Progress report on the construction of
“Blue Thunder II”
As of July 30, 2009
This
months report is dedicated to BILL GRANT who was
killed July 12th in a tragic Go-Kart
racing accident. Bill was a long time member of
the Blue Crew who was responsible for all the
software that runs the entire aircraft. Few
people on the crew knew him well because he
worked mostly “behind the scenes” on the
software. When most people had a chance to meet
him at the races, his work was finished and had
little to do except enjoy the events.
Bill’s unfortunate “flight west” has left this
team with a large gap in our collective
capabilities, which will be very difficult to
fill. He will be so missed by so many. Our
deepest sympathy goes to his wife Darlene and
the Grant family for this deep loss.
This photo was taken July 23 when we were trying
desperately to get all the bits and pieces back
on the airplane with all the stickers, placards,
instrument markings, and labels on because the
FAA was showing up the next day for an
airworthiness inspection. The only thing I
forgot was the EXPERIMENTAL sticker on the
inside.
Don
Morgan of the FAA was very helpful with the
airworthiness. He followed the regulations to
the letter and hammered me about not flying on
congested airways and I hammered him about the
definition of a congested airway. We got along
quite well.
8/1/2009 Blue II is finally ready for the first
engine runs and taxi tests.
Bill Pearce and I had a very successful trip to
Oshkosh last week. We saw a few really cool
items; saw a really weird airplane, and the
worst landing the Airbus 380 ever made. The
most interesting thing I saw was a fuel pump 1
¼” in diameter and 3” long that would put out 55
GPH at 55 PSI taking 8 amps. I ordered two.
As we all know, September is approaching fast,
and AAR will be hosting once again our annual
Thunderstorm 2009 during the races. All Thunder
Mustangs are invited, and their owners may come
as the airplanes’ guests. Everyone else with
the slightest interest in Thunder Mustangs,
past, present or future are invited to a
gathering of Thunder Mustangs.
The Blue Crew, Jan, and I thank all who read
this from the bottom of our hearts for the
continued financial, morale, and technical
support we receive from all of our sponsors,
fans and contributors.
With this
report go our best wishes and prayers for the
Grant family.
The entire
Blue Crew.
Blue
Thunder Air Racing
