iter
HPR Glider Driver
- Joined
- Jun 9, 2012
- Messages
- 2,144
- Reaction score
- 73
I sort of feel I willed this thing into existence. I kept thinking about a configuration I want, and how much it might cost, and how much work it might require to get going, and how an ambulance has many of the features I want but is hard to come by in for a meaningful price in a reasonable condition. One day I'm out to lunch with a customer and I see this across the street. We go look at it, and it's in a used car dealer's lot, and he wants $2,500 for it. It's almost exactly what I have in mind, at a price that's in the crazy idea range. So I ask myself, do I really want one, or was I just joking when I said I did? If I wish for something, and the Universe puts that in my way, and I walk past, I must not be serious about wanting it in the first place. Long story short and $1,750 later, I now own an ex-ambulance.
"I know how these older-model Fireflies tend to have those troublesome little nooks."
It's a 1986 E350. From what I gather, the van was an ambulance for the first 10 years of its life. Then a local HAM group took it over and used it in support of their emergency communications program. Eventually, a local fire department took over ownership and support, with the HAMs continuing to operate it. I'm unclear on how much actual use they got out of it. It seems the van drove about 1,000 miles in the last 10 years.
What I like about it: it has all these compartments for storing motors and tools and stuff. It has a fold-out table to work on, it's like bringing a picnic table to a launch, only better. It's red. It has room for a lot of large rockets and gliders.
What I want to change about it: It has one passenger seat up front and a jump seat in the back. I want to have two adult passenger seats and a car seat for my daughter when she goes with me to launches. I expect in its ambulance configuration the van had a bench seat along the right wall, but it's missing now. I'm unclear on how comfortable it would be on a long ride anyway. If I have multiple passengers in the van, I want a feeling of a single space we share. These 3-hour drives get boring if you can't talk.
What I'm going to accept about how the van is: this thing has been around. The clear is peeling off and there's rust. Some of it is painted over, some of it is exposed. The van has a finite number of years and miles left in it. I'm treating it as an experiment in finding out if this is something I want to have in my life. It's the largest road vehicle I've owned (though I've driven larger ones) and I guess I'm trying it on for size.
Ari.
"I know how these older-model Fireflies tend to have those troublesome little nooks."
It's a 1986 E350. From what I gather, the van was an ambulance for the first 10 years of its life. Then a local HAM group took it over and used it in support of their emergency communications program. Eventually, a local fire department took over ownership and support, with the HAMs continuing to operate it. I'm unclear on how much actual use they got out of it. It seems the van drove about 1,000 miles in the last 10 years.
What I like about it: it has all these compartments for storing motors and tools and stuff. It has a fold-out table to work on, it's like bringing a picnic table to a launch, only better. It's red. It has room for a lot of large rockets and gliders.
What I want to change about it: It has one passenger seat up front and a jump seat in the back. I want to have two adult passenger seats and a car seat for my daughter when she goes with me to launches. I expect in its ambulance configuration the van had a bench seat along the right wall, but it's missing now. I'm unclear on how comfortable it would be on a long ride anyway. If I have multiple passengers in the van, I want a feeling of a single space we share. These 3-hour drives get boring if you can't talk.
What I'm going to accept about how the van is: this thing has been around. The clear is peeling off and there's rust. Some of it is painted over, some of it is exposed. The van has a finite number of years and miles left in it. I'm treating it as an experiment in finding out if this is something I want to have in my life. It's the largest road vehicle I've owned (though I've driven larger ones) and I guess I'm trying it on for size.
Ari.
