Jim Hayward

Jim Hayward
Rapid City, SD

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	Unpacking the fuselage.
	Taking inventory in the dining room.
	Getting the aileron attached. Yeah, the house ain't exactly small!
	Wife Linda and her mom Agnes putting the chaffing tape on for me. Agnes repaired fuselages out at Ellsworth AFB during WW II. She really enjoyed herself this particular afternoon.
	Grandson Trevor helping install the fuel tank. He was feeling quite important!
	Installing the wingrib rivets. True homebuilding!! The blue areas are the Blue River process I've been using. I can glue up in the house with absolutely no bothersome fumes. What we do smell is a slight rubbery smell. The glue is very secure after about 4 hours or so. Everything cleans up with water but do it quickly!
	Ye old instrument panel. There's an ICOM A-22, a Magellan 2000XL, an EIS monitor with altimeter, an airspeed, and compass. Out of sight and nestled up under the root tube where those two fuselage tubes attach to the root tube is an Alinco ' 2-meter ham radio transceiver about the size of a deck of cards. The panel hinges down at the bottom so I can work on it if necessary.
	Here's the battery box in my forward storage compartment. The floor under the box hinges at the front of the box to allow storage under it. The nose is completely enclosed in aluminum sheet metal to protect the fabric from items shifting around in the nose area and being damaged. The back wall of the storage area is about 15" from the nose and completely seals off the cockpit.
	The pitot and static combination tube. I used some of that aluminum brazing rod that melts with a propane torch to make the tubes. They are 1/4" inside 1/2" tubes and worked out rather nicely. I got the location idea from you, JD and really like it up there out of the way. I do think I've got many more static pressure holes in it than is necessary and will probably wind up closing most of them off.
	Wife Linda politely chiding me, "Is it ever gonna be ready???"
	Time to cover the fuselage. This is really a homebuilt project!
	Fuselage is done. Linda chided me about leaving airplane tire tracks on her carpet! It was a welcome sight to reach this point.
	The wings as stored in our bedroom. The UV coating/primer is in place waiting for the paint scheme.
	The tail pieces are finished and getting ready for the clear coat. I'm really getting anxious!
	The fuselage has the white coat on and I've masked off where the yellow will be along with the white that will remain white.
	The yellow has been put on and most of the masking removed here.
	I just had to get this picture before Linda took the film in for developing. The clear coat had been put on the night before so was pretty much ready for the outside world!
	Tail feathers, prop drive, and prop are all installed. The dorsal fin needs another coat of paint and will be done when the wings are painted so it's not installed yet.
	Here's a side shot of the paint job.
	I used some 3/8" steel rod to brace the nose gear against sideloads. A piece of thin walled steel pipe was cut lengthwise then lightly hammering it on the concrete floor until it opened up enough to fit over the aluminum crossmember. The two pieces were then clamped in place near the ends of the aluminum tube and the 3/8" rod tack welded in place. The whole assembly was then removed, welded, and reinstalled.
	Since I didn't like the rocking action of the pedals, I modified them to feel more like the GA aircraft I was used to flying. I removed the heel supports from the metal pedals and drilled 4 holes - 2 near the top and 2 near the bottom. I made wood blocks from piggybacking two 2x4 pieces of wood together then cutting a rounded taper so the blocks would "feel" like a pedal with horizontal motion instead of rocking. These pedal blocks also moved me the 3" or so nearer the pedals that I needed to be when I was sitting in the seat so my legs weren't so straight out in front of me. The floorboard allows my feet and legs to change position for comfort.
	Here's a closer shot of the wood pedals that mounted on the metal pedals. A piece of sheetmetal was fabricated to cover the wood and attached with some screws. I'm really pleased with the overall result of the pedals and floorboard.
	She's finally finished! Angel's Breath is anxiously waiting to go.
	2001 Memorial Day Fly-in at Salem, SD.
	10/29/01. There's probably very few places left in the States that can allow you to land on a road and pull up to a gas station like this. The Kadoka truck stop on I-90 in SD is one of them.