A couple months ago, I had been invited to give a presentation of my experiences with Marine One (HMX-1) to the members of Experimental Aircraft Association (EAA) Chapter 486. This past Friday evening, I gave that presentation at the Chapters’ monthly meeting held at the Fulton, New York airport. My presentation got off to a rocky start since the laptop I was using for my PowerPoint presentation was not able to connect to the overhead projector due to a cable connector incompatibility issue. As a result, I had to project my presentation via the 13″ laptop screen…not a great way to present a PowerPoint to a room full of people! However, everyone was very understanding of the issue.
(Click on photos to zoom in on them)
Presenting my experiences with Marine One to the members of EAA Chapter 486
The connection to the overhead projector didn’t work so the laptop was enlisted for display
Given the issue with displaying the presentation, I figured that I’d add the PowerPoint presentation to this FlyBoyz post and let everyone download it to watch on their own computers. However, the .PPT file is over 20MB in size and there is an 8MB file size limitation on files I upload to my blog. I have tried several options to compress the file to an appropriate size or to increase the blog’s file size limit but have not been successful to date. The best option at this point for anyone wanting to view my presentation is to go to the Marine One Page of FlyBoyz where much of the presentation material is currently located. The posts listed there cover the first half of my presentation. I will be adding additional posts that will cover the remaining portions of the presentation, so check back in from time to time to get the ‘rest of the story’.
UPDATE: My HMX-1 PowerPoint presentation to EAA Chapter 486 is now available here for viewing/download as a PDF file.
The two dozen Chapter members in attendance seemed interested and to enjoy my topic and I had several good questions afterwards. However, what seemed to spark the most interest were my comments about the use of ‘Metal Set’, a material which most seemed to be unfamiliar with. Metal Set was an epoxy which we used for just about everything on the helo’s. The Chapter members were not familiar with it and two of them Googled it on the spot and validated that it is still available 40 years after my experiences with it! Metal Set will have great application to what the Chapter members are doing with building and repairing their own real planes which is why everyone got so excited about it.
For those reading this post that may have an interest in Metal Set, I offer the following information:
Metal Set A4 Aluminum Filled Epoxy Adhesive
Metalset A4® is a powerful epoxy adhesive that has been used for years by all branches of the U.S. Military as well as every major airline and auto manufacturer in the world. A4 is used for hundreds of industrial bonding applications and offers excellent adhesion to porous or non-porous surfaces. It can be applied to vertical surfaces without sagging and cures overnight with negligible shrinking.
Once cured, A4 offers good machining qualities (sanding, drilling, tapping), and resists alkalies, dilute acids and solvents. Applications include stopping leaks in pipes, valves and tanks (i.e. car gas tanks), bonding like and unlike surfaces, filling metal joints, dents, etc., anchoring bolts in wood, concrete, and repairing metal surfaces.
More information is available here: Metal Set
I had brought along several artifacts from my time with HMX-1 and they were on display for all to view at the conclusion of my presentation. After the presentation, I had several enjoyable conversations with some of the members who all offered their appreciation and shared some of their military experiences. All in all, I think it was a very successful presentation and one that I hope the members of EAA 486 enjoyed.
EAA Chapter 486 President Roger Morton was a gracious host
Before heading out for the night, Chapter member (and fellow STARS club member) Dan Williams took me out to the main hanger to show me work that is in progress on his Acro Sport II. Dan is well into an ambitious rework of several key electrical systems on the plane and hopes to have her flying again once the weather is cooperative (and given the recent weather in this part of the country, Dan should have plenty of time to finish up his rework!).
EAA (and STARS) member Dan ‘Danno’ Williams talked with me about current maintenance and enhancement work he is doing on his Acro Sport II
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