IT'S BEEN A BUSY MONTH!

Hello Again - It's been really busy this past month around the Prowler Shop. Included in this update:
1. Kit #13 Has a New Owner
2. Builder Visit w/ Bud Tedesco (Kit #16)
3. Redding Air Show
4. Bryan (Kit #007) Progress
5. Work on Tailwheel Struts
6. First Attempt At Bend Radius Jig
7. Added DRO to Bridgeport Mill Quill
8. Installed 3 Jaw Chuck on Lathe
9. Purchased a MIG welder

Overall, we're continuing to make progress on our first aircraft and Prowler the company. There is much to do to structure what we do now to make it repeatable in the future. Generally, when we work on the airplane we don't get much done on the company. And, when we work on the company, we don't get a lot done on the actual aircraft. But, all in due time. On with the update.

1. Kit #13 Has a New Owner - You may remember from our JAN09 post that Rick in Memphis purchased the RW&B aircraft (Kit #001) and also Kit #013 from the former owner in JAX. After reviewing and inventorying all of the parts, Rick decided to put Kit #013 up for sale. The kit was recently purchased by Roy Farris of Franklin, IN. Roy should take custody of the kit within the next few weeks. We'll pass along any new information once Roy gets his kit. Here's a couple of pix of Kit #013 taken when Rick was purchasing it earlier.



Congratulations Roy! We look forward to working with you in getting your airplane together and flying. Please send us your pix and your thoughts that we can share with everyone.

2. Builder Visit w/ Bud Tedesco (Kit #16) - On a recent trip to MCO for recurrent training, I was able to get up to Mount Dora, FL and visit Bud and see his aircraft. He's doing a fabulous job on it and is hoping to have it flying by the end of the year! Nearly all the systems have been installed and tested. He is currently working on installing all of the fairings and finishing up odds-n-ends. Here are a few pix of Bud's Beauty:



So far, Bud is the only builder that has incorporated a sliding canopy design into his Prowler. He came up with an ingenious design that allows it to work on a cockpit that is wider at the front than at the back. We'll look at incorporating this into our aircraft. BTW - that's Bud waving from the cockpit in the first picture above. Great job Bud - we'll keep tracking your progress. Hope you make your goal to have your aircraft fly this year.

3. Redding Air Show - The promoters of the Redding Air Show called George this year and asked him if he would, again, display his Prowler at the air show. He agreed and we spent Thurs before the airshow getting Kit #005 out of storage, towing it up to KRDD, putting the wings on, and giving it a much needed bath. This was our first opportunity to see how the airplane is taken on and off of the trailer, how the wings are put on and taken off, and enjoy seeing folks enjoy the airplane. There is now doubt about it - this airplane gets lots and lots of looks!
We may have gotten even more looks if it hadn't been 112F on the field that Saturday! It was hot, but it was a great show. Of Course, these guys always get the most looks!

4. Bryan's (Kit #007) Progress - A bit of a slowdown at work has allowed Bryan to really get some work done on his Prowler. He recently sent me a video of his flap operating system in operation. He chose an updated version of the electric linear actuator that George and others have used to operate the flaps. This design has a ball-screw drive with automatic clutching at each end. This negates the need for limit switches, provided that you get the correct stroke length. It does, however, require that a different mounting system be created to attach the fwd end of the actuator to the bulkhead. Here's a video:


http://www.blogger.com/video-play.mp4?contentId=76805bafaeb2cb07&type=video%2Fmp4

NOTE: Bryan also requested us to ask if there are any current builders out there that need the high tensile wing bolts - please contact us. He is going to order some of them and will order enough for everyone. These are sold only in lots of 10 (w/ certification paperwork). He will order enough to get everyone what they need and divide them up when received. Email us for details.

5. Work on Tailwheel Struts - We've ordered the stock material for the tailwheel struts and identified a machine shop to begin making these from our newly made drawings (see previous post). This is to support the current builders that are in need of these items. While we're at it, we'll make a couple extra struts - one for our aircraft and one for possible future needs. Here's an updated 3D version of the TW strut since we "tweaked" the design a little. We should have some new pix for the next update.

6. First Attempt At Bend Radius Jig - We made a first try at making a bending radius jig to make bending 2024-T3 in the box brake easier and faster to do. Since we have a lot of this type of forming to do now (and even more in the future) we are putting time into making these processes very quick and efficient so production can be as efficient as possible. So, we tried welding a 1/4" round stock to the edge of a 1/4" piece of flat bar to create a "jig" to lay on top of the material to bend in the brake. Unfortunately, the heat from the welding stitches caused the jig to warp and made it unusable. In addition, we found out the the top fingers on the brake cannot be adjusted back far enough to accommodate this design. So, we're on to "Plan B" and should have some more info and pix in the next update. If at first you don't succeed - try, try again.

7. Installed DRO on Bridgeport Mill Quill -
This project turned out much more successfully than the one mentioned above. For less than $40 (including shipping) we purchased one of these quill DRO's. It did not, however, come with the mounting hardware - so a little imagination and fabrication were in order. Here's what we came up with.We have one more idea to make this more practical and useful. More to follow.

8. Installed 3 Jaw Chuck on Lathe - Last year we purchased a older used lathe and restored it back to a usable condition. It came with a 4 inch 4 jaw chuck, but we need the convenience of a 3 jaw chuck so we purchased one from ENCO. Trouble was, this lathe is so old that no one makes a back plate for mounting the chuck (uses a 1-1/4" 12tpi fastener to thread onto the lathe spindle). So, we had to make one. First step is to weld a 1-1/4" 12 tpi nut to a piece of 1/2" plate that has a 1" hole cut through it.Next, put it on the lathe to true up the face and side. Also, cut a shoulder on the edge to give a raised area which will fit into a recess on the back of the chuck (ensures it is concentric when installed on back of chuck). Drill 3 holes to bolt the back plate onto the chuck: Install the back plate onto the chuck: Install the completed chuck and back plate onto the lathe.
The dial indicators says run-out is less than 0.003" from side to side (less than 0.0015" from center to OD of the chuck). Good to go! Eventually we'll get a bigger and better lathe and this will be converted and set up to make one or two specific parts. But for now, we can use it to make several of the aircraft parts as well as general shop work.

9. Purchased a MIG Welder-
To facilitate making many of the jigs, tooling and other items needed to produce Prowler parts we needed to purchase a MIG welder. After months of watching the local classified and craigslist we found the right package at a great price.It's already been put to good use and it welds great. Of course, all the weldments for the aircraft parts will all be TIG welded (which we will outsource to a qualified welder initally). However, eventually we hope to purchase a TIG welder and take welding courses to bring this part of production in house as well.

Those are the high points for this installment. Next post we'll have a more complete update on the status of all the builders and their aircraft. Thanks for checking in on us and look for a Halloween update.

A FEW MORE STEPS

A FEW MORE STEPS

Just a quick post to update the latest Prowler progress:

1. Catch up on the Vert Stab.
2. Horiz Stab Work
3. Computer Modeling Parts
4. Builder Update

1. Catch up on the Vert Stab. – In the previous post I mentioned that Dave has been working on assembling the Vert Stab Subkit. Here are a few pix of his handi-work.

2. Horiz Stab Work - Dave's been itching to get to more assembling and I wanted to do something besides work on the plasma setup, so I decided to get some creative work going for a change and started fabricating the parts for the horiz stab subkit. These 8 parts were about 9 hours of work:

Now they have to be heat treated, since they are formed from 2024-O (soft) material. Here are the horiz stab spar parts and cover plates cut out and waiting to be bent up in the sheetmetal brake. I used a buddy's sheet metal shear and it made cutting these out very easy.
Other horiz stab parts:


3. Computer Modeling Parts - Well, we have begun in earnest to model all the parts that make up a Prowler. This will be needed to setup the CNC plasma torch system to cut the flat parts. We purchased copies of BobCAD-CAM and are in the learning to use it process (steep curve right now). It's actually a very powerful program for the price and fairly intuitive - once you watch several of the video tutorials. Here are some examples: The vert stab aft spar;
Main Landing Gear Pivot Link:
Tailwheel Strut:

Close up of the 3D view of the strut - BobCAD-CAM ver 23 does well with the 3D:

Now, only 687 more parts to go (just guessing)!

4. Builder Update - Ray Siem reports that Chuck has his airplane and engine back together and the engine is running well. His problems apparently stemmed from a damaged, or lack of, the mechanical stop in one of the distributors. On one of them the cap had a hole in it where it looks like part of the centrifugal stop system exited the scene and it let the engine vacuum advance run way to advanced. He reports that the engine is running well with coolant temps in range and no noticable issues. He is going to continue to test run the engine while he is going also going thru some medical issues. No date for the next test flight, but we'll keep ya posted.

That's it for this post. It's late and crew services could call in 4 hrs. Thanks for checking in.

SORRY - IT'S BEEN A WHILE

Well, it’s been several months since the last post, but if was for good reason. During that time a lot was happening. In this update:

1. Prowler Territory (was) Under Siege

2. Vert Stab Build

3. CNC Plasma Success

4. AirVenture 2009

5. Horz. Stab Started

6. Repairs to Bridgeport and MLG Forks

7. Builder Updates

8. Event Horizon

1. Prowler Territory (was) Under Siege - On May 7th, Todd was notified that an agency call TANC (Transmission Agency of Northern California) was planning to build a 500 KV transmission line with 150 foot tall massive towers across 2/3 of his property.

The project was eventually abandoned in Jul. But, from May 7th until July 16th it consumed every minute of every day that he wasn’t making a paycheck helping to form and work on a grassroots opposition to TANC (with over 400 other Northern California residents affected by the same project). In all, the project was proposed to be over 600 miles long and affect some 7,000 land owners. On July 7th the Sacramento Municipal Utility District withdrew from the project and took $0.5B with it. Within a week all the players pulled out of the project and all landowners got their properties back. Good riddance.

2. Vert Stab Build – During the time that Todd was fighting TANC, Dave was working on the Vert Stab subkit and creating the associated portion of the Prowler Assembly manual. Using the old version of the assembly manual, Dave completed most of the vertical stabilizer including priming of the parts. The final assembly has not yet been completed because we are looking into re-doing the rudder hinging system. Once we complete this re-design the remainder of the vert stab will be assembled. Sorry, couldn't find any pix this time, we'll post them in the next update.

In conjunction with building our subkits, we have always planned to do a complete re-write of the entire Prowler assembly manual including new text, pictures, drawings, graphics and, if need be, video of assembly. Dave has made some very impressive changes to the manual while working on the vert stab and our future customers will, no doubt, find this new format much more readable and easier to understand. Nice job Dave.

3. CNC Plasma Success – After over 8 weeks of not getting into the shop at all, Todd was able to get back to work on Prowler business. Some of the recent accomplishments include: Completed troubleshooting computer & software issues with the system that runs the CNC plasma table; Completed more modifications to the CNC plasma table; Learned how to CAD parts using BobCAD-CAM ver. 23 (great program) and then CAM the parts using SheetCAM; and most recently – did a complete dry run (with torch off) of a sample part in the CNC plasma system.
If all goes as planned, we should be able to begin using the Prowler Plaz system to proof the concept and start making our parts for our airplane. The idea is that once we complete our company aircraft using this process, we will have the ability to use this for limited production of Prowler sub-kits.

4. AirVenture 2009 - This week, Todd, Dave & Bryan attended Airventure at KOSH. As always, AirVenture was busy and impressive. The A380 as HUGE, the WK2 was interesting, the warbirds were awesome and the airshows were great. Bryan was able to make it for 3 days, Todd and Dave were around for most of the week. We didn't, and probably won't, have a vendor spot at AirVenture for some time. Since we don't yet have anything to sell, we're keeping a low profile.

5. Horz. Stab Started - Todd got a little time in the shop last week and started to fabricate the horizontal stab. We hope to have the sub-kit built and shipped off to Dave for assembly in the next few weeks. Finding somewhere to cost effectively heat treat the few small parts in the horz stab that were formed from 2024-O might be the hold up. More to follow.



6. Completed repairs to the power feed system on the Bridgeport Mill - George came out recently and had some left over stock that he had cut up to make the MLG yokes (forks). We start to use the mill and determined that the power feed was not working correctly. After some investigation it turned out to be a loose bushing deep inside the mill head. So, we had to pull the head, remove the set screws holding the bushing, re-drill the centering hole, re-install the set screws, re-install the mill head, tram the head to square it to the table and (several hours later) bored out one of the strut holes in one of the forks.
7. Builder Updates - We have updates this time from Ray, Chuck, and Bryan.

Ray - has been making really good (and impressive - as always) progress on his plane. He's currently focusing on the instrument panel and electrical wiring. He's planned out an impressive panel with all the bells and whistles. He has incorporated Dynon Avionics with full autopilot, an airliner quality gear operating system, and beautiful landing lights (see a previous post).

Chuck - has had to tear down his engine. Turns out there was an issue with the vacuum advance system in the ingition. There was no limit for the advance system and the engine was damaged. During the teardown Ray stopped by to get some pix of the PSRU and engine. The engine was almost back together when Ray was there and Chuck is planning to run the engine again soon.

Bryan - is mostly done with the wing and is beginning to lay out the cockpit floor in preparation for building the fuselage onto the center section of the airplane. He is also working on finishing the MLG doors and wheel wells. Bryan has decided to forgo the inner gear doors and his plane with have 737 style wheel wells.

8. Event Horizon - What we have coming up on the event horizon:

Prowler CAD work - We are beginning in earnest to start modeling all of the parts needed to build a Prowler. This will happen over time, as we will go back and model the parts that we’ve already made via other means and then move on to modeling the parts for the work we are currently doing. Again, the idea is that by doing this, we will eventually end up with the entire aircraft modeled in a CAD format when we finish our company aircraft.

Prowler Plaz Testing – With the completion of a perfect test run of the Prowler Plaz system, now the real learning curve begins. We must do a series of test cuts to determine the ideal parameters to use for getting the best cuts on each type and thickness of material to be cut. These parameters include things like the best tips to use, the current setting, the optimal pierce height and cut height (controlled by voltage) and feedrate (cut speed). These parameters go into a library contained in the cutting system program that can then be recalled very quickly anytime a similar material is cut. But, the initial testing will take time to build that library. In addition, the plaz system needs a bigger air compressor to be installed and we are going to install a refrigerated air dryer to get the best cuts possible.

Main Wing Spar - The goal at Prowler West is to get the entire main wing spar fabricated, prepped and put into the wing jig by the end of the year. This effort is in direct competition with the above items for time - so some compromise will need to be made, but that's the goal.

Prowler Plasma Makes Fire!

Hello again. Thanks for checking back in on us. In this update we tell you about:
1. A builder visit to Steven Rogers
2. Chuck's airplane had a second round of test flights
3. Prowler Kit #11 Lands in France
4. A quick trip to Sun-n-Fun
5. Prowler Plasma system finally makes FIRE!

1. Builder Visit to Seattle
Todd had a long stay in Seattle recently and had an opportunity to get together with Steven Rogers and his aircraft. His aircraft was build from George's kit #14 by him, his father, and (on several occasions) George too. It was a great visit and we learned a lot about the airplane from Steve's experiences so far in his initial flying and testing. Unfortunately, he recently had a hydraulic issue and the tailwheel collapsed while taxiing and landed on the rudder. So Steve is in the process of making the necessary repairs and we'll have more pictures of the airplane from a follow-on visit. Steve's airplane was the 4th Prowler that we know of to fly and wish him well getting his repairs done soon so that he can start to enjoy his bird instead of work on it. Here is one picture of a mod that Steve did to his Prowler that has dramatically helped to improve airflow through the engine compartment. Thanks for the Visit Steve.

2. Chuck's 2nd Round of Test Flight
We got news of Chuck Westcott's second round of test flights via Ray Siem. The flight's were successful, however, Chuck still reports having water cooling problems. He is in the process investigating the problem and we'll try to have more details in the next update.

3. Prowler Kit #11 Lands in France.
Nicolas Hombreux reports that the shipper has delivered his kit. He has begun un-crating, inventorying and organizing his parts. Here are a few pix: He promises to have more pix of him with the kit for the next update. Congratulations Nicolas! We look forward to helping you get your airplane built in the years to come.


4. Sun-n-Fun
A recent pop-up trip allowed Todd and Dave to get together for a quick Prowler Shareholder's meeting at Sun-n-Fun. Dave flew his certified aircraft into LAL for the annual get-together and we got to spend some time checking out potential suppliers and vendors. We are fairly interested in a FWF package that is being offered by Geared Drives out of Conroe, TX. Bud Warren has designed a very nice self contained PSRU that is designed to work with any SBC engine, is very solid and is virtually plug-n-play. He is marketing a FWF package for the RV-10 buyers that we think is very strong. Check it out here: Geared Drives We are giving this some strong consideration for the Prowler - if we can make it fit. Time will tell.


5. Prowler Plasma Makes Fire!
After months of research, lots of money and lot of modifications the Prowler Plasma system finally fired for the first time. The latest accomplishments include: troubleshooting the installation of Mach3 into the computer; unlocking the secrets of remotely triggering the Powermax1000; and learning the correct order in which the consumables are attached to the machine torch. With all that done - the machine finally moved and fired under it's own power and we are pleased with the results. Most recently we "tuned" the motors and checked the system for accuracy on each of the X, Y & Z axes. With just a little tweaking the X axis moved exactly 80 inches when we told Mach3 to move the X axis 80 inches. Should be good for making spar caps and other long pieces.

Now the real learning starts. Figuring out all the software that will eventually allow us to make parts with the plasma setup. It looks like we will be designing (modeling - actually) our parts using the new BobCAD-CAM-ART version 23. Then those files will be fed into SheetCAM TNG to create the actual tool paths and make the G-code to prepare the file for the plasma setup. Then those get sent into Mach3 which will actually cut out the parts. Easy right?!?! That's 4 major, new, unfamiliar pieces of software to learn if you include G-code itself. Despite that we've figure out a few things already. Here's a line drawing made from a "vectorized" copy of our "raster" style Prowler Logo: And this is the first Prowler Sample Part - it's nothing really. Just something made up to learn how to use BobCAD, SheetCAM and see if we can get it to move the table with Mach3: We will find out if the machine moves correctly the next time we're in the shop. More later.
That's all for this update. We'll post again in a few weeks. Thanks for stopping by.

More Production Capability Progess

Thanks for stopping in to check on our progress. Well, this is a BIG update - but the BIG boss was in town lately, and we got a lot done. Todd's parents recently made their annual spring visit to see the grand kids and Prowler also enjoyed some big gains from "Grandpa's" visit. As a retired Ironworker, Dad helped get several tools running, tuned up, and generally "shape the place up a little."

In this update:
1. Hydraulic Press
2. Bridgeport Mill
3. CNC Plasma Table
4. Builder Reports

Before we get started, just a few thoughts on where Prowler Aviation is today and where we hope to go in the future. In this update we will cover several facets of building our capability to manufacture parts for constructing our first Prowler. Our plan is to develop and use these processes to make most of the parts for our first company aircraft. By going through the aircraft one subkit at a time, we will eventually have the capability to produce most of the airframe.
Once that is complete, we will have the knowledge necessary to make the aircraft in (at least) one manner. From there we will be able to consider larger scale production and how we want to accomplish that. There will be many options and we will consider as many as possible to come up with a practical, economical, scalable and reliable way to produce airframes.

We plan to put one of George's engine designs onto our aircraft, but we currently do not plan to offer the engine for sale with the kit. We've decided to limit our scope (at least initially) to producing the airframe and save the firewall forward for later. We will also have (for the first time ever) complete, accurate and thorough documentation of the aircraft. This documentation will include a shop manual (how to build each subkit), the builder's manual system (how to assemble the subkits into an aircraft), a complete parts list spreadsheet, a virtual computer model of the Prowler, and a business plan.

That's the long term plan. If you've been keeping tabs on us in this blog, you'll see that we've made significant progress on several of these areas. Most of this update will discuss progress on the manufacturing of parts. Last summer we completed the "big sort" and did much of the parts list work. Modeling of the airplane's parts will happen as we make the parts for our airplane. The CNC plasma system is almost ready - as you'll see later in the update. The builders manual system will also be accomplished as we build the airplane, subkit by subkit. Two of the subkits shop manual parts have been completed and the rest will be done as the plane progresses. The business plan will be the last task to be accomplished.

Our airplane currently has most of the wing spar parts (center and outboard) made. The spar is currently waiting on the cutting of a few parts with the CNC plasma system. We have the vert stab subkit built. The current goal is to make up the horizontal stab subkit, get the needed wing spar parts made, get the wing spar installed to the wing jig and press out the wing ribs by the end of the year.

So, there it is. We hope this helps to outline where we are here at Prowler Aviation. On to the update.

1. Hydraulic Press - To reach the goal of getting wing ribs pressed out by fall - a press would be helpful. So, this past two weeks we fabricated the hydraulic pump unit and installed it onto the press. The hydraulic ram had been refurb'ed previously and the pump unit was hooked up to it. We added a 40 amp 220volt circuit and a motor controller and presto - hydraulic press. Here's the pic:
The hydraulic pump is only good for 1500psi. However, the piston in the ram is 5 inches in diameter and that gives an area of approximately 19.6 square inches. This gives almost 30,000 lbs of pressure from the ram. Spread that force out over an average part area of 300 square inches and it figures out to about 100psi. Should be more than sufficient to fold up some 0.040" type O aluminum. Next comes the learning curve associated with actually pressing out parts. In particular, keeping the male and female dies lined up with the flat blank that will become the part as the press does its thing. More to follow.

2. Bridgeport Mill - It took a while to get the mill cleaned up and order some parts needed to fix up the mill a bit. The most interesting was replacing some head bolts. One was broken and one was beat up a bit. The change was fun: We got the mill moved into position, hooked up with 3 phase power and have even used it already to machine some slotted holes into some brackets for the CNC table. The 3 phase power comes from a rotary phase converter. We purchased a phase converter panel from Wyn Phase Converter and Supply (http://www.wnysupply.com/index.cfm) and scavenged a 3hp idler motor out of an old air handling unit from the local industrial surplus place. We had a little problem with the delivery of the phase converter panel. Apparently some components shook loose during shipping and managed to beat-up the rest of the components in the panel along the way. Here's what it looked like at delivery: Not wanting to wait the time that would be necessary to return it and wait for a new delivery, we set out to put the pieces back together. With the help of screws, glues and bailing wire we got it put back together and installed. It turned out well. Total cost for the phase converter was ~ $200. Here's a shot of the final rotary phase converter install: Here's the mill pretty much ready to go:
3. CNC Plasma Table - This project has been a long time in the works, but it will hopefully be the centerpiece in being able to practically and efficiently cut parts for the airplane. We've determined that upwards of 80-90% of the parts for the airframe are made from flat pieces of raw stock. After a bunch of research we decided to pursue this process as a means to make our parts. After more research we found that to use a plasma system to cut thin material requires a system that can automatically control the height of the torch. This provides the best cuts, maximizes the life of consumables and prevents wasting raw materials. To that end, we needed to make several modifications to our CNC table and torch systems to get the best chance of getting good parts. We've covered most of these in previous updates and are getting close to the big "first cut." The latest mod was to replace the signal generator (2-D box) that came with the Torchmate system with a new box (MP3000) that has 3-D control and auto torch height control. In fact, it's digital torch height control that is fully integrated with the X, Y, and Z motions axises.This box also, however, requires the use of a new software control system to control the table motion. You can check out the box details here: http://www.candcnc.com/ Look for Digital Torch Height Control. The software is Mach3 and it is an open source software that CandCNC has optimized for use with it's MP3000 system. You can check it out here: http://www.machsupport.com/.

Overall, the modification has been pretty straightforward. The hardest parts were actually installing the Mach3 software and getting it to run on the computer (various issues) and getting the new MP3000 box to interface with the Torchmate supplied motor controller box. We could have just bought new motors, controllers, power supply, etc. from CandCNC, but in an effort to get the lowest cost system possible, we wanted to use as much of the Torchmate system as possible. With enough research and help from CandCNC we were able to figure out the correct translation of wires to get the two boxes to work together. A quick re-wiring of the female DB-25 connector in the Torchmate motor controller box allowed the use of a simple 25 wire parallel computer cable to hook the boxes together. The box and software are installed and the table is working in all three axis's We also installed the digital torch height control system, but so far the test has been unsuccessful. Didn't have time to troubleshoot further before having to head off to the day job for the week. More to follow. We also made several "tweaks" to the CNC table to improve the accuracy. These included adding bracing, re-mounting the X axis motor and shafting, re-meshing the X axis rack and pinion gearing, and adding more Y axis cam followers to support the new floating torch holder. Here's the slotted bracket mods to the Y axis carriage plate for the cam followers to be added to. All these mods have greatly increased the rigidity of the CNC table which will ultimately lead to much more accurate parts. Unfortunately, we didn't get a pic of the overall CNC table with all the new mods. We'll post one next time.

4. Builder's Updates - A lot to report here too.
Kit #1 & Kit #13 - Rick has updated his Prowler site and moved it to a new web address. Check it out here: http://www.prowlerjaguar.com/
Kit #5 - Currently owned by George Morse. It is still for sale. You can see pix of this aircraft on Rick's site (above). We did an engine run-up recently and all is running well.
Kit #7 - Bryan's work continues.
Kit #10 - Ray has installed all the autopilot servos, gotten a new hydraulic accumulator, and cut his instrument panel and cut holes in his side panels for instruments. On the last visit, we dissected and spec'd out the propeller spinner and the radiators. Thanks Ray, nice work!
Kit #11 - Ben has opted out of the Prowler program. Cabi is brokering a deal to purchase Ben's kit and ship it to a new owner in France! In the next update we'll be introducing the new owner. The Prowler has gone global!
Kit #12 - Ray sent the following update on Chuck and his Prowler. In Ray's words: "Chuck flew first flight #2 this weekend. He said the plane handled well and the gear retraction went right. Chuck said the flight only got around the pattern once, the coolant temp went back up to 240 again, just like the last time, and the low oil qty light flickered. George said he didn't have any ideas about the coolant temp, but the oil might be low, and raise the quantity to 12 qts instead of 10 because there is a lot of oil trapped in the accessory case and almost as much in the prop and gear box." We are happy for your partial success Chuck!
Kit #13 - See Kit #1 above.
Kit #14 - We just found the following comments that Steve left after a recent blog update. Here it is in his words: " Hey Todd and company, Thanks for the news. I was able to test fly my airplane #14 late last November and I'm happy to report that my cooling issues are solved. 1.6 hour flight, no squawks.I cut a 4" by 5" square hole near the back lower corner of each of the small removable cowls that cover the exhaust pipes and covered them with stainless steel louvers. These allow air to exit the cowl, which draws air through the forward oil cooler, around the pan and out, and also allows the hot air coming out of the supercharger waste gate to exhaust overboard. The oil temp stabilized between 180 and 200 degrees, and was controllable with the cooler door on the aft cooler.I'm now just waiting for good weather in the pacific northwest to continue flight testing. More news to follow in early spring." Congrats and thanks for the update Steve.
Kit #16 - Bud has been working on tailwheel issues. We're planning a visit to meet him and see the plane later this summer. We'll update then.
Kit #17 - As mentioned above, Cabi has been brokering a deal with Ben's former kit. He also a some exciting news that we'll be able to tell you about in the next update.
Kit #18 - WYSIWYG!

Well, that's it for this update. There is always more, but it's almost 11pm with an early 4:30 wakeup tomorrow. Hope you have enjoyed the new info. Thanks for stopping by to check up on us! Happy Easter to all.