October 31, 2005

Good progress today!

My screw up yesterday was reversed today when I spend the entire day sanding down my messed up fairing shell. I started with 100 grit, then 200, then wet sanded with 400 and it looks pretty spectacular

Even smoother than it was when it first came out of the mold. The photos are showing it wet from a wash – it’s not that glossy yet. We are going to spray a clear coat over it which should make it look like it’s wet – nice and glossy.

My dilemma regarding the finish of these fairing shells is one of form vs function. I know that black bodies heat up and that I should be painting it white or yellow. However, the end of Nov in Alabama see daily average high temperatures of only 15 degrees and lows during the night of near freezing. Heat will probably not be a big issue. And, that carbon fiber just looks so cool.

We were able to get the second fairing shell layed up into the mold today and wet out. It’s three layers instead of two – hopefully there won’t be any leaky pin holes. The inside most layer in Kevlar for crash protection. I will add a Kevlar layer to the first shell also.

Ben shot clear coat over the two rear wheel discs to plug up the pin holes. Shown are the carbon wheel discs on the new fairing shell in the vacuum bag.

The new fairing shells are slightly larger than the old one because of the added bondo on the new plug. As a result, the shell doesn’t fit as snugly onto the frame as I wanted. So, we glued a 1/4″ thick neoprene strip around the frame, glued a strip of Velcro to that, and put a few Velcro tabs on the fairing shell. The fairing fits perfectly now, and it is insulated from the frame with a soft, quiet rubber bumper. It should be fairly quiet I would think. Also I would hope that the bumper would provide some shock absorbtion to the fairing shell and perhaps the airflow might be smoother.

If you think that 6 or 7 small Velcro dots isn’t enough to hold the shell on securely – you would be way wrong. Just getting the shell off is a real challenge!! I am looking at ways to DECREASE the grip of the Velcro so we can get the shell off the frame easier.

Final push to-do list:

Here is my guerilla schedule to get this puppy DONE in ONE week. I call it my “Guerilla schedule to get this puppy DONE in ONE week” plan.

ANY DAY STUFF (these items can be done or thought about any time during the week):
1. Pick up HID light from Speedtek (nick) 250-7751 1655 32 ave NE
2. After we get the light, we need to find some off-the-shelf product to mount the light to, AND something to act as a reflector AND lens. This could be as simple as some large flashlight – or even a small car headlight or motorcycle headlight. This is really the only experimental item left to be done (Ben)

SUNDAY
1. get foam rubber and velcro and bond to frame edge (greg)
2. try to get resin off mold (greg)
3. try to sand down carbon shell (greg)
4. cut and prep carbon, blanket, bag and ply for next layup (greg)

MONDAY
1. layup new fairing shell (Ben)
2. Micro rear wheel well (I decided to do the simplest thing with that rear wheel fairing, and that is to just smear with a bit of micro to smooth over the transition a bit – no time to make a full-on fairing for it.) (greg)
3. cut and prep carbon, blanket, bag and ply for next layup (Ben)
4. Call courier to pick up spider at Gregs work (greg)

TUESDAY (Tuesdays are my long training day. If the weather cooperates, I should be gone all day)
1. Pull out new fairing shell (Ben)
2. layup second and final fairing shell (Ben)

WEDNESDAY
1. Pull out second fairing shell
2. Cut both fairing shells
3. Apply velcro tabs to fairing shells
4. Bond-on canopy bungie hooks
5. finish rear wheel fairing micro and sanding
6. Cut 1″ off rear and bottom corner (to fit shipping size) and reinforce with carbon strips.
7. Cut off rear wheel fairing and make a way to bolt back on again.
7. seal up rear wheel discs ( will epoxy leak through?)

THURSDAY
1. Spray paint rear wheel fairing
2. Spray paint rear part of canopy dome
3. Get disc wheel and new parts from Way Past Fast and install (greg)
4. Cut and install the NACA vent(s). (Ben)
5. Install new tires. (greg)
6. Install landing gear hatch

FRIDAY
1. Race City TEST to confirm that everything is cool (Ben and Greg)

WEEKEND
1. Test the new HID light and set the correct angle at night (greg)

MONDAY
1. Cut notch in nose of frame for the new light – and place for batteries to go
2. Cut hole in the nose of both fairing shells for the light 3. Install the light

TUESDAY (Greg training)
1. dismantel frame and build shipping containers for all parts (Ben)

WEDNESDAY
1. Continue with shipping containers and whatever else needs to be done.

FRIDAY
1. Ship the frame and shells to ALABAMA???????????

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