And now a word from our sponsors

As you've probably noticed from the pictures and previous entries, building the Red Hot Flyer II is no easy feat. It takes a lot of blood, sweat and tears to build a giant Chicago-style hot dog, bi-plane style, that will fly off into Lake Michigan from North Ave Beach. Fortunately, two sponsors have signed on to help me make it possible: Strenuus and McCownGordon Construction.

For more about what these two companies do when they're not sponsoring my 2nd run at the Chicago Red Bull Flugtag contest, click on the link listed under "Red Hot Flyer II Sponsors."

Thanks guys!

If you would be interested in sponsoring The Red Hot Flyer II please contact me.

WINGing it 1.3

Construction continues on the four main wing sections. Last night I glued the cardboard strips to the leading edges of the wings and started working on finishing up the undersides of the wings. I should be able to finish this up tonight. Then it is on to the center wing sections and the wing tips. I hope to do a test assembly of the whole wing this weekend.

WINGing it 1.2

This weekend I continued to work on the four wing sections that I have been building. All, four sections are 75% complete. I had A LOT of help from my very supportive girlfriend and on Sunday, one of my teammates, Seth, came over to help me. We cut and glued up all the trailing edges of the wings, cut out the leading edge portions of the ribs out of foam then glued and nailed them into place. Holes were cut out of the cardboard on the trailing edge to help reduce weight; the center rib sections were topped with a strip of cardboard and the top part of the leading edge ribs have been covered with cardboard strips.

WINGing it 1.1

Work continues on the wings. I have two wing sections 60% complete.

I'm WINGing It!

This weekend was not as productive as I would have liked due to a few necessary distractions. The first distraction was for some inspiration. I had to go see The Dark Knight, which by the way was awesome and the second was to celebrate my girlfriends birthday which brought a big smile to her face. Anyway,  back to the Red Hot Flyer II, I am 90% finished with the 4 wing struts. I spent time reenforcing then with foam and added blocking for wire bracing if needed. I have also moved on to building the first wing section. There are 6 main wing sections and 4 wing tips making up about 55 feet of wing length. After all it is a biplane.

Strutting my stuff!

The past two nights have been really productive. I made some more Jigs to build and assemble the Red Hot Flyer II's wing Struts. These four struts are pretty important as they hold the two wings on top of each other. They also are the connecting places for the wing sections. I'm building the RHF2's wings in sections because building two wings that are over 27' and transporting them would be very difficult, not to mention impossible for me to get out of my basement.

Gettin' Jiggy With it!

So last night, and trip number two to The Home Depot, I purchased a new jig saw, flush router bit and some MDF. I had actually bought a Black & Decker jig saw the day before because it was cheep and they didn't seem to have the DeWalt one I wanted . After testing it out I really didn't like it but, to my surprise I found the one I wanted  in a product display and it was on sale for only $5 more then the B&D one. It works so much better! It's so smooth. Anyway, last night I made a jig to cut out the plywood support ribs for my wins. I was able to get the jig built and over a dozen ribs cut. Tonight I hope to get the rest of them cut. 

It has begun!

Today was the inaugural trip to The Home Depot to buy supplies to start building the Red Hot Flyer II. It is one of many trips that will happen over the next month and a half. My initial focus is going to be on building the wings. Since the Red Hot Flyer 2 is a Bi-Plane things are going to be a little bit more complicated. I have a general idea of how I am going to build it but it's mostly in my head. I have however, drawn out my airfoil design and am now trying to figure out how I'm going to cut out 70+ ribs so that they are all the same. I also started cutting all the spars for the wings. I think I have a good start even though I didn't get a ton of work done today. The wings should start coming together pretty quickly over the next week or so.