In this update: Gearing up for more aerodynamic designs; Website development; Parachute packing; Ed and Keith report on California conference
Today’s Featured Sponsors
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Beautiful weather greeted the NAE Team this morning: Ed Shadle, Tom Tiede, Von Armstrong, Keith Zanghi, Chris Greene, Omar Chramosta, Brandyn Bayes, Craig and Kimberly McNamee. Also returning for work today; Andrew Kirk, who brought along his friend, Tristan Jonker. Both of these young interns soon found themselves turning wrenches.
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Neil Armstrong: August 5, 1930 – August 25, 2012
Today about mid-day Von announced after reading a news flash on his phone, that Neil Armstrong had passed away. One of the most well known persons in the world, he touched the lives of millions…and the lives of the North American Eagle™ team. Look for a tribute in the next few days.
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With more digital scanning of the fuselage planned for the near future, today began the process of determining the exact center of gravity for our 56 foot long jet car. All of this is necessary for final aerodynamic design of the fairings for the rear axle assembly area. The car was first lowered to the deck and the axle support struts installed under weight load. Then it was raised up onto jack stands so that the mid wheel compartment doors could be opened and adjustments made to the wheel assembly positions. This entails much more work than it appears, and, as is often the case, the work is done while on the back and looking up.
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At one point everyone was on the floor!
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Ed and Keith reported that the 3D Capture Innovation 2012 conference went very well. Their presentation of the technical aspects and sponsor support of our project was well received and garnered a good deal of interest from those present. Read the August 24 Update for further details.
Brandyn reviewed some new and planned features of our NAE website. It is a work in progress with the goal of making it informative, attractive and user friendly for our viewers. It will also be easier to update and maintain.
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Craig and Chris packing the parachutes
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John with one of the deployment bags
Chris Greene is taking on the task of assisting John Winchester, our parachute deployment expert. Today he reviewed the parachute packing method with Ed and they coordinated with John by telephone. Chris repacked the high speed parachute with some minor modifications.
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About a month ago Clay Davis painted the rear tail cone. Here he is seeing it on the car for the first time.
Other small projects accomplished, here and there, and one more Saturday at our Spanaway, Washington, hangar is in the books.
New iOS App
Android smart phone users have been using the NAE™ App for several months. Now iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch users can download the free app! Read all the updates, and view photos and video from your smart phone.
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International Manufacturing Technology Show September 10-15
Team North American Eagle™ will be headed on the road again this September 10th through the 15th as they make an appearance at the IMTS 2012 Show in Chicago IL. Ed, Keith, and Steve Green will be appearing in the Geomagic Software and IMS Software booths during the show. Below is the giant 8 ft high by 17 ft long banner that will be hanging in the IMS Software Booth! Along with our 7 foot model and 55 inch LED screens blasting out NAE video; the three will be on-hand to sign autographs and answer questions. Look for more information in the near future.
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New Lenovo Video
Lenovo recently released a new video featuring the North American Eagle™ . The NAE™ scenes were edited by Steve Wallace. Team NAE™ uses Lenovo ThinkStations and ThinkPad for aerodynamic and engineering analysis. Click on the photo below and watch this exciting video!
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Follow us on Twitter @landspeed763
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Eric Wittler With His Lenovo Laptop
All home page photos by Eric Wittler of ChasingClouds.net.