On the Street....Sarah R. in Black, White & Gold, Paris

On the Street....The Hat That Makes the Suit, Paris

I love the less structured, relaxed nature of his suit, but the whole look rests on the coordinated slouch of his hat.

This is also one of those looks that, if worn exactly the same way as this gentleman, would look great on the right girl.

Rides.

On Friday, we mentioned the epic 200+ mile weekend ride some of the Velocity crew was going on. From all the stories from the trip, it ended up being a great ride for all despite the rain, the mud, and the Amish. Yes, Amish. One of the riders and friends of ours, Bob, posted some of his photos over on Facebook. Check it out.

We'll be the first to boast about it, Grand Rapids has some of the best bike shops around and some of the most knowledgeable staff with a passion for all things cycling. One of those is the manager of the Village Bike Cascade, Brian Krause, who recently took gold in the mountain tandem division at this past weekend at the State Games of Michigan held here at Cannonsburg Ski Area just outside of Grand Rapids. Brian and his stoker, Nick Fortney, road to victory on a custom set of wheels we built for Brian: 700c 40 hole Cliffhangers laced up with half white and half red spokes to our tandem disc hubs. Hats off to you, maybe a precursor to Iceman this fall?

Brian and Nick weren't the only ones rocking Velocity wheels to the podium at the games; the Founders Racing Team also had a strong presence at Cannonsburg. With Nicola Fester and Sue Swinger taking Gold and Silver in the Female Expert/Elite SS, Scott Thenikl taking Gold in the sport 30-39, Josh Hogeterp taking Bronze in Expert 30-39, Wade Bagnall taking Bronze in the Expert 40-49 and Rick Plite and Dennis Murphy taking Silver and Bronze in the Expert 50+. For a full write up on the games from the Founders crew, check it out here.

This year we have also had the privilege to sponsor the Steven K Sports Race Team from out in California. The Steven K team has been ranked the #1 team in California the last 5 years, competing in a full spectrum of mountain cycling: cross-country, Super D, marathon, downhill and also cyclecross. This year, the team looks to have kicked off just as strong, claiming victory and strong finishes on some of our VXC and Blunt pro level wheelsets check out their team site along with their Facebook page.

SPEAR Course

On Saturday September 11th we are hosting a SPEAR / PDR Intro Course at the box from 12:00pm-4:30pm. Ask us for more details, in the meantime here are some videos for you to get an idea:







{A} Warm Up / Mobilise
{B} Power Clean Skill/Technique Focus
{C} Power Clean 3-3-3+ @ 70%-80%-90% of 90% 1RM
{D} Death by Clean and Jerk
{E} Stretch / Roll

Post reps for 3+ set of Power Cleans and Minutes For Death by Clean and Jerk to comments

N929X Returns Home

I have finally been able to fly my own plane at my own airport as I've been dreaming of doing for so long- and it was GREAT! Here is how it went.

Velocity Chief Pilot John Abraham called midweek last week to advise that the plane was working well and all the hours were flown off. I couldn't afford to take the time off from work to go down to Sebastian and fly back with him, so we decided he would fly it up to Pennsylvania Saturday morning, give me some dual and fly home Sunday after lunch.

The very idea of being able to fly up the entire coast from Florida to Pennsylvania before lunch takes some getting used to. (and I can't wait to get used to it)

I watched John's progress on FlightAware.com. As you will see from this screen shot, he averaged better than 190 knots despite winds and bad bumps. Impressive.

When the ETA got to 30 minutes, I drove over to the airport, walked out to the runway and started looking to the South into the haze, trying to spot the plane.

______________________________________________________________




.....then there it was. It looks different than the other traffic and you can tell the sound of a Velocity from other aircraft.

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It looks good. I direct John over to transient parking and run over to say hello.

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I'm thrilled that my plane is back, but it's really hot, John's had a long flight and it's lunch time, so we tie her down and head back to the house for lunch. I keep looking back as we walk away- I finally have a working airplane! It looks cool and drew curious pilots within minutes.

____________________________________________________________


Back to the airport to get some dual before dinner. I really enjoyed this. The plane pushes me back in the seat on the first takeoff, we rotate and seem to climb like a fighter plane. This is what I've been dreaming of and is a real contrast to the months practicing here in an Arrow. We fly around just getting comfortable with the handling and avionics then shoot some landings. I manage not to terrify John and actually do pretty well. Time to button her up for the night, then a little more work tomorrow.

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Saturday night and it's finally time to take a deep breath and relax. I can fly, do simple navigation with the GRT's and make a respectable landing holding off the nose gear and everything.

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Sunday morning and off to the airport early. I need to land a lot shorter if I'm going to put it into my 2,200 foot home field.

John uses Google Earth to measure the distance between two taxiway turn offs which are 1,800 feet apart. I need to land after the first and come to a complete stop before the second. We've only got 2 hours to get this down and get over to Smoketown, then get him to the airport in Philadelphia.

I made it a few times and missed it a few times. I need more practice and we are out of time. We decide to swap seats and see if John can do it.

Of course, John was able to put her down and stop in less than half the runway, probably about 1,100 feet. I can't do that at this point.

Here she is safely back in my hangar at Smoketown at last. The blue tape all over the plane marks the little fixes I need to do before flying again, such as reinforcing the NACA inlets, fairing in the rudder/wing junction and getting rid of the popsicle stick spacers, etc. Then, I'll fly it over to Chester County and spend a few days practicing short landings before bringing it back solo.

I'm currently in a situation with the paint shop about trying to get the paint work done. I'm trying not to get put off too far due to missing my slot due to the damage and trip to Sebastian for repairs. It could get painted as soon as next week or as far away as January. You can guess which I'm pushing for. If they can't or won't take me in, I'll look for another shop, but I'd prefer not to as this one does really nice work.

Oshkosh looks hopeless at this point. I just don't have enough time to get comfortable enough for an 800 mile solo trip yet. I'll probably just go commercial. I'm going to shoot for the big canard fly in at Rough River as her unveiling, hopefully in final paint.



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Here is a quick video of John's initial landing at Chester County.



More to come next week. Either paint or flying - we'll see.

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At Dries Van Noten....All White, Paris

On the Street...via Valfonda, Florence

2 for 1

There are moments, moments where the stars align and greatness shines through. Often through adversity and hard work, sometimes through a chain of 'random' events. This neither of those: the JBolt '...because we ride' photo shoot.

A simple equation: 1977 Ford E-250 van + a Milwaukee track frame X (eerily similar paint scheme + Thin Lizzy playing the background) = greatness.

Sure, first and foremost we love bikes. We ride bikes. But a van with this vintage, with this much character and a recliner in the back we couldn't help but highlight both. Today I give you, JBolt's write up on them both:

I got this bike a little over a year ago on a trade deal between Velocity and the fine folks at Milwaukee/Ben’s. I wanted a light, American made, fast, cool looking bike to zip around town on. Also, they made it in the Blatz brown and gold colorway which was the biggest selling point as Blatz is the finest American beer of all time (and hard to find in Grand Rapids). The picture of the bike is in front of my 1977 Ford E-250. They are pretty much the same paint job and both are total badass modes of transport.

Milwaukee Orange One frame/fork 62cm
Sugino Crank/Ring/B.B.
Brooks saddle
Easton Post
No name stem, bars, and pedals from the Freewheeler junkyard.
Continental Tires

The wheels on this are my favorite part. They are a classic example of “having cool stuff at your disposal and a bit of time after hours”. The front is a one of a kind black and mirror flake Deep-V modified crow’s foot laced to the Velocity Hollow Axle track hub. The rear is a Bronze Deep-V snowflake laced to a one off proto-type track hub made right here in Michigan by our good buds over at Aerospoke. That hub is by far my favorite part of the bike.

Adam also asked that I give a small write up of the van as-well. It’s a ’77 E-250 ¾ ton. I got this little lady for $900 off of Craigslist not too long ago. It came with the green faux leather recliner and foot stool, custom carpet from floor to ceiling (including the inside door panels), built in cabinets, and up to date stereo system housed inside the coffee table. It also came with a tee shirt with a picture of the van on it…. I’ve never been one to get all chubbed out by cars, but I love a good van. I love this van.

WOD

Simplicity

{A} Warm Up / Mobilise - Skipping / Hollow Rocks
{B} 5 Rounds For Time:
5 Deadlift 100kg/60kg
10 Box Jumps (24in/20in)
{C} Farmers Carry 400m (40kg/20kg)
{D} Stretch / Roll

Post time for {B} and {C} to comments.

On the Street...Color Story, Milano

On the Street... via Sant'Andrea, Milano

This young lady looks like a classic Italian film goddess of the 50's and 60's: a modern, sharpened Sophia Loren.

The tattoos take her look to a entirely different place. Honestly, I can't decide if they add or distract from her natural beauty but, with that added edge, it's hard to take your eyes off her.

WOD

This was posted on the CrossFit Affiliate main page today as a question to CrossFit affiliate owners and I think it applies to a few of our members (remember I recently went through a phase of not posting the WOD and only telling you the WOD after the warm up, this is why!!!!!!

Affiliate Scenario: You publish your WODs on your blog before they happen. After a few lightly attended workouts, you suspect some of your members are "cherry-picking" their workouts. What do you do? Talk to them? Stop publishing your WODs? Or just ignore the situation?

Post your thoughts on "cherry picking" to comments.

{A} Warm Up / Mobilise
{B} Week 2 531 Thruster 3-3-3+ @ 70%-80%-90% of 90% 1RM
{C} Mini Cindy
AMRAP 10 Mins
5 Pull Ups
10 Press Ups
15 Squats
{D} Stretch / Roll

Post reps for 3+ set of thrusters and rounds completed to comments

Hey-lo, Halo

If you might remember, a few months back we were excited to about the release of our newest reflective rims with Halo coatings. This extremely durable graphite black powder-coated rim that shines bright white with direct light has been a solid seller for us since its release.

We've been in contact with Arleigh over at CommutebyBike.com and Bikeshopgirl.com about doing a review on the them and this past week we were finally able to get a set built up for her with some Shimano Alfine hubs. We've outfitted her with some Halo Dyad's for review and can't wait for her to get some ride time on them. Be sure to be checking out her sites and we'll be reposting her thoughts here.

Back in January when we were prepping for the Halo release we did an ad with Urban Velo. The final product is shown above but I figured I could show you a few of the photos that didn't make the cut but are nevertheless show off the Halo powdercoating. We didn't use any sort of back light, simply just the flash of the camera, providing what the rims look naturally when light hits them. You can see more photos of the Halo rims in action on our Facebook page.

On the Street...rue Jean-Pierre Timbaud, Paris

On the Street...Shirtdress Shirt, Paris

WOD

{A} Warm Up / Mobilise
{B} Press 5-5-5+ @ 65%-75%-85% of 90% 1RM
{C} "2 Minute Defence"
5 rounds at 60kg/40kg -
1 Power Clean 3 Hang Squat Cleans 2 Push Jerks 50m Run
Rest 2 minutes
5 rounds at 60kg/40kg -
1 Power Clean 3 Hang Squat Cleans 2 Push Jerks 50m Run

Post reps 5+ set Press and time to comments

Top Looks....Junya Watanabe, Paris

Paris is off to a slow start this season.

Have you seen any shows that you really love?

The first show that I really liked was Junya Watanabe.

The humor and quirkiness of Junya were still evident this season, but they were toned down to a point that made the collection even more desirable. Some Junya diehards commented afterward that the collection seemed "too commercial." I know they didn't mean it in a good way, but that commercial element made the collection so much more desirable for me.

Looking After Your Hands

I've posted on this topic before but it's worth mentioning again especially for the newer CrossFitters at CFV. 

Andy noticed a few of you tearing up your hands on Wednesday and so he has this advice for you:

Guys and Girls as your times are starting to drop and your reps get higher, you may be noticing that the most valuable part of your body starts to change-YOUR HANDS.

Generally its the callists that form which cause the problem. We all know that callists are created to protect our hands from repetitive use etc, but they are also the root of the problem-torn skin.

Quick Science lesson, the callists them selves are strong but it is the soft skin surrounding them which tear causing problems.

Without our hands we can't lift, swing, hang etc. So how do we look after them?  Here are a few pointers:

 1) Gloves- self explanatory (but frowned upon!!) Seriously if we are preparing for the unknown and unknowable then chances are we won't have our gloves to hand if we ever need to do something there and then! It's far better to build up some callouses and maintain them see 2&3!

2)Sandpaper- on dry hands use a course sand paper to sand down the callists

3)Corn peeler- 'the last measure'- after soaking in water, very carefully take callist down to the softer skin

 

Before doing options 2+3 asks the trainers in the gym.

 

LOOK AFTER YOUR HANDS

Rest Day / Make Up Day / Skills Day

Open Gym 4-6pm work those weaknesses!!

On the Street...First Day of Summer, Florence

Fridays are...

Fridays are... well, Fridays. Unless, that is, you went and got your face was melted off by ZZ Top like half the Velocity crew last night or you rocked a 10 mile ride on a high wheeler like Jacobi and I or you prepped for the 200+ mile weekend ride that Rach, Ryan, Jacobi, Matt and a few others are going on. Needless to say, we are firing at all cylinders today.

A riddle for you today... what is a bigger 'V' and mostly white with offsets of black?

A sweet Velociraptor wearing backpack???

No.

A variable speed white ceiling fan?

No.

A mildly awkward 'French connection Sydney stripe' V-neck cardigan?

No.

A special edition B43 Track set with it's white triple walled, 43mm deep 32H B43 rim; professionally handbuilt on black solid flange, hollow axle Velocity Fixed/Freewheel Track hubs with white 14 gauge spoke and black brass nipples; offered at a killer price through your local bicycle shop, most assuredly providing all the stiffness, rigidity, strength and bling for your fixie?

[With no attempt at another run on sentence...] YES!

Get out and ride this weekend! Enjoy it and be safe.

On the Street...Eva, Florence

Name that Rim

Can you name the Velocity rim/wheel seen in these videos?

A.

B.

NYC BFF'10 Antics 2 from WRAHW on Vimeo.

C.

MaiHiro x urban1cycle x Velocity USA from greg deese on Vimeo.

D.

The wheels seen are shown below to give you a hint. If you haven't figured it out, the answer will be given on our Twitter at 3pm EST.

Next Level

If you want to take your CrossFit to the next level and develop some of the more complex movements and skills you need to have individual attention simple. 1 to 1 coaching is the way to achieve this! At £30 per hour and at a time that suits you, it is more than worth it but if you want to share the cost get two mates to come with you for a small group session (max 3) then its only £10 each for some high quality individual coaching. You will speed up your progression rate massively!! Email crossfitvelocity@googlemail.com to arrange.

{A} Warm Up / Mobilise
{B} Overhead Series Technique Focus
{C}For Time:
Run 400m
30 Press 40/20kg
Run 400m
30 Push Press 40/20kg
Run 400m
30 Push Jerk 40/20kg
{D}Stretch/Roll

Post time to comments

On the Street....Multi-functional belt, Florence

Our Fearless Leader

Over on Dirt Rag's Website, they have a little series going highlighting the leaders in the industry. Last week, our chief, John Black was interviewed for the series. Enjoy:

Bicycle Industry Insider Profile: John Black

Posted: June 23rd, 2010 by Jeff Lockwood

Aside from bicycles, of course, the main reason I choose to continue my futile search for fortune in the bicycle industry is because of the people I know and meet. There’s no shortage of extremely smart and passionate people who are insanely interesting, individualistic personalities. Sure it’s cool to be around famous athletes from time to time, but I much more deeply value the less publicly visible people that make the bicycle world go ’round. As such, I’ve decided to revive a special online series where we do a very brief standardized interview with some of these individuals: The Bicycle Industry Insider Profile Series. I want to share the stories of these people with the rest of the world through the Dirt Rag and Bicycle Times web sites. This week we have…

Name: John Black

Hometown: Grand Rapids, Michigan

Current location: Same, lived here my entire life.

What do you do for/with/to bicycles? My brother Tom and I are partners, Velocity is our company. Together, along with the best people in the industry (maybe the whole planet!), we try to provide high quality, unique rims and wheels to all businesses in the cycling community.

What’s the best thing about your job? There are many best things about my job, I absolutely love it, and I can’t imagine doing anything else. Knowing what it takes to produce a rim from start to finish, I get a real sense of satisfaction when I see some one rolling down the street on our rims.

I like taking an idea and bringing it to fruition. I especially like it when it works! We don’t always hit a home run , but when we do, it is a great feeling.

What’s the toughest part of your job? Paperwork, I hate it! Jumping through all the hoops that our heavy handed federal, state, and local governments require is a major pain in the a**.

What was the path that led you to work with bicycles? It was the spring of 1978, I had just turned 14. I was getting real tired of cleaning dog kennels, which was my first real job other than delivering papers, mowing lawns and shoveling driveways. Tom was managing Alger Cyclery, a local bike shop, and I begged him for a job. I wore him down, and he finally made me an offer. You can see that I have been riding his coat tails for a long, long time. I felt very fortunate to be making a whopping $3.65 per hour…at the time I didn’t know what I was going to do with all of that money. There were several occasions that I was nearly fired. Bike wrenching did not come naturally to me, and it took me weeks just to figure out which end of the screwdriver to hold. Eventually, I figured things out, Tom moved on, and I became manager. In the mid-80’s Tom moved to Australia, and started tinkering in his shed. The first Velocity product was a water bottle cage. He contacted me at the bike shop and asked if I would be willing to bring in some of the cages to see how they would go. Over time, he successfully made his first rim, and I brought those in as well. In 1991 or so, Tom and I started talking about the possibility of me quitting my job at the bike shop and starting Velocity USA. We incorporated in August of 1992, abd by the summer of 93 it was my full time gig. I haven’t looked back since.

What was your first bicycle? My first bike was a purple Schwinn Bantam that was handed down to me from my sister. Being the youngest of five kids, I got all the used worn-out crap that my brothers and sisters no longer wanted. I got my first new bike on my 8th birthday in 1972. It was a red Schwinn Speedster—I loved that bike. The first bike I bought was a 1976 Schwinn Superior. I bought it within days of starting my job at Alger. My first several paychecks went right back to my boss in order to pay for the bike. I am still riding that bike today, and plan on being buried with it.

What bike do you currently ride the most? A white Milwaukee fixed gear that my staff bought for me last year. It was one of the nicest things anyone has ever done for me. It is a great bike and a thrill to ride.

Where is your favorite place to ride? Anywhere and everywhere. Running out of pavement doesn’t stop me. If it looks interesting, that’s the direction I go.

What music goes through your head while you ride (literally or figuratively)? Whatever my iPod is pumping out at the moment, which is usually oldies, classic rock, and anything that came out of Motown. In my opinion, the best music was written in the 50s and 60s. I mean, how can you not like Great Balls of Fire by Jerry Lee (The Killer) Lewis?! There is some good stuff from the 70s too.

What are your interests aside from bicycles? My wife (high school sweetheart) of nearly 24 years is of great interest to me. I enjoy traveling with her, which doesn’t happen nearly enough. But now that our youngest boy will be a senior in high school this fall, the time is coming when we can blow Dodge a little more often.

If you weren’t working around bicycles, what do you think you’d be doing? After being in the bike industry for 32 years, I just can’t imagine doing anything else. I am exactly where I want to be.

Please share one of your favorite stories you’ve seen or been a part of while involved with the bicycle industry: Hmmm, that’s tough, it seems like each new day brings a new favorite story. I suppose one of my favorite stories was in the early days of Velocity…when I was knocking on doors and making phone calls to introduce myself and our company. Many people, including names that more than a few people would recognize, told me that a new rim company was the last thing this industry needed. They went on to say that basically: my efforts would prove to be futile, there just wasn’t any need, or room for another rim company. Well, we are still here, and I am glad I didn’t listen to them.

Who would you choose for the next subject for the Bicycle Industry Insider Profile Series? This is my most difficult question to answer, there are so many fantastic people in our little industry. Seeing as how I have to make a choice, I pick David Cory of Quality Bicycle Products.

Why? David is the brand manager for Handspun wheels at QBP, he loves bicycles, and he is a wealth of knowledge. If I ever have a bicycle related question, he usually has the answer. He is generous with his time and the information he gives us. Besides that, he is just plain nice.

Member of the Month

A new feature at CFV will be our Member Of The Month award which will be awarded based on a number of different factors such as attendance, effort, CFV website posts, improvements in technique / numbers / times etc. The winner will receive a free 1 hour personal training session and will also get to programme a WOD with some assistance from us for the rest of the classes!

Our first recipient of the award is the Slug. Si has seen huge improvements in a number of areas. His ROM has improved, his numbers are up and times are down he follows a paleo diet and has bought into CrossFit 100%. He could receive this award based on a number of factors but gets it for being our top poster to comments! Its always great for us as coaches to read your feedback in comments after WOD's as well as it being important for you to track your progress! Congrats Si!

{A}- Skipping/warmup (5 minutes of double under practice- shoulder mobility, glute stretch)
{B}- 5-5-5+ Power cleans @ 65% 75% 85% of 90% 1RM
{C}Run 200m(20kg/10kg)
21-15-9 KB Swing (24/16) or Wall Ball
T2B
Run 400m
{D}Warm down with trainer

Post reps for 5+ set of power cleans and time to comments

Not Hiding Behind Her Uniform, Florence

This young lady was one of the cleaning crew at Pitti Uomo.

She wore the same green uniform as all the other young cleaning ladies but, as you can imagine, she was the only one that really stood out in that crowd.

Of course I really don't know anything about her but her stylistic choices for her hair, piercings, etc. give us a good place to start.

Uniforms are, by nature, an attempt to make people conform to a code. I always find it interesting when people are able to play within the set boundaries of a code while still not totally losing their own uniqueness.

Final Fly Off Fix Adventures

It's been a while since I posted. I made the switch to an Apple and am still figuring things out. In the meantime, a lot has happened.

The fly off was going on in an expedited fashion down at the factory following the repair to the nose following my unfortunate incident in April. No matter what, you have to expect some glitches and gremlins during the fly off. That's the whole point of the restricted flight test regime. Mine included a number of expected issues and some real puzzlers. I offer the descriptions of the problems and the fixes for the benefit of those who have the fly off period yet to come.

The first issue was a flutter in the rudders at higher speeds. This is easily fixed by shimming them out as set forth below.

Next, there were some rattles and squeaks which were tracked down and corrected. Don't ignore ANY unusual noises or control feel. For example, a clicking noise in one right aileron hinge turned out to be a loose nut on the bolt attaching the aileron torque tube to the bell crank. I tightened it and the noise stopped. If ignored, it would have worn the hole and created slop, or worse.

There were leaks and seeps in the hydraulic system. My A&P at home told me you can't really claim to understand your hydraulic system until you are soaked in red fluid and know what it tastes like. (Then again, he may mean me in particular).

2 weeks ago, John had flown off 20 hours and I went down to Sebastian on Wednesday night with the intention of flying off the last 20 hours on Thursday through Saturday, then flying home with John on Sunday. I ended up having a much more frustrating and much more exciting stay than anticipated.

The plane had been puzzling everyone because the faster it went the more up trim was required, until finally it ran out of available trim. This is the opposite of what is expected. You should have to add more and more nose down trim the faster you go. I don't like atypical problems or mysterious flying characteristics. We decided to see if a stronger trim force would work, on the theory that either the trim spring was weak or not getting enough travel. We added a stronger spring and a 1/2 inch spacer.

This is when the exciting part came along. First, the stronger spring and spacer didn't help at all. I could take it up to 190 knots indicated, but had to pull back pretty hard not to nose down. I then did a sloppy pattern and ended up too high on final. Just as I noticed this, my Aerocomposite prop stuck in cruise pitch. Now I was really high. Add power to go around, again with the prop stuck at cruise, and get a very anemic 100 fpm at full power. Then, during the go around, the down and locked lights flicker on and off. Is the gear down? Better cycle it, only when the gear is cycled, the pump won't stop and the breaker pops. Great.

Nervous landing, then the obvious decision that it can't fly again until all these issues are corrected. I am disappointed, but Duane's comment brings me around, "Don't hate it, fix it!"

He's absolutely right. I am in the best place in the world to deal with crazy issues like this. Honestly, this could have taken me months to fix at my little airport back home. Instead, I got them all sorted out in 2 days at the builders assistance center. I've laid out the problems and fixes below in the hope they help someone out.

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The gear light turned out to be a simple adjustment of the nose gear up microswitch arm.

The pitch issue turned out to be the real poser. Scott came up with the answer. There should be a substantial step down from the top of the trailing edge of the canard to the top of the leading edge of the elevator. Mine was flush, with a hair fine gap. It has been years since I built it, and I honestly can't recall if this was a mistake or me trying to finesse a perceived advantage by creating the fine gap.

What was happening is that the low pressure air on top of the canard was staying attached to the top of the elevator. The faster I went, the faster it pulled up on the elevator, forcing the nose down. The fix was to remove and reinstall the elevators at the proper height. This process involved me spending about 4 hours with an air saw, torch and vise grips carefully removing each hinge arm. Then, we added back some chord to the canard trailing edge and reinstalled the elevators.

Here's another "gotcha" you can avoid thanks to me again making the mistake first. I thoroughly sealed my carbon fiber elevators. John looked out at them at 12,000 feet and was shocked to see them ballooning. The lesson: make sure you put several holes in each end of each elevator to allow them to equalize pressure at altitude.



The first try at a pitch fix was a stiffer trim spring. They happened to be laying up a new batch at the time.
Here is what they look like when they are made. We cut and installed one about a third thicker than standard. It didn't solve the pitch problem as mentioned earlier, but I ended up liking the feel better anyway.

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These pictures are worth clicking on and studying. This repair is Scott Swing all the way.

When I got the fast build wings from the factory, the trailing edge of the rudder didn't match the trailing edge of the lower winglet at all. Well, no problem I thought, and I just filed down the wing where it met the rudder until it trailed in nicely. Wrong!

The lower winglet was installed wrong and I unloaded the rudder on the winglet by doing so. This caused the rudders to flutter above 150 knots. The fix was to add shims to the rudder. That worked fine- no flutter all the way up to 220 knots indicated. The problem then became the lower winglets again.

Scott simply slit the bottom and top of the trailing half of the winglet, heated and reglassed them. As you can see, they ended up just right with almost no new fill needed. I will add flox and one bid to the winglet side of the vertical gap between the winglet and rudder and replace the shim with flox and microbubbles and it will be ready for final paint.

___________________________________________________________



Here it is with the canard off and ready to repair. I was really tired. Scott Swing was kind enough to come back from home after I got all the hinge arms out and lay up a new trailing edge using I beams clamped to the canard as a guide. The next morning Scott reinstalled the hinge arms in the correct position. The whole fix took less than 24 hours- that would only happen at the factory!

I removed the prop for the propeller service to pick up. I also decided to fix that annoying dump valve seep. There was no puddle of fluid in the keel, but there was always a stripe of red hydraulic fluid from the screws in the belly for the nose gear cylinder all the way back to the cowl. I bought a new dump valve, then used a bottom tap to enable the right angle fittings to seat deeper in the valve body. I changed it out and it solved the problem.

Duane Swing and I walked the gold box for the gear retraction system over to Wayne Lanza. His shop is in the hangar right next to the Velocity Builder Assistance Center. He found that one of the relays inside was fried. He kindly replaced it at no cost and we remounted the gold box. Again, you can only get this kind of quick resolution at the factory.

At that point, I had solved all of the issues I could solve for the time being and I headed home to Pennsylvania.

The folks at Aerocomposites called several days later to update me. They had the blades and confirmed that they had been machined with the shanks substantially oversized. They had them machined to the correct size, returned to Palm Beach Propeller, reassembled and delivered back to Velocity at no cost to me. I have to say that, although I was initially angry that I had the problem, I was impressed with the way they stood behind their product. All of this was done in a week and a half at no cost to me.

I got the call I had been waiting for from John Abraham on last Saturday. All of the repairs worked! As he put it, "It feels like a whole different airplane". The canard revision solved the mystery pitch issue and the prop worked great. The cruise at both 5,000 and 9,000 feet was just over 200 knots TAS. Like I said, I'm happy with any number starting with a "2" for my cruise speed. It is still in rough primer and no bolt hole covers. I think I can get a few more knots, especially if I add one electronic ignition.

Now the best news. The plane is working great and the hours are flown off. John is going to fly it up here and give me some dual time this Saturday. Finally, my airplane is ready to play with!

The bad news, I'm still not sure I'll be experienced enough in only 3 weeks to fly into Oshkosh. I'm going to play it by ear and see how it goes.

More to come this airplane homecoming weekend.

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