Up we go!

Last week, on the blog, I noted the steel structure of the new building would be going up this week. After a blizzard that left the entire area buried in snow and the holiday we thought that things would fall behind a bit, not so! We stopped by this morning to see if there had been any progress and were delighted to see another wall up and, steel being erected. In the next couple of weeks there should be some serious visual progress. Stay tuned for more photos and updates on the new RARE Aircraft facility.

You Betcha!

We stopped by the building site early this morning to take a couple of pictures to share with you all. The building process has been an interesting and fun exercise however, the best part is people pessimistically asking with a smirk, "hows the building going in this weather" and "gee how are they going to do the concrete?"

After a while some of these questions prompted us to ask a few of the contractors whom, smiled and said, "we come up against this every year, don't worry." With a company like Met-Con on the job we have seen the results to match their voice. It has been an impressive site to watch as they work their magic. At this time the following work is complete; Parking lot, apron, foundation, footings, front decortive block exterior wall, electrical service in place with required conduit installed to office areas, block work for internal walls and shops compelte and all the steel is on site to begin erecting the beams. We anticipate seeing walls and a roof very soon.

So, for those of you that don't quite understand how we live here in the north you should come and visit some time. You may not realize it but, we now have heaters in our cars here and believe it or not we even have furnaces in our houses now! Yes, it did take a little while to get use to not needing to throw another log on the fire pit at night but, somehow we're OK with it. After learning more about how the big construction companies do things and seeing the Minnesota can do in play the best part about hearing "you still going to be able to get that building done this winter?" is smiling and answering with my best "You Betcha!" Now with our mind off of the building I think we will go put the skis on the airplane.

One down, another up!

The Fairchild came apart last week so to balance things out we placed the UPF-7 into final assembly. At this point it really begins to look like an airplane however, there is quite a bit to accomplish before we turn the key. We still need to get the gear under it and install all the sheet metal and accomplish the paperwork among many other details. After all, its not the wings that make an airplane fly, its the FAA paperwork! Just check any aerodynamics book.

Need more wrapping paper!

We're wrapping presents at RARE Aircraft. Presents that come in 40' overseas shipping containers! Last week we disassembled the Fairchild and F-2 to prepare them for shipment to Brazil. This is an interesting exercise to say the least. We have shipped to other countries before however, its always a 40' container but different airplanes so outfitting the container is a challenge. The metal and wood fabrication shops will spend some time this week building brackets and fittings to secure the two airplanes into the containers. The guys even made scaled cardboard models of the dissasembled airplanes and the container to help organize this task. We will be sure to share a photo of the airplanes all packed up!

Hot Rod

In the Ice Cream Business you get customers that want vanilla and others that want a scoop of it all. Variety is a good thing especially when every firetruck, barn and biplane is red. There is nothing wrong with that whatsoever and, we enjoy recreating the iconic red bi-plane however, sometimes its fun to see how many different scoops you can cram into that sugar cone. Our team has the privilege of doing just that with our current project on the final completion deck. This UPF-7, yes "U", (sorry gang check the TCDS, the coupe top does not change the designation) will be one unique, beautiful and functional airplane that will dazzle the senses. Lets get this out first, its yellow, oh excuse me I meant YELLOW!!! Trim is of course black/red with some special attention to the struts, hardware and other goodies that you'll need to see in person to believe. Today the fuselage and cowling just received the trim stripes. Once the paint is set up, the airplane is ready to go into final assembly. All other surfaces are painted, trimmed and ready for installation. Stay tuned for more photos of this unique and modernized UPF-7. Here is a short list of some of the items that make this one a Hot Rod;

• 300 hp Fuel injected Jacobs
• Hamilton Standard Constant Speed Propeller
• Custom instrument panels
• Aspen Avionics Display
• Garmin equipped
• Engine analyzer
• Fuel flow
• Custom interior
• Coupe Top
• Cleveland Wheels & Brakes
• Show Smoke
• Custom lighting
• Custom paint & trim.
• Cowling

By the way, wait until you see the rest of the trim and besides, why not do something different to set yourself apart from the rest of the manufactured herd! Blue sky and tailwinds to all, have a great weekend!