Tsunami construction photos

[planecrazy2]

Yo LittleJR,

I spoke to your Aunt Sharon in Phoenix last weekend. She said ya'all were thinking about building 3 planes.

A rebuilt Tsunami, A two place Tsunami and a Tsunami racer.

I almost cried.

Geez. I wish I was local so I could wrench on it.

Gave my last $20 to the "help re-build Tsunami" fund.

Good Luck.

Glen

[spacegrrrl]

It is exciting to see Tsunami on track to return to the skies. I'd like to share one of the most amazing experiences I've ever had related to the plane. I was at Reno the last year Tsunami raced. I was at the pits early in qualifying and taking pictures like I always did. I saw John Sandberg there and commented on how much I liked the new paint scheme. I also had a copy of a photo I had taken of the plane at a previous Reno that I'd blown up to an 8x12 to give him. For a couple of years I'd make copies of the best photos from the previous year to give to the team the following year.

I mentioned I'd like to get a lot of photos of the plane in its new colors because at the time I was actively involved in R/C warbird racing and would love to have the photos for documentation sometime down the road. We ended up talking about R/C and things in general and for the rest of the event I was treated like one of the crew! The family and crew treated me in a way I can never forget.

It was amazing to meet such a friendly bunch of folks and to be let into the "inner circle" as it were. When I heard the news shortly after the race of the accident it was hearbreaking. I feel so luck to have had the brief encounter with such an amazing individual. To see the plane back together would be such an incredible tribute.

As for it being competitive I am sure that with the current state of the Merlins it would be the plane to beat. I hope we see her back on the course in some form.

Michele

[AlisoBob II]

Yo LittleJR,

I spoke to your Aunt Sharon in Phoenix last weekend. She said ya'all were thinking about building 3 planes.

A rebuilt Tsunami, A two place Tsunami and a Tsunami racer.

I almost cried.

Geez. I wish I was local so I could wrench on it.

Gave my last $20 to the "help re-build Tsunami" fund.

Good Luck.

Glen

Ya know.... I'm trying to keep upbeat on this thread.... but its getting harder and harder..

The original Tsunami was built by the "Best of the Best"... JRS, Bowland, Hinton, Skippy, and you know Law went where ever Bowland went..... And it took them a long time, and a dumptruck full of $$$$ to get it done..... once.

And now the talk is to have 3 Tsunami's? I gotta' sit down.....

The cart is WAY in front of the horse on this one.....

[spacegrrrl]

Ya know.... I'm trying to keep upbeat on this thread.... but its getting harder and harder..

The original Tsunami was built by the "Best of the Best"... JRS, Bowland, Hinton, Skippy, and you know Law went where ever Bowland went..... And it took them a long time, and a dumptruck full of $$$$ to get it done..... once.

And now the talk is to have 3 Tsunami's? I gotta' sit down.....

The cart is WAY in front of the horse on this one.....

I can see how fabricating 3 basic airframes at one time might make some sense. Cut out 3x parts once paterns are made. If you have the space you could make a sort of assembly line and save some time. I think that is why some interesting replica projects like the ME 232 and the FW-190 projects resulted in multiple airframes being built in a batch. I think in those cases the idea was build extras to sell to cover the costs. Maybe the project should be 10 basic Tsunami airframes with the extras put on the market. That could make the unlimited class more interesting. :-)

But once you get to the more complicated steps like systems, you know the last 10% that actually takes the 90% of the time to complete the project there isn't much time savings to be had. And of course all major costs are 3X no matter what. It's not like you get a big price break if you buy 3 race prepped Merlins at a time. :-)

I think you are right, three planes seems REALLY ambitious unless there are a lot more resources available than we've heard about so far.

Still, if they get just one back in the air that will be something pretty special.

Michele

[Tsunami18]

Hey Space girl how about posting the photos that you took of Tsunami. I'm also a modeler and would love to have a look. Where did you race r/c? Let me know when you get a chance. Thanx

[spacegrrrl]

Later in April I am going to be shuffling some stuff around. I have a lot of Reno photos. I was going to scan the best of them and post them somewhere.

So stay tuned :-)


Michele

[LittleJR]

I just got back from the Luscombe auction last night. We were able to buy 40 sheets of aluminum and some tooling. Hopefully that will keep us busy for a while!

AlisoBob II,

Three Tsunamis' is over kill. Sharon through the idea around, but we decided against it. However, we are building two airframes at the same time. The reason: Sharon and her husband don't want to race, I do. The extra time taken to build two frames is relatively small compared to the other option of not bringing her back to Reno.

After we get the structures complete, I plan on moving mine to another facility for systems and final assembly. Skip and I have talked of possibly bringing her to his facility in North Dakota. (I will know more after Chino in May)

Also I am flying out to Oshkosh tomorrow, I am going to try to reserve a tent in show center. Would anyone think it would be cool if I packed up the frame and put it on display during AirVenture?

[Race 29]

JR,
Heck yeah! If people can see the construction progress made, they might be a little more apt to help out. It would make more of an impact than just a booth selling T-shirts. Although, that is pretty cool to!

Race 29

[ebutner]

Got shirts and a pin today!!!! Happy supporter I am.

[LittleJR]

So my friends father is a television producer. He pitched me an idea for a show that he wants to bring to the networks. The concept is to follow the building of Tsunami, getting her to Reno in 2011 and finally going after the speed record.

I would like to hear your input on the concept? Would people be interested in watching it? Do you have any other ideas for the direction of a show?

I look forward to the feedback,

John Bjornstad