The Making of N327GM...

Got some more shop time in today.... it didn't go as fast as I hoped, so the gyro is not on it's gear yet.

Just alot of hole enlarging, reaming, and fitting today.

Here's the frame at the end of the day..... won't be long before the gear and seat are back on it, so I can sit in it and make engine noises again.

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And another....

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Here's the reason it took so long today..... after all this tube drilling in place, I had to basically pull it all apart again to get the shavings out of the tubes......

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Took a little work to get the nose assembly pieces to line up..... powder coating must have moved my holes a little bit... Nothing too major, just time consuming.

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Hi Gary

Could not figure out what it is about your paint scheme that I liked so well until today. The contrast paint scheme that you have used accentuates and amplifies the connection points of the design construction, absolutely fantastic !!!

Tony
 
Thanks, Tony.

And here I thought I was just using my college colors (Texas A&M).
 
2 hours in the garage tonight, but not alot to show for it.

I got the rudder pedal support bar, and the front nose pod support bracket installed....

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I'm going to have the nose pod support bracket powder coated white later, when I take in the throttle quadrant pieces.


I also got the upper seat support block drilled out and mounted.... this was a challenge to get it drilled straight and true, but somehow it all lined up in the end....

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And some potentially exciting news.... I might have some dual training lined up for Thursday night in the MTOSport that Desmon Butts has started training in.... hopefully that will work out, so I can get a flying fix in. It's been right at 2 years since I did my 6.9 hours with Steve McGowan. I know that I'll be basically starting over, but training hours are never wasted.
 
This is looking super sharp Gary. Love the two tone system you have going. Great idea.
 
Hey Gary 2 hours of work in the garage had put you that much closer to be flying that nice machine of yours. I really dig the powder coating. Since I am painting I know how much nicer the powder coating looks and how much more durable it is compared to paint. Once mine flies I might just take it apart again and have it powder coated too. :) Looking good Gary looking really good!
 
Thanks for the nice comments, guys. I appreciate it.

Gabor, if I were you I'd fly it like it is for a year, and then consider powder coating during the first annual inspection.
 
And another 2 hours tonight.... at least it was cooler in the garage than normal.

Got the engine mount completely re-assembled, using AN4 bolts everywhere. To use a phrase that someone else used.... it is now "built for combat".

Lining up the spacer blocks.....

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And the fully assembled mount....

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That's it for tonight.... and tomorrow night I won't be building.... I'm scheduled for two hours of training with Desmon in his MT03!
 
Good job. Have fun flying :) It will give you a boost to work harder to finish yours :) Looking very good. Every little 2 hours gets you ahead Gary. Keep doing those 2 hour thingies!
 
Hay, Gary -

VERY NICE LOOKING BUILD ! Chris & I are looking forward to maybe/probably meeting you this weekend @ Bridgeport.

farmer jim
 
Hey, Farmer Jim. Hopefully I will be at Bridgeport this weekend, and if so, would love to meet you and talk gyros.

I'll get 2 hours with Desmon on Thursday night at Propwash Airport in Justin, but it sounds like he'll be busy with you and your wife on Friday and Saturday. I'll find out for sure if he has any time for me on Saturday when I meet him tomorrow.

I'm really looking forward to it!! I haven't been up in gyro in a little over 2 years.
 
Gday, GM -

Chris & I are due Bridgeport 4-6 pm Friday, (26 Aug) my phone is 316 435 2238.

Love to meetcha.

fj
 
Well...... good news all around. I got to add 2 hours to my logbook, I had a great time flying the MTOSport with Desmon, and his gyro is still in one piece!!

I really enjoyed flying the MTOSport. It seemed rock solid in the air, and was fairly easy to get the hang of.

Most of the flying tonight had a 90 degree cross wind to the runway, so I got a workout on how to line up and keep it straight in those conditions. Did OK, I guess, but the last 30 minutes as the sun was going down and the winds died down were the best. My last 3 approaches for T&Gs were great.

I may get a little more time in on Saturday..... I'm like 3rd on the list for that day, and Desmon needs to work with the people who booked him first. We'll see, but I did have a blast tonight, and am ready to get my gyro into the air!!!

Woo Hoo!!! Very pumped, right now.
 
Good ole adrenaline ay? Good for you Gary. I know the feeling. Right now everything is just fine right???? LOL
 
Most of the flying tonight had a 90 degree cross wind to the runway, so I got a workout on how to line up and keep it straight in those conditions.

I flew my powered parachute from my land near Propwash yesterday afternoon. I am adjacent to JW Airport (2TX7). I was airborn at about 7:00pm and was planning on heading over to Propwash to watch you fly from my birds eye view as I have seen gyros, but never seen one fly. Was looking forward to it. I only have North/South runways and PPC's are VERY difficult in any cross winds. As you said there was a 90 degree cross wind and after the difficulty I had taking off I decided to put it right back down and pack it up. Wish I had been able to watch you fly.

I will be heading to Bridgeport this afternoon to watch Chris and Jim with Desmon. Hopefully get to see my first gyro flight.

Glad you got some flight time.
 
Hey, GW. I was in the air from 6 to 8. We spent the first hour about 4 to 5 miles NW of propwash, and the rest of the time was pattern work.

Get out to Bridgeport..... you'll get to see Desmon fly the MTOSport, and probably some of Larry's work in his hanger. I'll bet you could even get some time with Desmon. I thought it was well worth it, and Desmon seems like a good instructor... I will do more time with him in the future. He mentioned that he would be coming back to north Texas in the near future.

I'm still undecided on if I will get out to Bridgeport this weekend.... that was one of the reasons I got as much time as I could on Thursday night.
 
Another hour in the garage tonight. I got the engine mount and the upper shock support brackets done.

Here's my fancy fuselage jig, that keeps it from falling over while I work on it....

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Here's a couple of shots of the engine mount on the frame......

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Now it's on to re-mounting the main gear and the nose gear.
 
Another hour of progress Gary :) Home building means using all available (and whatever you can get away with) furniture and household items to prop up, lean against, and hang on :)
 
A little more progress tonight.

I got the drum brakes mounted, and the main gear put back in place... I still have some adjustments to make to the drag links, but it looks like everything will fall into place.

Drum brake mounted on axle.....

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Main gear tubes back on.....

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Current state of the frame...... almost ready to sit on and pretend to fly, again.

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