Just a quick update on what has been going on at SPA over the last couple of weeks.
- Our welding team dove into the tubing kits and are well under way churning out more Panther fuselage cages.
- Our powder-coat shop promises our HUGE batch of fuselages and parts will be done this week for pickup.
- An issue with our online webstore order finishing sequence and account administration has been identified and corrected. If anyone attempted to place an order or look at their account status and received an “Oops” page after submitting please know we received you order, and the issue is now resolved. Thank you for your patience with this issue!
- We received 24 sets of spars from our CNC shop and we have been prepping them for assembly.
- We have sculpted the shell for the Universal Panther Cowling that will be used for the Lycoming, Continental and UL Power engine options. (see below)
- Hardware lists for the fuselage are underway.
- Minor updates to builders manuals.
Upgrades coming online:
- Wing nose ribs moving forward will have pilot holes that will cleco directly into the leading edge skin! This is another step forward in our initiative to match tool all of the Panther.
- Upper and lower longerons are precision cut with the proper angle for installation – NO MORE COMPOUND MITER SAW REQUIRED BY THE BUILDER!
Coming Next:
- We are expecting many parts from power-coat, as I mentioned above, and parts from our laser and CNC shops. We expect parts from our shops to be coming in over the next 3 weeks to fill all of the standing orders and put us ahead for the next round as well.
- The hydra-form press and press brake will be busy forming and bending parts as they come in.
- Factory built fuel tanks and spars are coming online
- Hardware kit pricing on our website coming soon!
- The final touches on the Universal Panther Cowling and the canopy skirt will be finished this week and then it is off to the fiberglass team.
Grass Roots and Planting Seeds
We jumped in the back of Dan’s work truck with our boys this afternoon and ran them over to our neighbors pond to let them fish for half an hour. We all had a great time, and the boys used up all the earth worms they had on their great grandfathers’ cane poles on some brim they caught and threw back….can’t beat that for wrapping up a hard work week! And now to do it all again!
