'll offer me at Sun & Fun to keep quiet...  If I can get the 1/2" off each pin in one piece, I'll have see if I can make an appropriate medal they can present to the welder.
    That !@#$% door is going up this Saturday!
    Mark
    • 1


  7. marksires added a post in a topic Yamaha RX1 Engines   

    I suspect there are none here in Florida, unless they put them in personal watercraft as well as snowmobiles.
    • 0


  8. marksires added a post in a topic Finally starting new hangar!   

    Got the door support columns up and secured (concrete anchors at the bottom, welded to the from I-Beam at the top).  That was a royal b*tch.  18' long,  6" x 6 1/2" x 3/8" thick steel I-Beams with a 6+ foot hydraulic cylinder mounted on each of them.  That left about 2" of clearance at the top.  They weighed about 800lbs each, not something this computer nerd wants to do again anytime soon!
    Hopefully the rest of the door will be done this weekend, and I can post videos of it going up and down next week!
    Mark
     
    • 2


  9. marksires added a post in a topic Oshkosh 2018...Who’s going!   

    I'll echo the good shoes.  My Samsung Gear watch told me I walked 15 miles one of the days at Oshkosh last year.  All the days there I walked at least 7 miles, and that was with a scooter to get me to the gate.
    Mark
     
    • 0


  10. marksires added a post in a topic Blue Ridge Community College   

    Sorry it won't fly again, but I do have a suggestion for using it as a promotion.  I have the fabric off my Avid, getting ready to recover and repaint, but I'm slowly going through everything else while the covering is off.  We had an airshow in town 2 years ago (time flies....), and I took my uncovered Avid out as a static display for our EAA chapter.  It got a tremendous amount of interest, people were fascinated to see what the 'guts' of a plane looked like.  If I were you, I'd leave one wing, and the tail feathers uncovered, I think it will attract more attention.
    Mark
     
    • 1


  11. marksires added a post in a topic Finally starting new hangar!   

    The building is done!   Now on to the door.  

    • 5


  12. marksires added a post in a topic Finally starting new hangar!   

    Roof is done!  Front and rear trim to put on in the morning then the building is done, and on to the door!  Woo Hoo.  2 guys, 5 working days to do 2,500 square feet.
    Mark
     
    • 2


  13. marksires added a post in a topic Finally starting new hangar!   

    The paracord suggestion was a good one. I ordered a spool of 1,000 feet, and it arrived yesterday. We used it today.  It worked as well as the straps did for supporting the insulation to roll it out.  It isn't any faster to put up than the straps, but not having to take them out (especially if a screw goes through the strap - did that) and move them saves a ton of time.  By the time I get this hangar done, I'll know how to do this well.  I'll also know to let someone else do it next time   It has been a lot of fun though!
     
    • 3


  14. marksires added a post in a topic Finally starting new hangar!   

    I don't know what shipping would be to Alaska, but I would recommend the company I bought it from - Durobeam.  Everything has fit the way it is supposed to.  Frame is straight and level, didn't need to shim, or yank it around with a come along to get it that way either.  Kudos to my concrete guy also - he put the anchor bolts in perfectly, and the slab is level.  No cracks on the slab or the apron, even with a 30,000 lb forklift running all over both of them.
    Mark
     
    • 1


  15. marksires added a post in a topic Finally starting new hangar!   

    That's a good idea.  Even if I don't leave it up there, it is a lot less likely to get stuck with a screw.  Doesn't need a lot of strength, just need to be able to pull it tight so it rolls easy.
    Hopefully you have more time available, and more help than I do.  With 4 or 5 guys working full time, this building could probably be done in a month.  Many more than that, and they'd just be in each others way.
    The roof would be more interesting, I bet you need a steeper roof than 1/12 up there in Snow country!
    Mark
    • 0


  16. marksires added a post in a topic Finally starting new hangar!   

    More progress!  We got three panels of roofing up on  each side, only 14 more to go (on each side).  The insulation is a MAJOR pain in the butt, but my plan to use ratchet straps across the purlins for it to roll on works well.  We did that on the starter roll, then decided to not use them on the next roll.  We'll be using them on the rest.......  It is also a really good idea to take the straps out BEFORE you screw down the panel, because of course one of the screws went right through the center of the strap.....
    It is amazing to me how much my fear of heights has diminished.  When I started this every time the lift wiggled I was grabbing on in fear. Now I think I'd be halfway to the ground before I would panic if the thing fell over.  It helps the roof is basically flat, even wimpy me isn't uncomfortable walking on the panels we have up and secured.  It's only 1/12 pitch, so no real rolling off the roof if you slip worries.
     
    • 1


  17. marksires added a post in a topic BasicMED   

    I'm flying on BasicMed, so happy to be rid of the special issuance every year for sleep apnea!  No real issues, there was a doctor a mile from my house advertising basicmed exams (and DOT exams for truck drivers too).
    Mark
     
    • 1


  18. marksires added a post in a topic Watched SpaceX Falcon Heavy launch today   

    Ed, in the history of war, Korea and Nam were barely blips.  No disrespect to those that served, but compared to our long history of war, they were barely border skirmishes.  The Normandy invasion alone had 53,000 killed on just the allied side.  Iwo Jima, a little island with no use other than as an air base, had 26,000 marines killed.  The Napoleonic wars had over 3 million killed, with some estimates of civilian casualties of an additional 2-3 million.
    Without space, I can say with 100% certainty we would have had fewer advances in Medicine.  The basic science that has driven almost all of the advances of the 20th and 21st cenuturies was funded by the space race.
    No amount of money can fix the short sightedness and selfishness of people.  The water shortage and drought in South Africa is a foreseeable event that was ignored while money and time was spent elsewhere.  We'll see the same in California before long.  Building huge cities in deserts is never going to turn out well, no matter how much money is spent.
    If you want to talk about wasted money, money spent on supporting those in our society that have no desire to support themselves would fund WAY more than has ever been spent on space.  I have no issue supporting those without the ability to support themselves (disabled, etc), but too much money goes to those that just don't want to.
    Mark
     
    • 1


  19. marksires added a post in a topic Watched SpaceX Falcon Heavy launch today   

    I disagree completely Ed.  Space exploration has given us more things than I can even begin to enumerate.  Those medicines that you are getting now?  Space.  The Cat Scan, MRI and PET scanners to find those things that need killing? Space.  Better forecasting so we can better grow the crops needed to feed the vast population this earth now supports?  Space.  Have we had a major war since space exploration began?  No.  There was 20 years between WWI and WWII.  Been 80 years now.  And on and on and on.
    Mark
     
    • 0


  20. marksires added a topic in Hangar Talk   

    Watched SpaceX Falcon Heavy launch today
    It was the most awesome thing I have seen in a very long time.  When the two booster rockets did their synchronized landing at the Cape, it was mind boggling.  No word yet on the water landing, but unlike the song, 2 out of 3 in this case is still freakin amazing.  They didn't just hit a home run, it was like every batter in the first game of the World Series hit a home run every time they came to bat.
    Any you have to admire Musks style if nothing else.  We now have an electric car tooling through space on its way to Mars....  With a dummy in a space suit in the drivers seat, and 'Don't Panic' on the dashboard display. 
    • 11 replies
    • 1,021 views


  21. marksires added a post in a topic Airdale Subaru for sale   

    There you go Jim, you can come by, help me with my roof, then go pick up the Airdale 
    • 1


  22. marksires added a post in a topic Glue on ribs   

    For basic strength, both Polyurethanes (Gorilla Glue) and Epoxies are stronger than the wood, so with either if properly joined the wood will fail before the glue.  Both have good water resistance.  Poly is a bit better at UV resistance, but it is more sensitive to proper joining.  If the joint isn't clamped and tight, it will foam or froth to fill it in, and that greatly reduces the strength.  As flywise said, T88 is proven, Poly, not so much.  But, this is experimental aviation....  Just have someone notify us if it doesn't work please! 
     
    • 0


  23. marksires added a post in a topic Avid 1581 is getting close   

    Congrats!
    Mark
     
    • 0


  24. marksires added a post in a topic Our Website is Live   

    TJ, the web site looks great, you are way ahead of your peers.  If I was looking to build in Iowa, that web site would at least get you the opportunity to bid. 
    Mark
     
    • 1


  25. marksires added a post in a topic Finally starting new hangar!   

    I hope it works as well as the demo does.  I saw them at Reno Air races a couple of years ago, and at Oshkosh.  After I get it up and working, I'll do a video and post the link here.
    Mark
     
    • 0