Eagle's Lair
Members Roster

February 20, 2005

Ladies & Gentlemen:

Today John Zambrano, Dave Selby, Jon Higley and Keith Zanghi were up at the crack of dawn working on the North American Eagle™. By mid-morning Bill Eckberg, Bernard McVay, Von Armstrong, Dennis McVay, Ed Shadle, Cam Shadle, Steve Wallace and  Libby Wallace were busy at work.

Bill and Cam routed some wire for the engine oil temperature and pressure gauge that Tim Finley installed yesterday.  Bill tidied up a bunch of electrical wires both in the electronic and engine bays. Keith spent some time cleaning and vacuuming the engine bay for FOD (Foreign Object Debris).

Von was busy building a steel mount for Bernard that will be used to hold a pitot tube for Steve’s canard aerodynamic laboratory test equipment.  Libby was sanding down wood into the shape of airfoils that will be later skinned and attached to the front of the canard test platform. Libby introduced the team to Rosie the Riveter. She seemed pleased after smelling all the team members, evidenced by her wagging tail.

Steve was busy laying out the strain gauge placement on a heavy steel rectangular tube.  When the canard is installed on the device and brought up to speed, the tube will stress the strain gauges that will send signals to electronic equipment that will collect data that Steve can later analyze. That information gained will help us design a system to activate the canards when the car is in motion.

Engine Status

Done.  Over the weekend Dave and John put in 32 man hours safety wiring, installing cotter keys and tightening bolts over the 17 foot long 42,500 hp S&S Turbine Services jet engine.  Everything is now complete and ready to install into the car.

Sponsor News

Mark from Spencer Aircraft literally dropped in to see the progress going on at the NAE Shop.  Arriving in his brand new Bell 206 Jet Ranger III, Mark was awarded the best vehicle of the day prize. With a seating capacity of five, Mark brought members of his family to see the 56 foot long Eagle. Bernard and Dennis demonstrated to the group the revolutionary LevX magnetic braking the team will use to stop the car. Using a smaller version of the magnets than will be used in the car; Dennis and Bernard were able to train some of Mark’s kids how to levitate a magnet.  Jon Higley uses this same technique to teach his students with in their science class.  The Magna-Force magnet levitation is always a big hit with all of our visitors.  Next week (2/26-2/27) Spencer Aircraft will be participating in the Northwest Aviation Conference and Trade Show being held at the Puyallup Fairgrounds in Puyallup, WA. They will be in booth 16 and 43.  Also at the conference will be the Jato Café at booth X30 and Beechwest Aviation at booth X22.  If you’re an aviation enthusiast, you won’t want to miss it.  Stop by and say hello.

Next Week

During the week we will be finishing odds and ends prior to installing the engine back into the car. We are now looking at Thursday for our engine installation.

Cool Rides Standing

After Mark from Spencer Aircraft arrived in his Bell 206 Helicopter, he now moves into first place ahead of Ed Drumheller’s  Mercedes SL 500 as the coolest way to get to a North American Eagle™ work party. Here are the top five and the bottom two rides. All voting is now final.

Top Five Rides

• Bell 206 Jet Ranger III – Spencer Aircraft
• Mercedes SL500 – Ed Drumheller II
• 32 Deuce – Ed Shadle
• Harley Davidison Heritage Edition – Bill Eckberg
• Mustang GT – Russ Garlow

Bottom Two Rides

• 1953 Chevy Pickup (now sold) – Jon Higley
• 1994 Appaloosa Quarter Horse – Keith Zanghi (He's still scooping up after it!)

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