KBKS 4 - Space Suit Gasket Blues

As the sun rises

It marks four months into this project

I've worked at it every day

From dawn to dusk plus a few hours

Dog has been a stalwart friend

Putting up with my lousy musical taste

Stoically watching me with Dread Zeppelin swirling around him

Not even flattening his ears

I think he deserves a doggy medal

I'll have to think of someplace for him to go

I don't think it would be fair to take him with me

It's a one way trip and he is only a few years old

He's got years and years left in him

I'm cutting new gaskets for the suit today

On a whim I decided that it would be a good thing to check

And it's fortunate that I did

As I took apart the sections of suit

The gaskets crumbled away

Some to literally dust

Apparently Russian rubber isn't that robust

So I figured out some durable rubber to use

and ordered several large pieces

And here I sit with all manner of scissors and x-acto knives

Cutting fitting and testing

Pretty boring stuff

Even Dog has gone to take a nap in the sunny spot outside the tent

I think I need a vacation

Not a real one mind you

Just a few days to blow off some steam

I think I'm going a little crazy

Sure, crazy-'er' if you insist

This wouldn't be a bad time to do it

I've got several things in motion on the jet

None of which will be ready for about a week to install

My custom titanium stressed powerplant bulkhead is being machined

All the fasteners are here though and I've laid out the pattern on the structure

It's going to look sweet when I put it in

I'm taking lots of pictures so I can share what I've done

Not till I'm about to leave of course!

Too many busy bodies would want to stop me

Probably take me down by force

Assholes

I sourced a third rocket motor similar to the first two

A little smaller in output though

I'm installing it in the rear along the centerline

Might come in handy for a little extra boost

Extra fuel tanks are being fabbed in town

One for each chemical compound

I'm maxing out the takeoff weight

And I hope there's enough to go around

I'm leaving the tip tanks on and using them for extra propellant

I'll just use the wing tanks for Jet A

I won't need as much of that

Just enough to get me up to altitude and speed

Everything is going swimmingly with months to spare

The day looks to be beautiful

What more could a man need

Right

A vacation

I think I'll go to Vegas