She's Hung! HOBBS 1385.0 hrs

Well, the BBQ/hanging party was a big success! We actually got the engine hung...had some good food, cold beverages and great company. I cant thank everyone enough for all the help...I felt a little guilty, I really didn't do much except man the hoist. Hanging an engine, is at a maximum a 3 person job, any more than that and you are just in the way. The excitement and enthusiasm of my crew kind of pushed me to the side believe it or not. :) Which was fine, it was kind of fun to sit back and watch it all go down.

A couple things before I launch into this post. As you can see, its been awhile since my last blog entry. Not for lack of activity, that's for sure...I was just entertaining my family for 8 days so computer time was not on my agenda. In about a week and a half, Dad (for 8 days) and I racked up 52 man-hours on the plane! I've said it before and I'll say it again...having another person who has knowledge of aircraft construction helping is HUGE! If ol' Pop lived here in the Denver area, this plane would surely be flying by now. Even a week with him around was a very welcome surge in progress. Thanks Dad.

Because of my lapse in posting...I have a lot to catch you up on, so expect quite a few pics/posts coming up in the next few days....

One last pic of me (notice my "SOS Bros Beer Venture" t-shirt from last year...already getting in the mood for OSH!) and the engine on the hoist before we lift it into position to hang it on Wablosa.

Bob, my Dad and Bryan take a peek while Scott looks on...

My Dad and Bryan working on those pesky four bolts...yes, only four bolts...

The ladies lend moral support to the hanging crew...

Scott and Chuck share some conversation...later they got sucked into the vortex of helping, but for now they are fine with just watching.

Gary also stayed out of the mix early on...chatting with the ladies. Gary probably had the most experience hanging engines, but he kept saying, "we needed to learn", so we struggled...and learned. :)

Now, Scott gets involved...with a bottle jack and some 2x4's for spacing...

My nephew Gabriel and Dad look on as Scott wrestles with the engine and the bottle jack...the top two bolts are in, but the bottom two are giving us trouble at this point.

It was an interesting scene as 3 or 4 of us feverishly worked on hanging the engine while everyone else casually visited...with each group in their own world, oblivious to what the other was doing.

Finally after over an hour of jacking/prying/wiggling the engine, Gary gets involved. "Hand me that 1x2 Ron"...what!? "Gary, do you know how much that engine costs??" ;) After he explained what he was going to do...and it was wood (not metal) so it wouldn't damage the case, I gave him the go ahead to pry on my engine...gently please!

It worked...we finally got the last bolt in! It took about an hour and a half for the entire process...but she is hanging! I've been told you can do this in 15 mins...but I have to see that to believe it--I had a lot of experienced guys helping and it still took us that long to get it done. It just takes a while to get the engine in just the right position to get those bolts in.

Scotty holds Gabriel for a pic with the engine...one day I hope to teach Gabriel how to fly in this airplane so this will be a cool pic to look back on for him.

Bob and Bryan look on at a job well done...time for a cold one!

So...what did we learn tonight boys?? Bob, Sean, Gary and Chuck discuss....

Later, after everyone had gone home and the family went to bed I just sat out in the shop looking at my newly hung engine for about 45 mins savoring a celebratory Stranahan's whiskey...and snapped a self portrait. What a huge milestone this is...it all kind of hit me in that moment, that this all might become a reality...me flying this thing one day. It was a long day and I was exhausted, but what a great day it was!

The next day, I finally got Pop to pose with the hardware...

I was honored to have Scotty sign the avionics bay (8/13/12 edit)...

After the engine was hung...we had BBQ-ed Carne Asada tacos, Sangria, beer, chips/salsa, jalapeno pigs in a blanket, jalapeno's filled with cream cheese and wrapped in bacon, pie, rice crispy treats...you name it...it was quite a Mexican style feast!

Then, of course, we had to discuss important 'pilot' topics...GPS "Track up or North up?"...boy was that an interesting and sometimes heated conversation--with the pilots being divided about 50/50. I fall into the "Track up" camp...

I turned my Holy Cowl into a chip dish for the party...with internal lighting! ;)

The next day, I went back and torqued and cotter pinned the bolts. A few days later, I was reading the Van's instructions carefully and checking off items we had done, and it mentioned..."don't forget the extra washer on the bottom mounts". I scratched my head for a second, extra washers??...and then remembered I had two large washers left over from the mounting hardware which seemed strange to me. Hmm, a couple seconds later I put two and two together...Doh! ...we forgot two washers!! This photo shows how we had it...one large washer against the case and one small washer on the back side.

This photo shows the correct arrangement...notice the added large washer on the back side now. So, two large (1 on each side) on the top mounts..but four large (2 on each side) on the bottom mounts for a total of six large washers. The drawings show this, but somehow we missed it....maybe it was the alcohol?? It was pretty easy to slide these bolts out one at a time and swap the washers though so no harm. Getting the cotter pins off was the hardest part. Just pay attention to your bolt/washer arrangement...its important to get this right, its not trivial for these washers.