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Bob Barrows & I just spent three days working at the kit factory to show the workers there some new tricks. This was the result of everyone's comments on what could be done to improve the kits by making them easier to build. While we did not accomplish every change that was suggested, we did succeed in teaching the guys to do a few new things that builders will like.
First and most important - on the first day Bob & I (mostly Bob) worked with a some workers on setting the angle of incidence and dihydral on a Patrol's wings. By the end of the day the wings were drilled to the fuselage. A lot of the day was spent making the tooling to accomplish this efficiently and precisely in a production environment. The next morning Bob showed them how to drill the wing struts. The next day was their "final exam". The workers, by themselves, successfully and correctly got a set of wings drilled to their fuselage with the wing struts done as well. This took about 1/2 of the day.
So in the future - all QB kits will come with the wings and wing struts holes already drilled to final size. The wings & wing struts with the end fittings will be provided finished with only the need to insert the correct bolts to have them in place.
Kind of in the middle of all this Bob showed the wing guys how to make the fuel tank straps with all their bends and tensioners. Also the hole will be opened up in the upper wing skin for the tank filler neck. We will be providing the tank straps all made up and ready to put the tanks in place. The upper straps will already be installed in the tank bay with the lower straps totally finished but loose.
Last change is only on the elevators of the 4 place BH and Patrol. We are welding two pieces of sheet steel in the area of the counterweights. Enough lead will be melted and poured in to balance an elevator covered with Oratex (lightest fabric). There will be room to put in more lead (lead shot & epoxy slurry) for builders using a heavier fabric or lots of coats of shiny paint.
The new kits with these improvements will be here the first week of July. So anyone sitting on the fence and thinking about building - your job just got easier. Prices should probably be raised in consideration of the extra time/effort involved. But not this first batch of Patrol & Model B kits. We will leave prices as before for the time being.
For those of you already building, our hope is you will understand that incremental improvements like this are part of the deal. I wish we could wave a magic wand and have these tasks done on everyone's kits. We remain ready to help you when you do these steps on your kits. After participating with Bob on this by translating his instructions - it was a good refresher course for me as well even though I have done the wing attach 4 or 5 times myself.
Bob and Diana flew here in his BH LSA. Below is a pic of them about to depart. With Bob, Diana, bags, and 1/2 fuel - Bob was off the ground in about 175 ft.
The other pic shows the first wing with its strut in place. Thanks for all the suggestions that prompted these improvements. Mark
First and most important - on the first day Bob & I (mostly Bob) worked with a some workers on setting the angle of incidence and dihydral on a Patrol's wings. By the end of the day the wings were drilled to the fuselage. A lot of the day was spent making the tooling to accomplish this efficiently and precisely in a production environment. The next morning Bob showed them how to drill the wing struts. The next day was their "final exam". The workers, by themselves, successfully and correctly got a set of wings drilled to their fuselage with the wing struts done as well. This took about 1/2 of the day.
So in the future - all QB kits will come with the wings and wing struts holes already drilled to final size. The wings & wing struts with the end fittings will be provided finished with only the need to insert the correct bolts to have them in place.
Kind of in the middle of all this Bob showed the wing guys how to make the fuel tank straps with all their bends and tensioners. Also the hole will be opened up in the upper wing skin for the tank filler neck. We will be providing the tank straps all made up and ready to put the tanks in place. The upper straps will already be installed in the tank bay with the lower straps totally finished but loose.
Last change is only on the elevators of the 4 place BH and Patrol. We are welding two pieces of sheet steel in the area of the counterweights. Enough lead will be melted and poured in to balance an elevator covered with Oratex (lightest fabric). There will be room to put in more lead (lead shot & epoxy slurry) for builders using a heavier fabric or lots of coats of shiny paint.
The new kits with these improvements will be here the first week of July. So anyone sitting on the fence and thinking about building - your job just got easier. Prices should probably be raised in consideration of the extra time/effort involved. But not this first batch of Patrol & Model B kits. We will leave prices as before for the time being.
For those of you already building, our hope is you will understand that incremental improvements like this are part of the deal. I wish we could wave a magic wand and have these tasks done on everyone's kits. We remain ready to help you when you do these steps on your kits. After participating with Bob on this by translating his instructions - it was a good refresher course for me as well even though I have done the wing attach 4 or 5 times myself.
Bob and Diana flew here in his BH LSA. Below is a pic of them about to depart. With Bob, Diana, bags, and 1/2 fuel - Bob was off the ground in about 175 ft.
The other pic shows the first wing with its strut in place. Thanks for all the suggestions that prompted these improvements. Mark
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