A little over a month ago we asked a Tech Counselor from our local EAA chapter to look at our project. We wanted to prime our tailfeathers and wanted someone to look at them first. He agreed and came by about a week later. Although he is listed under rag and tube counselors, he readily admitted his experience which wasn't long on welded fuselages. He did have welding experience and a good deal of building experience.
After looking things over he thought there was a chance some of the welds on the thinner materials (the tail ribs in particular) might have been a little hot. Hetold usthat he didn't really think we had anything to worry about but suggested we get a few pieces hardness tested just for peace of mind. After confessing I didn't know much about hardness testing, he explained a bit about it. I wasn't sure where to have this done so he offered to take a few pieces to a friend with a machine shop and use his equipment to test our pieces. At this point we counted ourselves very lucky because this seemed above and beyond the call of volunteer duty. He called me back tonight and told us all of the parts tested just fine.
My hat goes off to all of you Technical Counselors and Flight Advisors. Without your assistance and this EAA system, building an aircraft would truly feel daunting. As it is, it's really alot of fun instead.
Jim
After looking things over he thought there was a chance some of the welds on the thinner materials (the tail ribs in particular) might have been a little hot. Hetold usthat he didn't really think we had anything to worry about but suggested we get a few pieces hardness tested just for peace of mind. After confessing I didn't know much about hardness testing, he explained a bit about it. I wasn't sure where to have this done so he offered to take a few pieces to a friend with a machine shop and use his equipment to test our pieces. At this point we counted ourselves very lucky because this seemed above and beyond the call of volunteer duty. He called me back tonight and told us all of the parts tested just fine.
My hat goes off to all of you Technical Counselors and Flight Advisors. Without your assistance and this EAA system, building an aircraft would truly feel daunting. As it is, it's really alot of fun instead.
Jim