Tuesday, September 30, 2008
The move to Colorado with camping
We have been packing non-stop for a week and today was THE day. We were going to pack up our vehicles and leave Illinois for good.
The plan for the move was a simple one:
Day 1 Drive 500 miles, camp for the night
Day 2 Drive 500 miles, arrive in Fort Collins
The reason for the camping was three fold. It was cheap, we would be close to our vehicles which contained all of our worldly possessions, and we liked to camp.
To make communication between the two vehicles easy along the 1000 miles, Mike picked up a set of two Motorola short wave radios. We had wanted to get those for a while for hiking and our dual-sport rides anyway. This way we didn’t have to use our cell phones just to say “I need to use the bathroom soon” or “I’ll need gas within the next hour”.
We were hoping to leave Chicagoland before noon, but things like packing always take longer then estimated. By 3PM we were on the road. My Acura hatchback had never had this much stuff in it. Every inch of space was being used, every crevice was utilized. I actually ran out of room and had to leave some things behind, but I was still amazed how much actually fit in this little car. Mikes 4Runner was also fully packed.
Leaving Chicagoland just before the worst of the rush hour traffic
We managed to get out of Dodge before the rush hour traffic got too congested. Mike had looked for camp sites on the internet at the half way point between Chicagoland to Fort Collins. We were going to spend the night around Lincoln, Nebraska tonight, there was a campground near the interstate.
This picture didn't really come out, the glare of the window doesn't allow you to see how packed my car really is
The small folding trailer that Mike had bought to tow his XR before we even met holds two bikes nicely
Mike couldn’t drive too fast with the trailer carrying his XR and my 954RR. I followed his truck making sure the bikes stayed put the whole way.
Heading in to the pretty sunset
Around 11PM we pulled off the interstate and went looking for the campground at the Eugene Mahoney State Park. The park was enormous. We thought that after hours we could just pick a spot at the campground and drop the money in to a self-registration box. This wasn’t the case here, the signs said that we needed to go to the visitor center/lodge which was open 24 hours and register there.
Amazing looking visitor center and lodge at the Eugene Mahoney State Park in Nebraska
The signage in the park wasn’t too clear on where this visitor center was located at and the park was huge and it was very dark. We drove in circles but finally found the visitor center, registered for a camp site, paid $20 and were on our way to locate the campground and set up the tent.
It only took a few minutes to set up camp since there was no unpacking necessary, everything was easily accessible. Since this was an electric site and it was chilly tonight, we plugged in our electric blanket. By midnight we were tucked in and waiting for the sleep fairy to sprinkle us the magic sleepy dust. I usually don’t sleep very well while camping, waking up a many times during the night. I was very amazed how well I slept tonight, I didn’t wake up at all until the alarm clock went off the next morning. The overnight temps stayed in the mid 40's.
Monday, September 29, 2008
Sunday, September 28, 2008
The Plenum Project
Here's an obscure image that will immediately be recognized by anyone who has built a Velocity XL. Its a fiberglass cup made from laying up 3 layers of BID over a yogurt cup to make an access for the oil dipstick. You will note that this is a fine Acme product. Appropriately Wile E. Coyote-esque for a homebuilt aircraft. This is going to be WAY too much information for anyone not building. However, I spent a substantial amount of time trying to figure out which half of the plenum forms went on which half of the engine, so....here goes and I hope some builders find it useful.
Here is the copilot side view of the plenum being joined with the runners and the flange being added to join the two halves. 
This is a top view of the plenum and the runners being installed. Note the yogurt cup being bonded in place with micro to be trimmed and glassed in the next phase. 
Here is the pilot side of the plenum illustrating how you make the flange to join the two halves and to join the runners to the plenum. Note that there are substantial gaps around the propeller end of the case. As you will see in later pictures, this gets fixed by putting duct tape on the engine and making a small flange to make a perfect fit. 
Here are all the parts of the (finally) completed time sink - I mean plenum. The small black gadget in the middle is an appliance to hold the forward pilot side portion of the plenum tight against the engine. The plenum ended up consisting of 11 parts and LOTS of nutplates. 
I used barbecue paint on the plenum on my last plane. This time I used it on the inside, but used gloss black high temp engine enamel from Pep Boys on the outside just because it looks better. Wait till you see what a difference painting made.
Here is a front view of the plenum after painting. You'll be surprised how much paint it soaks up and how porous the fiberglass is without filler. Both the inside and outside are now painted with high temp engine enamel. What a difference painting makes. My wife saw it and said "Now it looks like an airplane part!" I have always felt that with fiberglass airplane construction everything looks worse and worse until the finish is applied, when it miraculously looks beautiful.
Here's the pilot's side of the plenum. Firewall side is to the left. 
Here is a view of the pilot's side with the inspection hole cover removed. Some builders prefer individual inspection openings and covers, but one large cover really stiffens up the whole plenum. 
This is a view of the pilot's side of the plenum. The firewall would be on the left and the prop on the right. You can see the flange for the air line to the supplemental oil cooler. You will note that the access cover for the spark plug inspection openings is back in place. 
Here is a view of the copilot's side of the plenum and the flange for the air intake to the fuel servo. Just to the left of the flange, you can see the inspection cover back in place over the spark plug access holes. 
Here is a view of the firewall side of the plenum. You can see the parts of the runner that attach to the firewall at the bottom of the picture. They will attach with one sheet metal screw on each side of the runner and nutplates on the top that are captured by the cowling screws through the fuselage. Above them are the slip joints. When putting in the nutplates for them you have to decide whether to attach them to the short runners which are mounted on the firewall or the long ones attached to the plenum. By trial and error, I found that the nutplates need to go on the side with the long plenum or else the top of the long plenum will sag and create a leak. (more holes laboriously created and filled for the greater good)
Here is a top view of the finished product. There are still some imperfections in the finish, but I am trying to remember that it is an engine plenum that will be hidden by the cowl and not to get too crazy. I am satisfied with the look and fit. What's more, I don't have any skin left on my fingers after all the filling and sanding in the little corners. Thursday, September 25, 2008
Wednesday, September 24, 2008
Tuesday, September 23, 2008
Back home for our last week in Illinois
After driving 2,000 miles in the last 2+ days we were back home, arriving around 9PM. We were pooped.
A nasty wreck on I-80
We were so glad we were driving the other direction, the traffic was backed up for miles
Some fall colors already popping up along I-80
“Phase I” was complete. Three of the bikes made it to Fort Collins, plus all the motorcycle gear, our tools, camping equipment and lots of boxes with other stuff.
“Phase II” would take place next week. In Phase II we were going to try and move the rest of our stuff using our vehicles. Since we were still in the middle of packing, we didn’t really know what we were taking with us and how much room we would have in our vehicles.
The things we were not taking with us would go into storage in my mom’s basement until we could get it next year. The packing process was actually a bit complicated and time consuming. Go through all the stuff, throw away or give away stuff that is no longer needed. Pack the items I wanted to take with, pack the other stuff that was going in to storage. The stuff I was taking with was boxed up and left upstairs, the stuff going in to storage was left downstairs. This was I could visually see what was going and how much of it there was. Trying to predict what I would actually need in the next 9 months was the hardest part of packing.
Monday, September 22, 2008
Drive, Unload, Drive Some More
We got up with the sun and got going. We were hopping to get to the house that we were going to be renting to drop off our stuff before it got dark. We were already running behind schedule since we pulled over to sleep and because we were towing the heavy trailer and couldn’t drive very fast, we didn’t have any more time to waste today. If we continued without stopping too much, we could make it to Fort Collins before 6PM.
A new day starts at the rest stop
To make room in the truck for sleeping, we placed the top cases on the bikes
Then just a few miles past North Platte, Nebraska one of the trailer tires blew out. We pulled over on the side of the interstate and Mike started to remove the wheel with the blown tire so he could put the spare tire on. While trying to get the wheel off the trailer he realized the tire that blew out was the spare.
Apparently, who ever rented the trailer before had put the spare on the trailer but probably didn’t tell the rental place. The regular wheel which was supposed to be on the trailer, was sitting in the back of the trailer and it had a plug in it.
The spare was a bit smaller then the regular wheel, but it wasn’t something that was very noticeable. Mike had checked the tire pressure on the trailer before we left Chicagoland, he didn’t notice the tires on the trailer were different sizes. It wasn’t until he took the wheel out of the back of the trailer and placed it next to the tire that was on the trailer that you could see one tire was smaller then the other.
Mike getting all the stuff out to change the flat
We were lucky that we had of our tools with us, since we were actually moving the tool chest on this trip. The wheel with the blown tire didn’t want to come off easily. Once the nuts were loose, the shredded tread had to be untangled. It took about 45 minutes for Mike to get the wheel with the blown tire off and the good wheel mounted on to the trailer. But we couldn’t just continue to Fort Collins this way.
Blown trailer tire
We had no spare now and the tire on the trailer already had a plug in it. Before we went any further we needed to get a new spare tire. We turned around and headed back to North Platte, there was a tire place right off the interstate but unfortunately they didn’t have any tires that would fit our rim. Mike called the trailer rental company to make sure they would reimburse him for the tire he was about to purchase. They said they would. Since this place didn’t have the correct tire, they were nice enough to make some phone calls and found a tire place that had the proper tire in stock. This other place was located on the other side of town.
Waiting for the tire to be mounted
We made it over to the other tire place, then waited for the new tire to get mounted. The service was pretty fast and 45 minutes later we had a new spare tire mounted and we could hit the interstate again. Unfortunately, we lost some 3 hours and would be getting in to Fort Collins late now, maybe too late to unload the trailer. The owner of the house was expecting us there before noon and 6PM. We called the owner but no one was there. At this rate we might have to spend the night in Fort Collins and try to unload the trailer tomorrow morning.
We were going to try and stay around Fort Collins, that way we were near by and could drive to the house and unload the trailer within a 30 minute notice. As we were trying to figure out where we should spend the night, the owner of the house called us back and we were told we could still unload our trailer tonight. We arrived at the house at 9:50PM, by 11:15PM we were done unloading and we were heading back to the interstate. By 2AM we could not drive any longer and pulled over to take a nap off the interstate. We ended up sleeping in the truck again.
Sunday, September 21, 2008
A quick trip to Colorado and back
Yes, I said a “quick trip“ and I meant it. Quick as in drive a 1000 miles to Fort Collins, Colorado, unload the trailer, and turn around and drive the 1000 miles back to Illinois.
After looking around for the cheapest trailer that we could rent and transport 3 bikes with, we have found the winner. The cost was $35 per day. We really wanted to get this done in two days. Since the trailer rental was closed on Sunday, Mike picked the trailer up before the place closed on Saturday. We weren’t planning on leaving until Sunday late morning, since Saturday evening we already had plans with our friends - our going away party.
Mike loaded the three bikes in to the trailer Saturday afternoon before we the party. It took hours since pitting the third bike was a bit tricky, the trailer wasn’t actually made for 3 bikes, only 2. It had only two wheel chocks so the third bike had to be secured without a wheel chock. The trailer was big and my XT was small, after a few tries Mike got it in there behind the other two bikes.
The ST3, Tiger and XT ready to move to Colorado
Figuring the tough job was already done, getting the three bikes to fit on the trailer, we went to the party. Sunday morning we were going to fill the trailer and truck up with more stuff and head out to Colorado. We wanted to be back in Chicagoland on Tuesday before 6PM to return the trailer. The trailer rental place was not charging us for Sunday since they were closed on Sunday and we originally wanted to rent the trailer on Monday and return it on Wednesday. We were hoping to return the trailer on Tuesday afternoon and only pay to use it two days.
The going away party was a lot of fun and we got home way later then we thought we would, which means we got up way later on Sunday morning then we hoped for.
We started loading up the truck and trailer at 9AM, trying to fill the entire floor area of the trailer and the back of Mike's 4Runner. This took longer then we anticipated and we were finally done in the late afternoon. We left Chicagoland at 5PM in the middle of rush hour.
A stop for some food before jumping on the interstate, we were packing the trailer since morning and haven't stopped to eat all day
We originally thought that we could drive straight through, one of us would drive and one would sleep, but we were both tired by midnight so we decided to pull over at a rest stop, move the stuff out of the back of the truck to the front of the truck, and get some sleep.
Tuesday, September 16, 2008
Star Summer Style 2008 - Sexy Star Bikinis
Vanessa Hudgens
Blake Lively and Maria Menounos
Hilary Swank
Kristin Cavallari
Ashlee Simpson
Penelope Cruz
Mena Suvari
Mischa Barton
Ashley Tisdale
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)