Eagle's Lair
Members Roster

Front Steering Frame Reinstalled / Good News of Ockerman

January 26, 2008

Ladies & Gentlemen:

Those who gathered today at the NAE™ hangar were Ed Shadle, Keith Zanghi, Jon Higley, Steve Wallace, Bernard McVay, Tim Finley, John Winchester, Von Armstrong, Eric McClain, Sean Rondestvedt, Rich Pengelley, Omar Chramosta and Steve Root.

One of our guests this week was Mike Curran; a friend of Keith's who stopped by to see the car in person. He was given a tour of the shop and showed all the fascinating apsects of the car and support equipment used in the project. Another guest, a friend of John Winchester's, was Keith Clark, who also received a tour of the hangar.

Special thanks to our great sponsors - Powder Coatings, Inc. for all their work. (Lt. to Rt. - Chance the dog! John McGeehan (president-owner) Ray Kubeck (quality control/packaging/shipping) Lee Blakesly (Lead Coater) Debbie Mcgeehan (director-owner) Bill Gjerstad (coater/driver).)

While Steve and Tim were taking care of finishing up "loose ends" with electrical systems, the main task at today's work party was to install the front wheel suspension frame into the box. The frame had just returned from our sponsor, Powder Coatings, Inc., where it received a new coat of white to minimize the corrosive properties of running on the playa which consists of a high amount of alkalie.

After the assembly was complete, hydraulic lines were connected and the system was pressurized to check for proper functioning of the height adjustment actuator. All checked out fine.

Some of our readers will recall a young man who chose our land speed project as his graduation requirement project last summer; his name is Bryce Ockerman. TeamNAE™ was pleased to help Bryce who is the second high school senior to pick our project for this purpose.

Good news about Bryce was shared with Keith Zanghi, co-owner and the team's designated mentor for Bryce, recently. Bryce had initially intended to get a degree in business, however after researching the project over the summer and talking with a few the teams engineers, Bryce made the decision to go for a degree in aeronautical engineering.  He is now entertaining offers from several Universities with scholarship opportunities at a couple.

The whole team of volunteers who make this project happen are pleased to hear the great news and wish Bryce all the best for his future. We are proud to have helped him with his choice.

If you have a child who is a senior in the south Puget Sound area and would be interested in considering using our project like Bryce did, contact the webmaster for more information.

We invite you to add a comment, or remark, about our program or the site.

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