Martin's Web Log

See the World

2006-11-19T04:35:00.000-05:00

Long way to go.

Create you own world map at http://douweosinga.com/projects/visitedcountries

The First Rule

2006-11-12T00:29:00.000-05:00

Chuck Palahniuk, author of Fight Club and other fine novels, was the keynote speaker at the Vegas Valley Book Festival.

Here Chuck models the outfit he had to wear on his first job as moviehouse usher.

Here's one of the door prizes: a fake severed arm.

Chuck took the time to distrubute the prizes throughout the eager audience.

Another prize. Tasty, tasty booze.

Expertise

2006-10-09T08:39:00.000-04:00

John Hodgeman and John Coulton in LA.

Trip Home

2006-08-01T08:25:00.000-04:00

Sporty pass through the mountains on the way home.

Meat Dinner

2006-07-31T00:22:00.000-04:00

We went to the place where they cook all kinds of different meats, and then bring it around on sticks for you to choose.

Shaun is still #1

Erica and Fuzzy's Wedding.

2006-07-29T08:21:00.000-04:00

Back to Chicago for Erica and Fuzzy's Wedding. Hot and fun.

More photos here.

Indiana

2006-07-26T08:11:00.000-04:00

After Wisconsin, I picked Trish up at Midway and then we flew to Indiana to visit family.

Trish goes the distance.

One big rabbit

Hands down, the biggest pig in Elkhart County

Trip to Oshkosh

2006-07-23T08:05:00.000-04:00

I took the airplane to Airventure at Oshkosh. What a blast.

World Series of Poker

2006-07-20T00:14:00.000-04:00

Form Flight

2006-07-16T08:28:00.000-04:00

Two view of a formation flight from Van Nuys, CA to Las Vegas, NV.

Two-peat

2006-07-06T07:55:00.000-04:00

Another big win at the Wynn. Lucky me.

http://www.bluecircle.org/MartinWynn06Jul06.pdf

Big Win

2006-07-04T07:32:00.000-04:00

My biggest win yet in Vegas at the Orleans Open.

Click here for the details:

http://www.pokerpages.com/tournament/result15879.htm

Repairs Part 2

2006-05-20T02:42:00.000-04:00

More photos:

In the avionics compartment? Much better.

Here's the real culprit. The aft wing spar connections have been mis-drilled and our not structurally sound. New ones had to be fabricated.

Here's the new ones for the left side.

The new ones ready to be installed.

And the finished product. This new spar connection is stronger than the original design. Ready to yank and bank.

There were a few more odds and ends that we had to get sorted out. But after two days of re-assembly, we're ready for action. Good for another year.

Repairs Part 1

2006-05-19T02:14:00.000-04:00

Travis and I went to Texas to pick up our airplane. Here's a rundown of the repairs we had done:

Some rivets where the wrong size. We we just added a new row where needed.

More rivets.

A spacer was needed where the vertical stabilizer connects to the horizontal.

One of the main rudder connections was drilled off the edge. We added a double plate to square it off.

Here's the finished product.

This rat's next in the avionics compartment had to be cleaned up.

More photos to follow...

Lo Lo's Chicken and Waffles

2006-04-23T20:58:00.000-04:00

Phoenix Improv Festival

2006-04-22T20:22:00.000-04:00

We're heading to Phoenix for the annual Phoenix Improv Festival. And since the plane is in the shop we have to drive. It gives us the opportunity to take in the sights in true American fashion...from the car.

Hoover Dam.

"Long have I desired to look upon the kings of old. My kin."

Trish On Ice.

2006-04-14T07:39:00.000-04:00

After an eight-year hiatus, Trish has once again taken up competative figure skating. Here she is getting her chops back.

Maintenance Problems

2006-04-01T19:59:00.000-05:00

It's tough to tell from this photo, but the hole in aft left wing spar has been miss-drilled. That spells trouble for us. Either the section will have to be rebuilt, or a doubler-plate added, or something. And it will mean removing the wing. This is a two-month project, so Travis and I will have fly home commercial and come back later to pick up the airplane.

Trish's Trip

2006-03-28T02:37:00.000-05:00

Trish visits Omaha and goes Cosmic Bowling with her old friend, Fish. Upon her return to Vegas she's greeted by Elvis himself.

Annual.

2006-03-23T19:37:00.000-05:00

Travis and I are taking the plane to Firebird Aviation in Texas for the annual condition inspection. We did the trip in three hops.

The Grand Canyon

Final at Tucumcari

Final at Gallup

Our destination, Mineral Wells.

San Francisco Day 2

2006-02-27T02:13:00.000-05:00

San Francisco Day 1

2006-02-26T02:07:00.000-05:00

Weather Stop en route to San Francisco

2006-02-25T01:59:00.000-05:00

Steve and Christina in Town

2006-02-13T01:51:00.000-05:00

We took our friends to the lobby of Main Street Station. In my view it's the most authentic fake place in town.

Formation with Droopy and his RV-8

2006-02-10T01:43:00.000-05:00