Once again it’s been a long, long time since I wrote an update, but work has continued over the past year.

Over the past three years I have had unbelievable luck in a complex cat-and-mouse game with the ninnies at Manassas Regional Airport. I always planned to bring the project home, but my hand was forced one rainy day last summer when I pulled the trailer over to Skyworks for an early morning rearrangement of the disassembled pieces. I finished this task around 7:30 am, and figuring that government employees probably wouldn’t be at the office that early, I drove my pickup with the project in tow up into the semicircular driveway leading to the secure gate onto the ramp. Standing next to the terminal enjoying morning cup of joe was none other than the airport director himself! One glance at the look on his face told me that there was no way to put the project back into the hangar as planned without getting busted, so I just kept driving, and ninety minutes later the trailer was safely parked in my driveway.

The trailer remained there for another two months while I spent days in sweltering heat removing the control columns and yokes, throttle quadrant, and all control linkages crossing over the centerline. All of this was done in preparation for moving the pieces into my basement.

Having finished the prep work, I gave the entire project a good bath with soap and water, then divided the forward floor section along the centerline with an angle grinder and reciprocating saw. This yielded two sections that were not particularly heavy but very bulky and awkward, so I bribed three friends with promises of burgers and beer to come over and help move everything into the basement. This was made easier by temporarily removing the sliding double door.