No Post

Why do I post with nothing to say?

I'm not at the Nationals, Christina is in Norway, and some nagging rib pain is keeping me out of the air. I've been working long hours and living vicariously thru the stories of my friends flying in the Nationals this week.

Oh well, here are a couple old pictures
Funston

Alastair

barbs

At the end of July, over the course of 2 days, I managed to get a number of barbs, both man-made and natural, embedded in myself. I have spent the last few weeks observing how efficient these simple items are in doing what they do. And what they do is not come out of you.

The fishhook was too deep to remove through regression or progression of the hook and required a scalpel.

The big cactus needles came right out with a little force.

The small cactus needles broke off and 10 or so have been gradually extricating themselves from my hands. Only 2 more to go!

Among Barbed Wire and Prickly Pear

My baby was in need of a full tear down inspection, and some repair work. It was the first time pulling the sail off my glider and I was looking forward to it.

Chris offered up his garage and beer and we had ourselves a tear down party. It was pretty straight forward. A few little hitches with the rear leading edges, but nothing too tricky.

Out of the bag and ready to take apart

I was most concerned with removing the sail attachment to the rear leading edge. The nut on this bolt is adjustable and is used to set the tension of the leading edge. I payed close attention to how many threads were engaged before removing it so I could get it set back to where it was. I think a few tuning flights will be required to get it back to the sweet spot.Leading edge tension adjuster

The inner leading edge has an adjustable crescent fitting to orient the outer leading edge. It was easy enough to take off, but getting it back in was the most difficult task.Front/Rear Leading Edge Junction


Shiny... Rear Leading Edges Out, Sail Ready to Come Off

The Bare Bones. It sure doesn't look like much when you see the frame alone. It's amazing what such a small amount of aluminum and carbon fiber can do.

A thorough inspection showed the leading edges, cross bar and keel where all fine. There was control frame damage that will warrant a complete control frame replacement. I could have kept many of the fittings, and one of the downtubes, but given the type of stress damage I was seeing in a few spots, I decided to replace the whole control frame for my own peace of mind. Also, I will be getting a new wire set just to be safe.

Significant twisting damage at the apex elbow brackets

The saddest part is my broken control bar. It has a split along the front seam. I can't bear to post a picture of it...

We put the sail back on the next day and ordered the new parts. They should be hear soon. I'm looking forward to getting the glider back together and heading to the US Nationals in Lakeview, Oregon in August.