Bob Hadley
Bob Hadley is the R&D manager for a California-based consumer products company. He holds a Sport Pilot certificate and a Light-Sport Repairman certificate with inspection authorization for his Jabiru J250-SP.
Stage Right
Of all the milling machine jobs I do, 99.99% involve clamping work in the mill vise. Occasionally, a project comes up where the part...
Another Drill Guide
The cordless hand drill is a marvel of engineering. Lightweight and powerful, it can do just about any drilling job on an airplane. But...
Poka-Yoke Cable Clamp
From a machinist’s point of view, the clamp couldn’t be simpler: A couple of grooves, some bolt holes and you’re done.
Bob’s Donut Shop
In my April 2021 column, I described making custom rivet nuts to replace self-tapping screws for the wing root fairings on my Jabiru. While...
Fuel Cap Dipstick (and Always Chock Your Wheels)
Before I delve into this month’s project, here’s the backstory on where it came from: I started my flight training with 10 hours in...
Shop-made Blind Rivet Nut
Blind rivet nuts, also called rivnuts, rivet nuts or insert nuts, are a clever way to add threaded bosses to thin-wall sheet metal structures...
Cylinder Hones and Honing
Honing and lapping are similar inasmuch as both employ abrasive action to remove metal and refine the finish of the surface that’s being honed...
Laps and Lapping
Lapping was an important step featured in two recent columns. Last month’s gauge block project and the September 2020 drain adapter both demonstrated basic...
Confessions of a Blockhead
Gauge blocks are the foundation for pretty much everything. At least everything that has to do with precision measuring and manufacturing. I use parallels,...
In Case You Missed it
Free Flight
Thousands of hours of flight time in a pilots logbook are no guarantee of superior skill-or superior judgment.
A Cautionary Tail
His Mong Sport was ready to fall apart, but there's no way Jeff Rose could have known it.
