Decisions, Decisions...

Everything has been going swell after my latest surgery.  I hope to be back flying here soon.  I seem to have more mobility now that the pins are out of my right ankle.  Makes me want to have them removed from my left one now!  Time will tell...

I've had a lot of time once again to think about my future cub.  Also have bounced a bunch of ideas off of friends.  I think I'm going to try and buy a new fuselage.  This will prolong my rebuild, but I think in the end it will be better.  There are so many unknowns with a used fuselage.  The fuselage I bought back in July has some corrosion issues, that can be rectified, but its still an unknown.  I plan on having my current fuselage repaired, and in the meantime I will try and save up for a new one.  If I don't have the funds for a new one by the time I'm ready to start with fuselage work, I'll use the used one.

That being said, I'm changing my direction on the build again.  I'm going to start with the wings once I finish the engine section.  I plan on keeping the wings as stock as possible.  I originally had the 13 rib wings with 18 gallon fuel tanks.  I'm going to keep this configuration.  I'm going to install the 2000 pound gross weight increase this go around.  Also put the VGs on.  I plan on installing the VGs before I'm complete with laying down all my tapes.  This way I can put a reinforcing tape over the VGs to help adhere them to the wing when wing covers are installed on the wings in the winter.  A friend had this done on his PA-12, and hasn't had a VG come off yet.  I have the ailerons and flaps completed already, so very little work needs to go into them at this point.

I hope these are my final plans.  I'm going to try and stick to them now after careful thought.  We will see I guess.

Under the Knife

Well, I went in to the doctor's office last friday.  They took x-rays as usual, and found that one of the screws in my right ankle was rubbing against my heel bone.  So, surgery round #3.  I went in this morning and they removed both screws in the right ankle.  I can put weight on the ankle, but its still somewhat sore. Hopefully, I'll be able to go back to work for the next shift.  I also hope this is the last time I need surgery.  I can't afford to have any more surgeries, and still try and put the cub together.

Progress is going slow on the cub.  Still putting together the baffling, but the engine section should be together by the end of the month.  Once I have the engine all together, I'll bring it over to  Merrill Field and try and run it at the local engine shop.  I want to make sure it will run, and also pickle the engine for storage.  Seeing as it might take me a year or two at my current pace, I want to make sure this engine won't corrode in the mean time.

Lately I've been thinking how lucky I came out with this whole accident.  I'm still in debt with medical bills and what not, but I'm lucky to be alive.  This year is just as rough as it was last year for accidents and deaths.  Aviation is loosing a lot of good people, and I still ask myself why God spared me.  Also, why he healed me so quickly so I could go back to work and fly.  I think I'll never know, but I thank him.

Baffeled

Last Friday I had a chance to work on the cub a bit.  Felt good to get back at it.  I have decided I need to finish the engine section up first before I start on the fuselage.  One thing at a time.  Also, the engine is the most critical right now because I want to get it pickled before it starts to rust on the inside.

When I got the engine home in May, I tore it down and did the prop strike inspection.  Also, tore apart the old baffeling and flattened them for patterns.  Friday, I traced a few pieces and cut them out.  Took a bit longer than I had hoped, required a bit more trimming to get them to fit better than before, but I got a good chunk of the baffeling completed.  Hopefully I'll have a bit more time this week to finish the project up.  After the baffeling, I plan on installing the oil cooler, engine mount, carburetor, and air/oil separator.  I'll post more pictures as I progress.

A piece of baffeling in remodel mode.

I'm in search of a second job with all my off time.  (Free time was a joke, I have none.)  Hoping to find a second flying job that I can fill in for someone or something.  Don't really want to go back to the Guard, actually thinking about getting out to further my flying career.  Also, the pay is not the greatest since I'm not full time anymore.  I can make more doing side jobs, unfortunately, than I can at what is supposed to be one of the best jobs our government has to offer in the flying career field.  Time will tell where I go...