rbibb
Well Known Member
Now I'm not one who has strong belief in ghosts, or other para-normal phenomena. But over the weekend my inclination to discount such stories was, if not erased, at least shaken a bit.
I'm working on the RV-10. At the stage where the front and mid section of the fuselage are bolted together at the spar carry-through in order to drill the bottom skin rivet holes where the bottom skins overlap and will get riveted to the spar carry-though assemblies.
I had completed the procedures and was in the process of unbolting the parts in order to complete the ritual of debarring, dimpling, and ultimately riveting the skin in place.
The scene was at the point of removing the large bolts that tie the two spar carry-through assemblies together. All was well until I encountered a couple of bolts that were a bit stubborn and refused my gentle efforts to remove them. I am working on the starboard side with the fuselage sitting on a table I had built to hold it. I decided to enlist the aid of a bit of mechanical assistance in the form of a small dead-blow hammer for to tap the bolts a bit. Said hammer was located in my roll-away tool box located on the port side of the aircraft so I walked about the front of the table to retrieve the hammer and returned forthwith. Estimated time enroute was on the order of 5 seconds roundtrip.
Upon arrival, hammer in hand, there, on the top of the spar where it extends from the fuselage side where the bolts that provided so much angst pass through I was confronted with one AN-4 bolt, estimated length 1.25", sitting vertically on top of the spar assembly. Not so strange you say to find a random piece of aircraft hardware lurking amidst the organized chaos of a construction project? Well here's the rub. At no point in the efforts to that point had occasion arisen to use an AN-4 bolt in efforts so far. There was not an AN-4 bolt within 15 feet before the stray perched vertically in such a delicate fashion so placed as my supply of such were firmly resting in their storage bins firmly attached to the garage wall awaiting their fate at a later stage of construction.
So I think to myself - how did that get there? I was there not 5 seconds before, had not employed such device, had no such devices within arms reach, and, in its perilous perch, would not have remained in that place for long given the mount of movement employed to shift the fuselage assembly around as it was worked on prior to its discovery.
In fact, quite shaken by the event I retired from working thinking I a) either had help in working on the project I had not solicited nor welcomed, or b) was suffering from some manner of senility offering a warning of steep mental decline.
After a bit I returned to work. Shaken and still not in possession of any reasonable explanation for the phenomena I had just witnessed.
Richard Bibb
RV-4 N144KT
RV-10 - future result of pats scattered throughout the environs.
I'm working on the RV-10. At the stage where the front and mid section of the fuselage are bolted together at the spar carry-through in order to drill the bottom skin rivet holes where the bottom skins overlap and will get riveted to the spar carry-though assemblies.
I had completed the procedures and was in the process of unbolting the parts in order to complete the ritual of debarring, dimpling, and ultimately riveting the skin in place.
The scene was at the point of removing the large bolts that tie the two spar carry-through assemblies together. All was well until I encountered a couple of bolts that were a bit stubborn and refused my gentle efforts to remove them. I am working on the starboard side with the fuselage sitting on a table I had built to hold it. I decided to enlist the aid of a bit of mechanical assistance in the form of a small dead-blow hammer for to tap the bolts a bit. Said hammer was located in my roll-away tool box located on the port side of the aircraft so I walked about the front of the table to retrieve the hammer and returned forthwith. Estimated time enroute was on the order of 5 seconds roundtrip.
Upon arrival, hammer in hand, there, on the top of the spar where it extends from the fuselage side where the bolts that provided so much angst pass through I was confronted with one AN-4 bolt, estimated length 1.25", sitting vertically on top of the spar assembly. Not so strange you say to find a random piece of aircraft hardware lurking amidst the organized chaos of a construction project? Well here's the rub. At no point in the efforts to that point had occasion arisen to use an AN-4 bolt in efforts so far. There was not an AN-4 bolt within 15 feet before the stray perched vertically in such a delicate fashion so placed as my supply of such were firmly resting in their storage bins firmly attached to the garage wall awaiting their fate at a later stage of construction.
So I think to myself - how did that get there? I was there not 5 seconds before, had not employed such device, had no such devices within arms reach, and, in its perilous perch, would not have remained in that place for long given the mount of movement employed to shift the fuselage assembly around as it was worked on prior to its discovery.
In fact, quite shaken by the event I retired from working thinking I a) either had help in working on the project I had not solicited nor welcomed, or b) was suffering from some manner of senility offering a warning of steep mental decline.
After a bit I returned to work. Shaken and still not in possession of any reasonable explanation for the phenomena I had just witnessed.
Richard Bibb
RV-4 N144KT
RV-10 - future result of pats scattered throughout the environs.
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