I went to bed certain that our 180 second vehicle was dead. We split the tank over 20 inches of the main seam. My son and our welder Bob would not give up they got up at 6 am and spent the day grinding bending and otherwise beating the tank back into shape. They then re-welded the bad seam. At 2:30pm this afternoon it passed Hydro. Its clear that we are real close with little margin, but we do not pressurize in the presence of humans so even if it failed we would not hurt anyone. This was a 12 hr detour that we did not need. Its still a Hail Mary to be ready for the 180, but we are not yet dead.
As a result we are probably not going to be ready Friday Morning, its more likely we will try a Friday Afternoon flight and one or more Saturday Flights. I'm a bit hesitant to post the FAR map as we have had some theft problems, but I am going to post it for the next 24 hours.
If you want to come watch the earliest possible start is a Friday Noon safety briefing.
The Saturday Safety briefing will be at 7 am Saturday Morning. If you want to Camp at FAR you can. If yotu are not Xprize or Judges you will need to sign a FAR liabiliy waiver. You must be at the briefing to attend the event. It is very possible that Friday will be canceled entirely.
Far is a good 45 minutes from Mojave, and the road is rough. You may find the map here.
9 comments:
Now that's the spirit, keep on fighting murphy!
Best of luck for your attempts!
w00t! :-D Stubbornness once again proves it's value. Have a great set of flights!
Paul, you are an inspiration. Glad to see you got a break here. Woot indeed. :)
U need some friction stir welding.
I would suggest a small plastic statue of the VIrgin Mary might be useful under the circumstances.
Stevo
Is the pressurization the last thing that is done seconds before takeoff? Weak/reworked joints can be tricky. Maybe have very limited personnel from the pressurization point forward just in case.
You're incerdible
I'd say you have already accomplished your main objective; teaching your son that with the right attitude towards trying and trying again, "unreasonable" goals can be achieved. Best of luck in the upcoming flights!!!
GPS Corr?
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