Rolling Forward
The roll cage has been fitted, and some more adjustments made. Few more adjustments to come, then final welding. Should be ready for powder-coating by the end of next week. Forming of the test wing ribs continues.
Brakes, Fuselage and Spar Updates
The brake and rudder pedal combo is coming together. Along with the spar and wing ribs. The spar is bolted and riveted. See pics below. A big shout out this week to Chris Welsh, Rick Koch and Ricky Reubel for your excellent workmanship, enthusiasm and Panther Spirit.
22 days and counting
That is right, only 22 days until Sun’NFun. We are having a the first annual SPA Sun’NFun BBQ on Friday, the 30th time is TBA. Come by the booth – N034 – to get directions and details. The Panther Prototype Build Club will be diligently working away this week on finishing the spar assembly, fuselage, […]
Test Spar Assembly
The spar is really coming together. What a shame we are going to have to break this beautiful spar! We have been reaming out holes and deburring, prepping for riveting. Total assembly time to date, including cutting out spar caps and manually cutting/drilling the outer spar web, is about 8 hours. We are pleased with […]
The Test Wing Is Coming Together
The stiffeners for the test wing arrived, they are amazing! The panther spar is typical in design in many respects. It uses a 6061 T-6 AL angle as caps that are riveted to the spar web. The wing skins rivet into the angle as well. The inner portions of the spar where loads are very […]
Test Fitting for all sizes
Since the fuselage is now semi-permanently tack welded we decided it was time to try it on for size. All sizes, that is! Rachel was first. She is 5’4″ and has a small build. She looks like the Panther ate her for breakfast, but she still has great visibility and can reach the controls and […]
Coming Together
The fuselage is starting to come together. Our master welder began the tack work last night and these are some pics. Dan really wanted to climb in and get a feel for the width, but it isn’t quite time for that yet. The instrument panel is a prop only – but the wing ribs are […]
Parts and Props
THE WING RIBS AND FORM BLOCKS FOR THE TEST WING ARE FINALLY HERE!!!!! The building has begun! We have the fuselage side fixture completed and welding will begin next week. AND – The local county paper, The Clay Today, did a front page piece on the SOLO filming! It is very interesting and we would […]
Update – Keep scrolling so you don’t miss anything!
There have been so many different things going on over the last few weeks! First – and most exciting – was the filming of SOLO. Dan’s sister, Lisa Weseman, and brother-in-law, Lex Sadasivan, spent a week shooting footage for their short film called SOLO. You can read all about it here – SOLO Film – […]
Weekly Update
We have been busy at the Corvair College, setting up websites and working on spar details. In the past weeks we have formed the test ribs and added flute locations to the form blocks. We also “tweaked” the nose of the rib blanks so they form better. I’m […]
