Experimenter is a magazine created by EAA for people who build airplanes. We will report on amateur-built aircraft as well as ultralights and other light aircraft.
Issue link: http://experimenter.epubxp.com/i/401344
cheer came from the crowd. Then the second screen lit up like Times Square on New Year's Eve, and the intercom scratched alive noises into the Sennheiser headsets! The crowd seemed powered by much more voltage than 12 volts. The whole team took energy from the moment. Success and exhilaration were now within the grasp! The fi rst radio call was relayed over the intercom, and as the tower acknowledged clear comms, the shout of One Week Wonder reached every corner of Wisconsin! One step closer, but many left to take. Caleb wanted the wings on the plane by Friday night, but it was not going to happen. There was too much pressure and not enough hours, and all that electrical stuff had eaten up access time to the airframe, too. The day ended with everybody tense about the remaining full day and how much that had to be achieved. DAY SI X : BURNING T HE MIDNIGH T OIL Saturday morning was a blur. Nobody could remember his or her own name anymore. Thankfully, everything was being accounted for, but the team was visibly slowing down. Caution was being applied, because everybody knew that it was better to miss the deadline than make a mistake that could jeopardize the long- term benefi ts from this punctuation mark in aviation history. It was time to rearrange the bull pen. Moving wings around in a smallish bull pen with spectators, volunteers, press, and pipe and drum ensembles can only be likened to working on completing a Rubik's Cube one-handed. Up, down, left, right, duck, dive, turn, lower, and watch out for the pitot tube connection on that left wing. It wasn't may- hem; it was coordinated, but it really was a dance. Every- thing looked ready to mount. The wings would be fi tted inside the bull pen, dihedral set, and then they would be removed and refi tted outside, ready for fi nal plumbing and engine testing. To set the dihedral, you of er up the two wings, drill the wing roots to the cabin frame, and then set them at the correct 22 Vol.3 No.10 / October 2014 ONE WEEK WONDER! A young volunteer signs the construction logbook after pulling a rivet. Some 2,500 adults and children lent their hand to the One Week Wonder project. As tens of thousands of AirVenture attendees enjoyed the Saturday night air show and fi reworks, volunteers on the One Week Wonder project burned a bit of "midnight oil" to ensure that the aircraft would be completed the next day. Photography by Jason Toney