Eagle's Lair
Members Roster

September 10, 2005

Ladies & Gentlemen:

Team NAE™ wishes to thank Powder Coating, Inc. for putting a protective coating onto the new hydraulic mounting rack and drip pan being placed into the new hydraulics compartment. We also want to recognize the Covich-Williams Company for resupplying the project with more absorbant pads for mopping up fluid spills that occur when dismantling equipment hoses that contain fluids, or conducting test runs. Western Fire & Safety, another of our great sponsors, graciously recharged our fire extinguisher bottles after having to be used last week when Bernard was doing some welding around hydraulic fluid. Jerry Lamb, President & C.E.O. of LEV-X®, is providing the display engine trailer with a set of "mag" wheels. He is also working up a magnetic coupling drive which will slowly spin the exposed engine while being displayed at various future events and appearances.

Today it seemed as though the NAE™ shop was crawling with almost every team member. Ed Shadle, Keith Zanghi, Jon Higley, Bill Eckberg, Bernard McVay, Dennis & Aaron McVay, Dave Selby, Ed Drumheller II, Russell Garlow, Sean Rondestvedt, Steve Wallace, Tim Finley, Von Armstrong, Glenn Amy, Omar Charamosta and John Drury showed up to get several more tasks done.

Dave Selby brought along his friend Tony Sayers and his son Austin to see the car in the shop and get the tour. It's always fun to have visitors stop by and be able to share the project with them.

The most significant task accomplished today was the re-installation of the front wheel box. First, Tim Finley tapped a hole on the top side of the suspension frame to hold a sensor in place for the data acquisition system Steve Wallace is managing. Omar was assigned the task of making sure the new brass replacement slot, which is key to allowing the axle of the front wheel to slide back and forth for turning it a few degrees right or left, was installed with an additional bar of steel fitted and placed on top of the brass slot so as to minimize the possibility of torquing it apart again. This was done carefully with Bernard's help while Ed and Omar held in place the heavy tire and rim with multiple disc brake pads. After being carefully manuvered into place underneath the wheel well, the car was slowly lowered and the wheel box jacked up evenly into place. Then, the rear holding pin was slid in place by Jon Higley as Keith Zanghi tightened the two front bolts at the rear of the inside wall of the cockpit.

At the same time, Bill Eckberg was showing our newest team member, Joe Wittig, the new hydraulic design plan. Joe will be helping us with his hydraulics expertise by assisting Bill with assembling the various tubing and valves that will operate critical components on the rear of the car; air brake doors and the rear axle's magnetic braking system being designed by Steve Green of Eagle Machine, Inc. and Jerry Lamb of LEV-X®. Steve Wallace was at it once again working on data wiring that will spread throughout the car.

Sean Rondestvedt and Russel Garlow worked on some of the brackets being installed onto the walls of the engine bay that will hold both hydraulic accumulator tubing and valves. With the need to have a spare front tire, Ed Shadle wanted to use a tire that had the two halves of the rim sealed in an "alternate" method that was not easy to separate. So, Bernard grabbed some of the pieces of steel laying around the shop and quickly constructed a small press frame using our donated welding unit from Welders-Direct.com. Jon and Von used it, with a small bottle jack, to force the wheel halves apart, took them off the tire and got the sealant cleaned off so a proper "O" ring could be used.

Ed Shadle and Keith Zanghi worked together in the electronics bay to finish repairs on flooring that was damaged during the breakdown process last month. Once again riveting sounds were heard in the shop as Keith bucked rivets from below, while Ed worked the riveting gun from above. At one point, it appeared that Ed had stretched from the e-bay down to the floor.

Dennis and Aaron McVay were put to work cleanning out the inlets of the overspray from the paint job of three years ago. This required Aaron to crawl into the cramped inlet airways from the engine bay, lay on his side and use abrasive pads to rub off paint droplets that had dried inside from the overspraying. With Dennis too big to crawl inside, he worked from both the front and the side access doors of the inlets. Glenn Amy watched the boys to make sure they did a good job, while helping cut hydraulic tubing ends for Bill.

Ed Drumheller II spent more time at his old sewing machine creating a sixth deployment bag to hold more new parachutes provided to the project by Waldo Stakes; long time friend and supporter of the project. Tim Finley did some hole drilling on the newly powder coated bracket that will hold the tray with the hydraulic reservoir in the new compartment. He also tapped more sensor holders onto the side rails of the rear suspension for placement of sensors.

Jon and Bernard also reinstalled the hydraulics plate which holds a new large cylindrical accumulator where the aircraft's gun used to be mounted. Omar, Von and Jon removed the rear suspension frame rail from the car so they can be taken up north to Eagle Machine in Abottsford, BC. There, they will be modified to accomodate the newly designed axle for the magnetic braking system.

The team stopped work for a bit to hold a meeting to discuss the logistics of the appearance at Edwards Air Force Base in southern California next month where we'll be on display for their Open House.

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