claycookiemonster
Well Known Member
I'm sure many of us have had moments when the person on the other end of the phone, or across the counter, or in the tent shared some priceless pearls of wisdom with you. Whether about life or aluminum, they saved you.
Probably some day there'll be a book, "Chicken Soup for the RV'er" or something like that. Until then...
I was very early in the construction of my RV-8. For some reason, I just could not get the rivets that hold the elevator bearing bracket together to set properly and gauge correctly. It's one of the very first things you build, and I just couldn't get it right! I had drilled out the entire thing several times. Of course, this needed to be the most perfect airplane in the history of mankind! Zero flaws. My grandkids were going to fly in this, for God's sake! Fortunately, I had an airline layover in PDX right then, and I rented a car as soon as I hit the ground and beamed straight to Aurora. I rang the hotel desk bell on the counter and shortly a kindly bear of a guy walked out and asked me what I needed. "I can't make this right! I've tried and tried! I don't know what I'm doing wrong! One size shorter and it's TOO SHORT! One size longer and it's TOO LONG! What's wrong with me? Why can't I get this!" Tears and lamentations.
(that's the short version. you get the gist)
I remember whoever it was smiled at me with an air of complete peace and confidence. Then he said simply, "Dude, relax! It's just an airplane! It's not that complicated. You know what's complicated? My John Deere yard tractor. That's complicated! It has rack and pinion steering! It has belts and gears and a power take off. You're not building a tractor, you're just building an airplane!
So I took a deep breath, and then he closed in for the kill.
He asked me, with a straight face, if I thought I was as mechanically capable as my grandmother. I said I guessed I was probably even more mechanical than my grandmother. He said, "Good! Because women just like your grandmother build all the B-17's in WWII, and they built them the same way you're going to build your RV-8."
I have slept soundly ever since. God bless him, whoever he was.
Probably some day there'll be a book, "Chicken Soup for the RV'er" or something like that. Until then...
I was very early in the construction of my RV-8. For some reason, I just could not get the rivets that hold the elevator bearing bracket together to set properly and gauge correctly. It's one of the very first things you build, and I just couldn't get it right! I had drilled out the entire thing several times. Of course, this needed to be the most perfect airplane in the history of mankind! Zero flaws. My grandkids were going to fly in this, for God's sake! Fortunately, I had an airline layover in PDX right then, and I rented a car as soon as I hit the ground and beamed straight to Aurora. I rang the hotel desk bell on the counter and shortly a kindly bear of a guy walked out and asked me what I needed. "I can't make this right! I've tried and tried! I don't know what I'm doing wrong! One size shorter and it's TOO SHORT! One size longer and it's TOO LONG! What's wrong with me? Why can't I get this!" Tears and lamentations.
(that's the short version. you get the gist)
I remember whoever it was smiled at me with an air of complete peace and confidence. Then he said simply, "Dude, relax! It's just an airplane! It's not that complicated. You know what's complicated? My John Deere yard tractor. That's complicated! It has rack and pinion steering! It has belts and gears and a power take off. You're not building a tractor, you're just building an airplane!
So I took a deep breath, and then he closed in for the kill.
He asked me, with a straight face, if I thought I was as mechanically capable as my grandmother. I said I guessed I was probably even more mechanical than my grandmother. He said, "Good! Because women just like your grandmother build all the B-17's in WWII, and they built them the same way you're going to build your RV-8."
I have slept soundly ever since. God bless him, whoever he was.