Packing the Planes

It's time to start preparing the planes for transport. Here is a quick look at my process and hopefully in a couple days when I unpack,  you'll see both planes survive the journey to Switzerland!

I use a list of plane parts and check off items as I go. The planes are broken down and the stabs removed. This is my Oxai Galactik getting packed....   I remove the right stab tube bolts and pull the stab halves out leaving the tubes in the left stab. Makes for easy assembly :-)

 

The stabs are places in their covers for extra protection. Next I removed the spinner, prop and motor and then left the engine mounts in place. I then removed the gear and carefully wrapped them in foam
along with the spinner, back plate and bolts (in a plastic bag trapped inside the spinner).
 

The gear was placed on the battery tray and the battery straps employed as tie downs for the gear legs, prop and the spinner.  

 

Next the rudder servo horn is removed to reduce any possible shock transferring through the rudder should the box be dropped or jarred. Stripped gears are bad news!

The plane is wrapped up it it's custom cover... and yes the canopy was installed :-) I then grabbed the boxes that Stan Anderson made for me and laid in the foam.

 

I basically fit everything in with the fuse floating on layers of foam. The section by the canopy is wrapped up and foam is placed at the front and rear of the box. Wings, stabs and T-Can are added with foam separating all the parts with special care not to have horns poking into fuses etc. Everything will "float" inside although there is minimal room to go anywhere. Nothing is hard mounted to the box.




















I double checked that all parts actually made it into the box and then carefully close the box lid while capturing the foam around the fuse (dark foam) and rudder section. I then screwed the top down.

I will add some gorilla tape to the bottom section and then add a bunch of fragile stickers and this way up etc.... not that anyone looks at that stuff but it will make me feel better! One down, one to go. 

Meanwhile over at the Akimoto's house, little Keiko has packed all her stuffies and herself into Michi's box for the trip.  Apparently she is almost done :-)

Planning Update - A week to go!

Hi folks

It's about time for an update on the team's progress as we have a week to go before we depart for the World Championships in Zurich, Switzerland.  One week!

We have been busy planning since the Team Trails last August and it will all start to come together soon. The team will basically mirror every other team that is going to the worlds with planes packed up for shipping, flights arranged, hotels & vehicle rentals booked, practice sites secured and the GPS loaded with various practice fields and the main site at the Dübendorf Air Force Base.

The tentative team itinerary below has us departing from various parts of Canada on August 2nd to meet up in Toronto as a team for our direct flight to Zurich. As we arrive after an all night flight around 8 am we will take the day to check into our hotel, get rental vehicles, assemble planes, obtain our batteries and get the lay of the land. We will all be tired so no flying is planned at this point.

August 2nd - Depart for Zurich
August 3rd - Arrive Zurich - Hotel/Vehicle Rentals/Plane Assembly/Obtain Batteries 
August 4th - Practice
August 5th - Practice
August 6th - Team Registration and more practice.... see a trend here? :-)
August 7th - AM Practice then Official Team Practice on Flight Line #2 @ 13:30-14:15 then Processing/Sound Check @ Line #2 14:50-15:30.  Team Managers Meeting @ 17:00 at the Air Force Center  - 19:00 Order Draw/Bibs at the Big Tent
August 8th - Practice
August 9th - 1st Preliminary Round
August 10th - 2nd Preliminary Round
August 11th - 3rd Preliminary Round
August 12th - 4th Preliminary Round (Managers Meeting @ 19:00 Big Tent for F-15 times)
August 13th - Rain Day F-15 Practice
August 14th - Semi Final Flights & Managers Meeting @ 18:30 Big Tent -flight order for Finals
August 15th - Final Flights, Awards & Banquet
August 16th - We will split up and go our separate ways with some planning to vacation and others returning home. 

We have added numerous links to the right side of the page and they will likely grow as the event happens. One of them is a blog from Australian Russell Edwards who has been traveling around Europe this summer attending various contests. His blog gives a good insight to the European scope of Precision Aerobatics and is a nice easy read.  (Love his Van Breakdown count!) He will be at the Worlds to cheer on the Australian team no doubt!

We will be adding the rest of the team members to this blog as authors so you can expect some posts from them throughout the event. Our busy schedule will really dictate the ability to update this page but you can expect something on here each day. Feel free to comment or ask questions but be patient for answers as connectivity may be an issue at times.

Dave