Eagle's Lair
Members Roster

February 5, 2005

Ladies & Gentlemen:

The weekend was attended by Earl Gratzer, Jon Higley, Russ Garlow, Sean Rondestvedt, Bernard, Dennis, Shad and Aaron McVay, Tim Finley, Von Armstrong, Steve Wallace, Ed Drumheller II, Patrick Smith,  Ed Shadle and Keith Zanghi. As usual, many tasks were performed by several combinations of team members. You'd think these guys were getting paid huge salaries the way they thrash so hard and are so focused at every task they do. However, every member gladly gives of their time and chips in at whatever needs to be done because they believe in the possibilities and ultimate success for this project.

Earl worked on the Hydraulic Repair & Design steering pump.  We were going to install a larger gear on the pump, but found the one we had didn’t quite fit. So we will exchange it for another during the upcoming week.  We made and error on our linkage and by using a larger volume pump we can make the steering work with the existing geometry.  Earl then went on to manufacture a cover panel for the electrical circuit breaker panel that Steve was working on.  Shad got some paint and touched up the circuit breakers.  The area is looking pretty good now.

Ed II worked on the bracket that attaches the air breathing hose from the tank to the Transaero helmet.  He made adjustments to the bracket that is attached to the shoulder straps. Ed Shadle also moved the tractor nearer the shop so Benard could work on it.

Dennis, Aaron and Shad were busy throughout the day pressure washing first the trailer, then a whole bunch of engine parts.  Aaron gets the MVP award for the day.  By the time he was done he was completely soaked with water.  The bad part was it was 35 degrees outside.   We fired up the propane heater and he was last seen taking a nap with his feet up in the air drying out his wet socks.

Von and Russ worked on a new hydraulic oil tank.  We are going to install a factory hydraulic pump on the S&S Turbine Services engine and use it as our primary pump and utilize the electric pump as our backup.  This has been our plan all along and now that we have some time we decided to make the conversion now.

At the end of the day Russ displayed some of his aviation art.  He has a beautiful F-16 drawing that was based on a photograph he took at the Reno Races last year.  When it is finish he will print up a thousand and offer them for sale. 

Tim Finley was working on the instrument panel most of the day.  Steve was making room in the electronics bay for installation of the PCB Piezotronics  sensors and Larson Davis PC based data acquisition computers.  Jon helped out by modifying an F-104 electronics support structure we are now going to use to hold the data acquisition units.

Von and Sean removed the fuel strainer.  They cleaned it out, replaced the gasket and then reinstalled it into the car.  Jon and Keith were busy through out the day assisting everyone else.  Ed traveled to Boeing Surplus to meet Steve Green from Eagle Machine, Inc who was in town purchasing some equipment.  Hobbyists, businesses and experimenters all over the Pacific Northwest know where Boeing Surplus is, so its an easy place to meet.

Bernard of McVay Mobile Welding installed a new thermocouple on the LevX® Tractor.   During the day he managed the entire McVay clan.  Each week a new family member or friend joins the team and now Bernard’s primary job is to assign tasks and keep the boys from getting into too much trouble.  Aaron Hardman and Bob Lull were two friends who joined them today. With friends, brothers and in-laws Bernard manages 167 people.

The good news of the day was the delivery of the North American Eagle™ LS 500 Mercedes Benz company car.  The bad news is we still haven’t convinced Ed II (the actual owner) he should make up 31 sets of keys and distribute it among the team. Ed II just took delivery of the new car which was specially painted in Mercedes North American Eagle™ red paint.  In typical luck, rain clouds appeared within 5 minutes of putting the convertible top down.  Ed II was able to work through the maze of electronics and get the roofre-installed  before a drop of rain could fall on the cream colored Corinthian leather (Cows from Corinthia) on the seats and dash.  After much discussion, we can honestly say the Mercedes SL 500 has more bells and whistles then an F-104.  It’s a toss up which one makes Ed II look better when he’s sitting in them.

That’s it for now.  Next week the engine at S&S Turbine Services will be put on the test cell and run for the first time since it was rebuilt.

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