Eagle's Lair
Members Roster

Tuesday, October 25, 2005

Ladies & Gentlemen:

The Edwards Air Show 2005 Trip has been made possible by financial donations by the following companies:  LevX® Corporation, McVay Mobile Welding, Eagle Machine, Inc, Aerial Machine and Tool, B & I Shopping Center, S&S Turbine Services Ltd,  Don Small and Son Petroleum and Rapp Hydema US.   Without their support, our appearance at Edwards Air Force Base would not be possible.

With the slave solenoid for the hydraulic system delivered, the team worked on installing it from the early morning until an operational check was performed. While that work was being done, several other preparations were being worked on as well.

Another delivery and donation to the project were a set of SD memory chips by Waldo Stakes; the Sonic Wind owner/driver. Waldo has been coming out and helping the team wherever he can with our testing. His help is much appreciated.

As mid-day approached, the external power supply overloaded our shipboard circuits and tripped breakers, causing the NAE team electrician to work the problem.

It was also discovered that the hydraulic lines were reversed; causing the actuator that moved the magnets to stay in one position. Once that was corrected, the brakes worked fine.

By late afternoon, the NAE was towed out to a test pad for an engine run and check of systems. After starting the engine, the speed brake doors functioned as expected. The magnetic brakes also functioned, but the lack of smoothness in movement indicated some valve adjustment is in order.

Ed easily ran the engine up to 100% military, but the afterburner was not cooperative once again. Upon further analysis, both Bill Eckberg and Steve Wallace concluded that some wiring will have to be looked at for the igniter. So, some of the team will be working into the night to make adjustments to make our scheduled test run happen tomorrow morning.

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