Hey Team!
I do apologize for the long hiatus in operations. Next time, forget the renovation, it'll be a BULLDOZER!
Things are moving along apace at Penrose St. (yeah, that's what street my house is on - really!)
I hope to be back there by the end of the month and finishing out the well.... finishing. On the 26th, I become the age of the answer to THE question of life the universe and everything. I want to be back in my own bed! (Where's a PGGB when you need one!)
Many thanks for the kind words from Bill, Todd, Drew, and Gary. I've been a BAR since '98 after seeing October Sky but the NARAM42/2000 Adventure was a life changing event that made me love the sport and even more determined to repay the grace I was bestowed.
If you think I've gone a bit over the edge, just read the Cineroc Adventures page about NARAM42/2000. I'm STILL smiling about that!
Not me at '43..... I haven't been to a NARAM since 2000, but have made the last three NARCONs. Not sure if I can make the next one.
I hope to be back in initial production efforts by mid-march. Parts procurement mostly. I also need to make a couple of new RTV molds for some parts and revamp the vac-former with a new vacuum system. M-10Ds will probably be first (as that's what I have the most parts for) but a small run. Almost all are spoken for on the whiteboard list generated from the emails over the last year.
I checked with the necessary entities before I dove into my operations 4 years ago. I strickly follow the guidelines given and there have been no problems.
I met Vern & Gleda at NARAM42/2000. He had very kind words for me after my Vender Forum presentation. He was very pleased to see the Omega I built from scratch in 3 days (thanks JimZ!), tested on the Tuesday, and flew the Cineroc with on Wednesday.
The upscale Shuttle flew fantastic twice then crashed and burned on an RMS E11. The flight bug was traced to a boost configuration need for a more forward C/G. Fixed it by adding weight to the forward disk of the power pod. You can see the flight photos of the first good flight (that killed the Orbiter). The second with about 2/3rds the weight flew perfectly. I'll build a completely new prototype and eventually finalize the kit configuration.
I'll make posts to RF, RMR, and OldRockets when I'm back in action.
all the best