Getting ready for red bull video shoot

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.

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.

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. 

When I say dance, you best dance...

As if the pressure of designing and building a human powered flying machine, in my case a 28 foot hot dog biplane, I have to come up with a one minute skit! What do you do to impress 70,000 plus spectators and ultimately the judges? Do I enlist the dance moves of my three nieces who are competitive cheerleaders? Do I get my dad to do a Ray Clay Chicago Bulls style introduction of the Red Hot Flyer II and all the toppings? Do I stage a Godzilla style attack by a giant bottle of Ketchup with the RHF2 flying away to safety? Have a suggestion for a skit, let me know?

Red Hot Flyer Redux

It's  official the wiener will fly again! The Red Hot Flyer II been accepted into the 2008 Red Bull Flugtag Chicago. It has been nearly five years since I entered and competed in the 2003 Red Bull Flugtag Chicago with the first Red Hot Flyer. Now that the nervous excitement has started to subside I must get busy planning the construction of my bi-winged flying machine. I will keep you posted all along the way with this blog so, stay tuned.

"This suspense is terrible. I hope it will last."
- Oscar Wilde