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First to Mike Holland and his Dad, CONGRATULATIONS!!! I know, Mike, that I said all this in a private email, but it should be done here too!! A great accomplishment, as I know what your crazy schedule has been for your company. Again, I hope to see you in the UK sometime next year, if I can get settled by then. In any case, it'll be as soon as can be - looking forward to getting a ride around the beautiful English countryside! Maybe Stonehenge makes sense from the air....... wouldn't that make the hair on the back of your neck stand up?



A comment about Jim Frantz's method of marking his wires. It's a neat idea and you'll love it after a couple of years when you have to dig into the bundles to do some inevitable troubleshooting. I'm not sure whether you mentioned the type of pen you used, but for anyone who is going to use this method, be sure the pen is a permanent marker. I think the brand name of a good one to use is "Sharpie" - it's indelible and has a very fine point.



To Scott Krueger, one of your "pro's" about flying in the prime, that of having a "military/stealth look", wouldn't be too good if you're flying here in the Los Angeles area. These things are hard enough to see even when painted what should be a high visibility color - I've been told that you can hardly see mine from fairly close, and it's quite white. And I can attest that Jim Gates' VERY red Lancair is also hard to pick up even with the strobes going and he's talking to me! I'm guessing you had your tongue firmly in your cheek on that one but, folks, if you're located in a high traffic density area like me, it's no time to get sneaky! I know your transponder makes you visible to ATC but it's the guys who aren't talking to them who're the manace. I've seen the dirt around a bunch of Bonanza rivets a couple of times, up close and personal, and those things are bigger than Lancairs, so I know of which I speak.



Also, I agree that WLS and other quality primers are probably not chemically affected by oils, exhaust, bug guts and the like but the very nature of primers makes oils 'n stuff sorta sink in. My point was only that to be sure the paint gets a good grip, the surface must be properly cleaned and de-greased. As I said, I've seen the results of poor cleaning and it ain't pretty.



Bill Gradwohl's dissertation on soldering techniques was great! Now I'm wondering if he was the same guy that some of my people had to deal with, back in another life, to get their NASA soldering certification cards. This kind of attention to quality had to mean something, folks, as we never lost our "Zero Defects" plaque and we put hundreds of black boxes on a lot of different airframes. It works, so if you've never done any soldering before, read his post again before you pick up a soldering iron.



Finally, thanks to the guys that responded to my query re: weather in the Northwest. Appreciate it!



Cheers,



Dan Schaefer





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