If you don't know, I've been taking a Commercial Pyrotechnics course at school. Soon I'll be able to put on shows like towns typically do for the 4th of July. I'm also going to become an employee at the company where the class has been held so that I can continue to be active in the business and keep getting experience.
So we had the final shoot for my commercial pyrotechnics class this past weekend. Thankfully, someone brought a camera and posted it to YouTube. The song is "Independence Day" by Bob Rivers, and we choreographed the show to fit the music. Watch for the low break at the end. It was a shell from a 4-inch cake. The company, Premier Pyrotechnics, had some defective cakes that had the tendency to break apart after the first few shells went off, and one just happened to come near us. Good thing I had my hard hat on.
Sunday, November 9, 2008
Tuesday, June 17, 2008
Mmmmm....plastic airplane
Okay, so this really cool guy that Boeing and Spirit trust got to take some cool pictures of the Boeing 787, one of the first commercial airplanes to use huge quantities of composite material. So this outsider got to take pictures, but I’m not allowed. That’s why I took the pictures from his website and am sharing them with you so I can show you what I’ve been doing this summer. I’m not taking credit, it belongs to Jon Ostrower. You can visit his site at http://www.flightglobal.com/blogs/flightblogger/ and read some of his other posts.
Spirit doesn’t make the whole plane, only about the first 41 feet of it. It’s essentially a giant plastic shell with stuff on the inside. Don’t let that scare you though, a lot of time has been put into the design of this thing. I’ve been working on the structural repair manual (read: how the flight mechanics fix broken airplane parts) where I basically check calculations and rerun any analysis that needs to be corrected. I’ve worked on parts like the cockpit window frames, composite skin repairs and the forward pressure bulkhead. This first picture shows line units 4 through 7, of which LU 4 is the closest to completion and is being sent out soon. LU 4 is the one closest to the camera. I worked on a package that included determining repair tolerances for the window frames of the cockpit. It was my first project. Not bad for a new hire.
The next picture is of the passenger deck. You can’t really see it, but the passenger entry doors are wide enough to fit two people side by side in them. If you’ve ever been on a plane, you know how impressive that is since most planes have you squeeze through a small door. You can see into the cockpit a little bit, but if you want to see more cockpit pictures, go here: http://www.flightglobal.com/blogs/flightblogger/2008/06/fours-front-office.html . Spirit doesn’t put the seats or other aesthetics in, Boeing will do that.
This picture is of the cargo area. You can see another part that I worked on, the cargo shear web. It’s mostly covered, but the drill on the bottom right is sitting on it. It’s a piece of composite that sits below the cargo floor. That’s the project I put 45 hours in on last week. I had to determine what kind of bonded repairs (read: how to fix composite material by applying more composite material) needed to be done for various types of damage.
This last one is just because. It’s of the flight recorder, the thing that tells them what happened when the airplane crashed. Hopefully we won’t be using these. You can also see how much random wiring is all over the place. A lot gets stuffed into these airplanes.
Well, that just a little bit of what I’ve been working on here at Spirit. I’ve been having fun doing it, despite the long hours. I could go into more detail, but then I wouldn’t have any conversation starter. Also, I probably shouldn’t talk in too much detail, or else Boeing might send people to get rid of me.
Spirit doesn’t make the whole plane, only about the first 41 feet of it. It’s essentially a giant plastic shell with stuff on the inside. Don’t let that scare you though, a lot of time has been put into the design of this thing. I’ve been working on the structural repair manual (read: how the flight mechanics fix broken airplane parts) where I basically check calculations and rerun any analysis that needs to be corrected. I’ve worked on parts like the cockpit window frames, composite skin repairs and the forward pressure bulkhead. This first picture shows line units 4 through 7, of which LU 4 is the closest to completion and is being sent out soon. LU 4 is the one closest to the camera. I worked on a package that included determining repair tolerances for the window frames of the cockpit. It was my first project. Not bad for a new hire.
Next is a piece of the aircraft that is close to me. It’s the forward pressure bulkhead, the green dome behind the radar antennae. It is part of what holds pressure in the cabin. Usually, this part is just a flat plate, but it’s domed in the 787. It can catch a 4 lb bird traveling at 350 knots. The video of the bird strike test is pretty cool. The bulkhead catches the bird just like a catcher would catch a baseball. I put in a lot of hours making sure the repair tolerances for this part were good.
The next picture is of the passenger deck. You can’t really see it, but the passenger entry doors are wide enough to fit two people side by side in them. If you’ve ever been on a plane, you know how impressive that is since most planes have you squeeze through a small door. You can see into the cockpit a little bit, but if you want to see more cockpit pictures, go here: http://www.flightglobal.com/blogs/flightblogger/2008/06/fours-front-office.html . Spirit doesn’t put the seats or other aesthetics in, Boeing will do that. This picture is of the cargo area. You can see another part that I worked on, the cargo shear web. It’s mostly covered, but the drill on the bottom right is sitting on it. It’s a piece of composite that sits below the cargo floor. That’s the project I put 45 hours in on last week. I had to determine what kind of bonded repairs (read: how to fix composite material by applying more composite material) needed to be done for various types of damage.
This last one is just because. It’s of the flight recorder, the thing that tells them what happened when the airplane crashed. Hopefully we won’t be using these. You can also see how much random wiring is all over the place. A lot gets stuffed into these airplanes.
Well, that just a little bit of what I’ve been working on here at Spirit. I’ve been having fun doing it, despite the long hours. I could go into more detail, but then I wouldn’t have any conversation starter. Also, I probably shouldn’t talk in too much detail, or else Boeing might send people to get rid of me.
Thursday, June 12, 2008
HDTVs and Thunderstorms
Wow, so this has been quite an evening. After coming home from a nine hour workday, I decide I need to go to the almighty Walmart to get some food and other random items. Mike decides to go looking for a joystick for his recently acquired (legally) copy of X-plane. While he was looking for it, I found the HDTVs like I always do. I'm kind of looking for one, and if I saw one for a good deal, I'd consider getting it. Well, Walmart was selling a bunch of display models, and I was focused on the Philips 42" LCD 1080p tv that was selling for $750 or something like that. After thinking it over for a few minutes, I decide to hold off and we proceed to finish our Walmart run.
After ordering pizza and watching some Battlestar Galactica and Futurama, I decided I wanted to go back to Walmart and think about that tv again. A new tv would look good in our apartment, so Mike and I headed back to Walmart. Unfortunately, it had started raining pretty good, but that didn't stop us. As we drove down the four lane turned three lane road (1.5 lanes per direction because water doesn't drain in Kansas), we noticed some cars turning around and some standing water ALL THE WAY ACROSS THE ROAD. It wasn't moving, just standing water. We hold up a minute, watch some trucks go through it, and I'm really considering trudging through the water just because I do things like that. Well, we finally see a Toyota Camery slowly work its way through the approximately 8 inch deep water, and I think "If they have the balls to do it, I do to." So we take to the water crossing, making our way through the water, hoping that we won't have to push the car out of the water. My car starts to sputter. I realized water was getting into the intake. So I pushed my car a little harder, and we finally made it out. High fives were given to honor our victory over nature. Then at the traffic light, I realized my brakes weren't working as well as they should. Oops, got a little too wet, but oh well. Hooray for doing slightly stupid things. I'm still glad I didn't have to make the walk of shame, pushing my car out of the water.
At Walmart once again, I checked under the hood just to make sure I didn't destroy anything. No major damage, so we proceeded back to electronics. After several minutes of staring at tvs, I decided I didn't want to risk buying a show model, no matter how cheap it was. So getting an HDTV will have to wait a while longer. I may not have a new tv, but we had a great time almost killing my car. As much abuse as it has been through, I'm glad it's still running as well as it does, especially considering it's a 16 year old car.
After ordering pizza and watching some Battlestar Galactica and Futurama, I decided I wanted to go back to Walmart and think about that tv again. A new tv would look good in our apartment, so Mike and I headed back to Walmart. Unfortunately, it had started raining pretty good, but that didn't stop us. As we drove down the four lane turned three lane road (1.5 lanes per direction because water doesn't drain in Kansas), we noticed some cars turning around and some standing water ALL THE WAY ACROSS THE ROAD. It wasn't moving, just standing water. We hold up a minute, watch some trucks go through it, and I'm really considering trudging through the water just because I do things like that. Well, we finally see a Toyota Camery slowly work its way through the approximately 8 inch deep water, and I think "If they have the balls to do it, I do to." So we take to the water crossing, making our way through the water, hoping that we won't have to push the car out of the water. My car starts to sputter. I realized water was getting into the intake. So I pushed my car a little harder, and we finally made it out. High fives were given to honor our victory over nature. Then at the traffic light, I realized my brakes weren't working as well as they should. Oops, got a little too wet, but oh well. Hooray for doing slightly stupid things. I'm still glad I didn't have to make the walk of shame, pushing my car out of the water.
At Walmart once again, I checked under the hood just to make sure I didn't destroy anything. No major damage, so we proceeded back to electronics. After several minutes of staring at tvs, I decided I didn't want to risk buying a show model, no matter how cheap it was. So getting an HDTV will have to wait a while longer. I may not have a new tv, but we had a great time almost killing my car. As much abuse as it has been through, I'm glad it's still running as well as it does, especially considering it's a 16 year old car.
Saturday, May 24, 2008
Morning of terribleness
Okay, so I should have known that seeing a spider on the ceiling of the bathroom on Thursday night was a bad omen. So Friday morning comes around, I wake up to get ready for a boring day of orientation at Spirit. As I walk to the bathroom, I see Mike cleaning up the remains of something on the carpet. He informs he that he has killed a brown recluse that was on his wall above his bed this morning. He was pretty freaked out about this, as anyone would be to have a spider above their head when they wake up, especially since ITS BITE ROTS YOUR FLESH OFF! Anyway, I proceed to go about my usual morning routine: shower, clothes, shave, brushing of the teeth. Except something weird happened in the middle of brushing my teeth. Suddenly, the bathroom sounded like Niagra Falls and steam was coming from the cabinet and faucet. I open the cabinet to realize A PIPE BURST AND IS TRYING TO FLOOD OUR APARTMENT! This is the last thing we need, as we are trying to leave for work. However, some things take priority over work, like making sure your house doesn't become a swimming pool. So we call the emergency maintenance line and leave a message. Some emergency maintenance line. So then we try the office. Doesn't open till nine, and it's 7:30. Thankfully, the maintenance guy calls back and tells us how to turn the water off, which we do despite the fact that Mike has figured out the cause (a broken fitting) and has stopped the leaking. So the guy says he'll be there in half an hour to fix the broken fitting and clean up the water. Already exhausted from the morning we head off to be bored to death with orientation...I'll spare you those details. I hope Mike's luck is better this weekend for his trip back home.
Tuesday, May 20, 2008
In Wichita at last
So it's day two in Wichita. I moved up here yesterday and got interwebs today. It's not that I need internet to survive, but considering Mike and I aren't paying for cable or phone service, internet is all we have. And it's good internet too, a whopping 12 megs, fastest we could buy. I'm still not done unpacking all my crap, just a few more boxes left though. Once things are less messy and more organized I'll post pictures and video of our place. For the first time ever I've been able to play Wii games online, and it's freakin' amazing. I'm quickly moving up the MarioKart bracket, but for some reason Brawl wasn't working for me. It is a little weird living in my own place for the first time ever. I've always lived in the Res Halls or at home. Well, time to waste time doing stuff other than unpacking.
Wednesday, May 7, 2008
Second ride, going places I've never been
Date: 5/7/08
Second bike route: 10.9 miles, 53 minutes
Wow, that was quite a trip. I think I’ll call this one “Giant Loop,” seeing as I just made a big loop around Rolla. It’s about as close to going around the city limits as I can get without going on random side roads. My butt hurts a lot from not having a proper seat (insert joke about me being butt raped). I need to get a seat cushion *mental note to self*. It has a few hills, namely the one going up to the hospital, the one up to Hwy 72, the one up past Wal-Mart (which was real bad coming off of the previous hill), the one going up 72 back to Pine Tree road, and a small one on Old St. James, but I think that one was bad only because I had to stop there. Reason being that when I was going on Old St. James, my chain fell of and got stuck between the sprocket and the frame (note to self, get some washers to put on the axel to keep this from happening again). I couldn’t pedal, and the last time that happened, I had to walk the bike home (the last time was when I was coming back from TJ after a meeting with the future TJ Sr. Leadership, so it wasn’t that bad) and I didn’t feel like walking 2 miles back to the Quad. Thankfully, I got it unstuck and went on my way. I covered a lot of road I've never been on before. I learned the south side of town on Lions Club drive is really nice. I wish the clouds weren’t out so that I could see the stars; there were no street lights so I think I could have seen them real well. Of course no street lights meant I needed my headlight. I guess I’ll find out soon if I need to invest in rechargeable batteries or not. I really enjoyed this ride, and I need to do it again on a clear night.
Night time bike rides begin!
Okay, so I've started doing night time bike rides. Why at night you ask? Because there are fewer cars and I can ride on the main roads without fear. My rule is that it has to be after midnight before I go bike. It's nice out, and I don't have to worry about the sun. Besides, I like having the moon and stars out better. Anyway, my first ride actually took place before I started my blog, but I wanted to put it here anyway.
The format will have the date, distance, time it took me, and my observations/experiences on the ride. If you think you can ride a bike faster than me, I don't care. This is so I can track my improvement, not compare myself to others, as well as document cool routes to keep going on. The red dot is where I start from, namely the Quad. The blue line indicates the route, and if something interesting happens, I'll mark it as well. Note that whatever the day is, it means that I went out from midnight-ish to 3-ish as that day was starting. I use Google Maps to calculate distances and make my maps.
Date: 5/2/08
First bike route: 6.7 miles, 35 minutes
Huff, huff, I’m out of shape. Now I know why I started riding my bike again: it’s fun and it will help get me back into shape. For this first ride, I basically started at the Quad and rode wherever I felt like going. I’ll call it “Rolla City Tour.” I figured going to Forum would help me get an idea of how much I wanted to do, so that’s where I went first. Okay, so I only rode by the movie theater to make sure Iron Man was playing so that I could see it this weekend. Also, I always wanted to go down Bishop, so I did. I like not having to worry about traffic. I dodged the Bishop and 72 traffic light since I didn’t feel like messing with it. I’ll deal with them another time. I have to remember that Walnut is nothing but hill until it ends: long, gradual hill, which I think I dislike more than a steep one. I actually went to Schumann Park to see if they had adequate water hydrants for the staff social tomorrow, but they only had weak water fountains. Then I went home after deciding it was getting late and I was getting tired. Next time I’ll try for a longer ride.
The format will have the date, distance, time it took me, and my observations/experiences on the ride. If you think you can ride a bike faster than me, I don't care. This is so I can track my improvement, not compare myself to others, as well as document cool routes to keep going on. The red dot is where I start from, namely the Quad. The blue line indicates the route, and if something interesting happens, I'll mark it as well. Note that whatever the day is, it means that I went out from midnight-ish to 3-ish as that day was starting. I use Google Maps to calculate distances and make my maps.
Date: 5/2/08
First bike route: 6.7 miles, 35 minutes
Huff, huff, I’m out of shape. Now I know why I started riding my bike again: it’s fun and it will help get me back into shape. For this first ride, I basically started at the Quad and rode wherever I felt like going. I’ll call it “Rolla City Tour.” I figured going to Forum would help me get an idea of how much I wanted to do, so that’s where I went first. Okay, so I only rode by the movie theater to make sure Iron Man was playing so that I could see it this weekend. Also, I always wanted to go down Bishop, so I did. I like not having to worry about traffic. I dodged the Bishop and 72 traffic light since I didn’t feel like messing with it. I’ll deal with them another time. I have to remember that Walnut is nothing but hill until it ends: long, gradual hill, which I think I dislike more than a steep one. I actually went to Schumann Park to see if they had adequate water hydrants for the staff social tomorrow, but they only had weak water fountains. Then I went home after deciding it was getting late and I was getting tired. Next time I’ll try for a longer ride.
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