Blue Thunder Air Racing February 22, 2008 Report
on “Blue II’s” construction progress.
The electronically operated remote fuel valve we
promised to show you in this month’s progress
report has not shown up yet so, little work has
been accomplished on the fuel system. We have
been unable to get a firm commitment from Andair
as to when it will be delivered other than they
will have some at Sun-N-Fun.
Some additional hydraulic plumbing has been
installed in the wing. The Oildyne Power Pack
we mentioned last month was ordered and is
scheduled for shipment next week. Our March
report should include some pictures of that unit
as well as some additional system components.
Most of the work on “Blue II” this month has
been on the fuselage. So far, all of the parts
have been trimmed and the bulkheads from the
rear seat back through station 247 have been
installed. The dog house is assembled and the
radiators attached the spray bars are in place.
The belly scoop has been partially assembled
with only a very few modifications.
Most
Thunder mustang builders will recognize the
considerable modifications to the tail wheel bay
station 192 – 220. One objective is for this
bay to be completely sealed except for the
leakage around the gear doors. A new tail wheel
door retraction method is also in the works so
that the door operation will be more positive
and secure eliminating their opening in high
speed flight.
With
the entire tail wheel mechanism confined to aft
of bulkhead 192, the bay aft of station 168 is
available for additional equipment and remote
electronics storage. The opening in bulkhead
168 has been enlarged to provide access to this
bay.
Next month I
will be able to show some changes in the control
systems we are working on and the new electronic
fuel selector valve as well as the hydraulic
power pack.
The final $14,286.87 payment on the engine that
burned up in Blue was sent out last week.
Anyone is interested in helping out on that
payment, don’t hesitate to hit the PayPal button
on our web site. Any amount is appreciated.
Jan and I thank everyone for their continued
support.
John & Jan
Parker
Blue
Thunder Air Racing
