Eagle's Lair
Members Roster

November 6, 2004

Ladies & Gentlemen:

You can tell the seasons are changing through the images captured from Tim Finley's Nikon D-100 camera.  As the sun sets earlier each day, work on the North American Eagle™ landspeed car continues into the night.  A great effort today as the team re-installed the tail cone.  We couldn't have done it without the continued commitment and hard work put forth by  Dennis McVay, Jon Higley, Tim Finley,  Bernard McVay, Bill Eckberg, Bob Beisler, Steve Wallace, Libby Wallace, Von Armstrong,  Ed Shadle, Ed Drumheller II, Sean Rondestvedt, Marty Schenck, and Keith Zanghi.  With just a few exceptions, everyone stayed "on the clock" till the job was done.  Roger Penske who has won more Indy Car victories as a team owner says it best: EFFORT = RESULTS.  That simple equation pretty much applies here.  The fruits of our labor keeps growing and growing as we inch our way to our test runs in just a few short weeks.  If you you've been watching the site at all you know that next year we will be talking about bringing the record back to North America.

Steve, Bill and Jon worked on the parachute release mechanism,  electrical wiring in the electronics bay, cannon plugs and cockpit wires for the driver's stick and instrumentation.

Earl and Keith worked on some axle block-off plates.  Bernard and his son Dennis finished the mid-axle assembly and made a final pour of the Loctite 7202 Chocking Compound. The two then went on to build an upper mounting bracket for the canard adjuster link.  The link will be manually adjustable so we can vary the angle of incidence.  For high speed runs this will be tied into the Rockwell Automation Allen-Bradley PLCs.

Ed, Jon and Earl extracted and installed new bearing seals on the mid-axle wheels, while Earl installed mid-axle covers over the cut off ends. Tim and Bill continued checking connections for wires from engine to cockpit. Next week the Washington State Patrol will be coming by to weigh "the beast" once again and we'll also be adjusting the mid-axle to properly distribute the support over the length of the long body.

Bob, Von, Ed, and Jon tested the front suspension and steering system and it worked very well although we did have to fix a few leaks. With parts furnished by Hydraulic Repair and Design and initial design by Spokane Community College Hydraulic and Pneumatic Automation Technology Program , Bob Beisler has designed a masterpiece of intricate bends, flow control valves, and pumps that come together as an integrated system that can best be described as beautiful. Jon got soaked with hydraulic fluid doing the "dirty work" by laying on his back and reaching up into the suspension box and screwing plugs into bleed ports. Ed worked the wrench on the steering linkage to center the stick to neutral in the cockpit.

Jon worked on the wiring harness coming out of the control stick.  The maze of wires needed to be identified and sorted so we can start utilizing the many switches available.  Ed II worked on brand new inlet covers.  The old ones looked like they were 50 years old. That wasn't going to cut it.  Ed II will finish them up during the week. Late in the afternoon the team gathered to discuss roles and procedures of team members and the schedule for the upcoming test runs later this month.

We are awaiting the delivery of the Transaero helmet and breathing system.   We should be able to have it installed in a couple hours.  Earlier in the week Spencer Aircraft Technicians stopped by and did an analysis of the communication systems.  Using a borrowed helmet from Russ Garlow, the Transaero System we are going to use will work great.

The rear wheels are still under construction in Canada at Kodiak Motorsports, but should be complete by next weekend. Daryle Redlin, President and CEO has been working with Steve Green at Eagle Machine in Abbotsford BC. 

Last week we had a hydraulic system failure on the race car transporter. It turned out to be a small two-bit switch that needed to be replaced. It now works great.

Next weekend Bob will have the system for the speed brakes finished.  The cockpit instruments and the ejection seat will be installed. The air speed pitot tube needs to be tightened and air lines installed. The rear tires will be mounted on the new wheels and balanced. The parachute tubes need to be installed. The main landing gear doors need to be trimmed and installed.  Still a few things remaining, but the list is getting smaller.

Finally, we got the tail cone put back onto "the beast" and she really looked right with her turkey feathers sticking out the tail. Then, in the dark of the early fall evening, the team turned her around using the tow tongue built by Bernard McVay and put her into the hangar tail first.

All in all, things are taking shape and the North American Eagle™ will be ready for our first test runs in the next two weeks. In order to afford the cost of our test runs at Moses Lake, we have turned to ebay® auctions.  It is posted on our front page and links to the ebay® site. Glen, Jon and Keith put together a really good looking auction item. The item is an opportunity for some company to have their name on the side of the vehicle during the Discovery Channel documentary shoot for $10,000.  You would think that getting their company logo spread over 100 countries on a one hour documentary should be worth at least that amount. We sure hope someone buys the opportunity otherwise Keith and ED will be selling their horses and Llamas in order to afford the test runs!  Oh darn!  See you next week.

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