Parrakeet eggs have hatched!

[DBond]

First of all let me apologize for not keeping you all up to date on the progress at the San Antonio Parrakeet Factory. Most of you probably think our eggs lay dormant or rotten by now. I am proud to report that the construction of our three keets is well under way and we are ahead of schedule.
Tim,, Scotty, and I (Darren) have been very busy and our "off" time has been consumed with wing construction. Our goal was to have one set of wings complete and hanging on the wall by Christmas. That goal was met almost two weeks early and we are well in to construction of the next two sets.
The first set was by far the most difficult and frustrating. There were so many variations, upgrades, improvements, and just plain wrong information we had to wade through. We have a bucket full of rejected parts that grew in size as we built. Part of the problem was our skill level (much improved now - TIG welder and plasma cutter a big plus) and the other was less than complete detail with both Hannaford and Parajito. Now, with a complete set on the wall we have set the standard for the next two and that process  will be much easier.
Our plan now is to build all the parts for the next eight wings and then set up an assembly process. Our experience with the previous wings suggests that assembly should only take about four days per wing with two of us working full days.
We have been building ribs and parts over the last two months and have much of that work completed.      I just ran out of room - see next post for continuation.

[DBond]

The rib jigs we made allow for constructing three ribs and nose ribs at a time. We have completed 65 of the 80+ required. Our new TIG welder has made hardware construction relatively easy and the quality is high. We also have many of the jigs from the Farmington factory. Once we figured out which parts they were built for and how to use them, they proved to be Godsend. Reinhart really did an excellent job with the jigs. We also have the spar jigs from Reinhart. We were able to cut and drill perfect spars. Each spar took only about 15 minutes to complete. They are all done and ready to go.  The spar jigs and the hardware jigs are matched perfectly.
Pictures of our work are on-line now and I will add to the album as we go.  www.parrakeetfactory.myphotoalbum.com
We expect to start with fuselage construction in the spring.
Thanks again to Barry and others for advice and help!

[HatzLymanC]

Thanks for the update Darren.  Looking good!!

Lyman

[dgapilot]

Nice phot album of your progress. Keep us up to date

David

[warren]

Just looked at recent pics.  Constr looks very good.  I finished mine in 2005 and made considerable design changes to the wing.  I particularly liked the detail of wing tip bow and and grasp handles at center section.  I have a few suggestions for the fuselage you might consider: such as increasing the cockpit length by a little that would permit a more reclining pilot position.  Also might consider building the lower wing fittings with 2 degrees of incidence rather than three.  The Hannford drawings have a mistake in the relative position of the rudder/elevator horns that results in interference.  I would also add a tail wheel horn on the rudder post for better control.  Anyway, if your team is interested I would be happy to show you my a/c. I am at PWG near Waco.  2548484098

[Larry DeCamp]

Jim,

I just noticed your comment about 2 degrees incidence for lower wing.  How did you know to do that ? Mine has 3 degrees and requires constant forward stick with an A40. Reducing top incidence would probably make stall pretty sharp. Raising the thrust line would probably help, but the engine mount and thrust line is what it is !

Larry DeCamp

[warren]

Larry, I used a 85 Cont. and just figured that the 3 and 4 degrees were too much.  Probably ok for the 40 hp.  I rigged both wings at 2 degrees.  Most modern biplanes use 2 degrees.  Jim