Dayton Trip

This last week was spent in Dayton split between our Phillipsburg Hangar and the AFRL lab. One Merlin build is just a few hours away from completion with the BRS installation basically done and panel mostly wired. We will fabricate some custom composite channels to cover the exposed BRS straps on top of the fuselage. The rear plexiglass window is replaced more brittle acrylic so the rocket will pass through easily.

The BRS is suspended above the baggage compartment so most of the baggage space is still usable. The rocket is attached to a bracket low enough so it gains momentum to blast through the acrylic window and high enough to be able to remove the baggage tray. The deployment cable has a nice soft arch and is accessible near the flap handle.

We also loaded a Merlin QBK now delivered to a new builder in Texas. This will be one beautiful Merlin with blue and white paint.

In less dramatic news I made a lot of progress finishing up the Merlin Lite wings. I will return to Dayton next week for final work and testing before shipping these wings to Florida for first flights.

CWE