Big week of progress

A strong week of work lead to a workable rudder, seats, and drive setup. Somehow we pressed through and got to the point of full testing on Friday. I am so glad that I decided to go with Rick Willoughby to fabricate the drive mast and other components, brackets, struts, and his signature folding props. It all came together smooth and required little adjustment. 

All of the brackets glassed on as planned and the multiple seat positions will work out for adjusting for each person from roughly 5'3-6'2". Of course it will depend on the individual. As we are running out of time, the third seat is a reclinable beach chair that we purchased. The benefit is having armrests that act as bed rails for when we are using it as a sleep seat. After the race, I will build a proper replacement. My mother in law sewed the seat covers for us. I placed grommets and laced them on. 

Big Sunday workday 6/23

After church, Rob and I got to work. After another sanding of the bottom of the hull, I flipped it and started resetting up the drives in their locations. I unwrapped the drive shafts and the connection to the couplings turned out well. I connected them to the gearboxes to confirm their location and clearance to the hull. After I was satisfied with the placement, Rob and I got all of the brackets Rick W. premade for me with the drives I recieved from him. I set in place with a locating screw. I then made the brackets for the lever arm that comes back from the drive mast to the pedestal. While I was working that out, Rob was filing a bevel on the edges of the brackets. After some great New York style pizza from Big Slice, we finished up the filing and the rudder mount placement. Once all of the locating screws were placed, I removed the drives and started setting up fiberglass for the bracket placement. We started fiberglass on the rudder placement. The process on all of these is simple: 1. Each has a countersink hole for the locating screw they also have 1-3 other holes to assist in bonding. 2. Wet out the area with epoxy. 3. lay one layer of  fiberglass down. 4. Locate the bracket with the screw. Ensure placement is correct. 5. Lay another piece of epoxy over the top. 

We then moved down and completed the front pedal station, pedestal lever arm mount; then worked on the middle station.

Seat braces are next and some armrest welding by Al tomorrow. After that, we are moving to plan B for the seat cover and should be set in a few days for its first voyage. 

Long overdue update 6/22

This is the last push. The race is just over two weeks away. It is coming together. If everything runs smooth, we may be on our maiden voyage by the weekend. This is a quick set over the last week. 

Wing to pedestal

Wing to stabilizer

Brackets on the wing. Note the multiple hole locations for height adjustment.

Pedestals and drives in their locations (not centered)

Seat frame held for welding. 

Pedestal fiberglassed.

First water test with wing and stabs. Thanks to my neighbor's 32' pool. 

Wing is coming along 6/14

We had a good workday today. Betsy came by and knocked out a thin layer of epoxy on the stabilizer, installed grommets, and filed brackets. 

I was able to set up the brackets, their locations, and drilled all the holes necessary for mounting. 

At the end of the night, Rob and I were able to get all of the brackets glassed on the wing. They are curing overnight. 

More progress tomorrow.

Work has started again

After a great family vacation to DC, Gettysburg and Hershey, PA, Morgantown, WV, and St. Louis, we have made some progress on the V16-9m. 

Before the trip, we were able to get the wing built and glassed. While we were on vacation, Tim and Rob added a coat of epoxy and sanded the hull. 

Jerico came down today and joined us  for a productive work day. Tim sanded the hull more. I assembled the connection points to the gear box for the second pedal drive. We glassed another layer to the leading edge of the hull. While Tim and I plotted and started bending the seat frame, Jerico added a t-bar option on the Honda pilot. 

After plotting the pedal arm that connects  the drive to the pedestal and seat, we finished the seat frames. Jerico was able to get some seat covers set up for us. 

It was a big day. More to come.